Twelve years ago I was on the board of the Whatcom County ACLU. I was also the campaign manager for a candidate in a city council race. When the ACLU received several alerts about local race-related police problems, I asked my candidate to address them. She replied in a hostile tone, “We took care of that, years ago.” What surprised me more than her words, was the nasty edge in her voice. Since then I have known that this country needs to reopen the subject of racism as a topic of conversation. But it wasn’t until this week that I had a reawakening about how virulent sexism is in this country. Regarding the presidential race, Newsweek quoted a black man as saying, “Bitch may be the new black, but black is the new president, bitch.” After the shock of it abated, it occurred to me that Newsweek never would have printed such a quote by a woman who used derogatory words for a black person. Why was ‘bitch’ printable? Because sexism is acceptable, no matter what ugly form it takes. It reminded me of something I forgot since I live in a state where the Equal Rights Amendment is codified by the state constitution. When my friend moved to Georgia, she was not allowed to transact any business without her husband’s signature. Her status as a highly paid, college educated professional was meaningless compared to being female. Regardless of who the Democratic candidate is in November, it is time to reopen the discussion of the position of blacks and women in this country. Both would have high hurdles of prejudice to leap, but silence about the issue won’t help. |
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