Racism vs, misogyny [View all]
I confess, took me long enough, years, really, but I finally figured it out.
It was when I listened to some of the conversation that Hillary had with Joy Reed on MSNBC.
Hillary mentioned that after we elected the first black president, that many thought that racism was laid to rest but then it came back, with full force.
Back in 2008, I was puzzled by the fact that many African Americans stated, proudly, that they would vote for Obama, without questioning his qualifications. His race was enough.
At the same time, many women said that just because they were women they were not going to vote for Hillary.
And we saw last year how many women still voted for Trump.
And then I realize that these two lines of bigotry are hardly parallel.
It is not that the 15th Amendment, prohibited denying the right to vote based on race passed in 1870, while the 19th Amendment denying the right to vote based on sex passed in 1920.
It is not that the movement for women rights of the 70s followed in the footsteps of the Civil Rights of the 60s.
No. It is the fact that we will not find a single African American, or Asian American, or Latino rejecting the right to equality.
Sadly, though, there are too many women who do not want equal rights. Who are perfectly happy being protected by the men in their lives; being happy to obey and to serve and to be subservient. And, of course, there are many men too happy to accommodate their wishes.
One of the puzzles of the 2016 elections was why did the Evangelicals, with their "family values," supported Trump. And one answer was that they were offended by Hillary being an independent, professional woman all her life, instead of staying home to take care of her home and family.
And then there is the issue of abortion that divides many women.
But my conclusion, and I know it took years, is that race bigotry is easier to eliminate that misogyny. That we cannot, yet, draw a conclusion that, hey we passed the race barrier in the highest office of the land, now we can do the same for sexual barriers.
Well, I probably meandered here just wanted to express this. Thank you for reading.
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