Selective Feminism

The Washington Post has an op-ed column today that looks at a less than pretty side to feminism - the unequal support that black women seemed to receive from otherwise militant (or at least dedicated) feminists. What prompted the column is the silence of many feminists as Michelle Obama is finding herself subject to all kinds of bashing by minions of the far right who, truth be told, are anti-black as well as anti-anyone else who doesn't look just like them. Were Michelle Obama white, I suspect would have many main stream feminist up in arms and sceaming foul. Sadly, it is one more testament to the distance this nation still needs to cover before we have a society that is colorblind. Here are some highlights:

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Michelle Obama has become an issue in the presidential campaign even though she isn't running for anything. An educated, successful lawyer, devoted wife and caring mother has been labeled "angry" and unpatriotic and snidely referred to as Barack Obama's "baby mama." Democrats, Republicans, independents, everyone should be offended. And this black woman is wondering: Where are Obama's feminist defenders?

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What does Gloria Steinem think? She was out front with her support of Clinton, promoting the importance of a female president. She has even endorsed Barack Obama. What's her reaction now that the knives are out for another strong woman? How about Geraldine Ferraro, the former vice presidential nominee whose racially tinged denunciations of Barack Obama sparked a media firestorm? Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, has said: "We're going to keep watching because we think Michelle Obama will be the recipient of the same kind of attacks that Hillary was." A feminist ray of hope.

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I've long been frustrated, as a black woman and a feminist, with our national conversation. I didn't hear the cause speaking up for women of color or for women who have always worked in blue-collar or service jobs. Choice was not their issue. The woman who employed my educated mother to clean her house never quite saw her as a sister in the struggle for equality.

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But in America, there's seldom a cost for disrespecting black women. I'm waiting for feminists who speak of second-class citizenship and being pushed to the back of the bus to remember the civil rights movement that gave birth to those words. After all, it was a black woman, Rosa Parks, who took her seat up front and pulled others there, too.