Susan B Anthony was a bad person.

[mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io]

Susan B Anthony was the first in a long line of "white feminists" who work against their own interests by refusing to ally with Black women. They take precious time out from ending their own oppression, to heap more oppression onto Black women

Susan B Anthony is closer to Margarie Taylor Green than to Elizabeth Warren. She would almost certainly be a Trump voter.

It's Nov 5th, 2024. If the majority of white women vote with Black women today, it would be the 1st time in almost 100 years.

2/N

[hannu_ikonen@zeroes.ca]

@mekkaokereke nobody ever taught me this shit.

Sigh.

Celebrate Women’s Suffrage, but Don't Whitewash the Movement's Racism | ACLU

American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclu.org)

[mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io]

So much is silly about this.

1) There are people reading this that are mad at me for saying it, but are not mad about it being true.‍️

2) If more than half of all white women voters didn't spend the past *checks notes* forever, voting against all other women, we would have much faster progress on gender equality.

Y'all need to get over being mad at Black people for saying this. Seriously. You've had enough time. Process it and get over it. Then be better tomorrow.

3/3

[johnefrancis@mastodon.social]

@mekkaokereke similar for the "famous five" suffragettes in Canada. A very mixed record that included eugenics, racist immigration advocacy, privilege.

No way to simplify it. They have a complicated legacy and are probably overcelebrated for a fairly minor aspect of women's rights.

[bam@sfba.social]

@mekkaokereke

It is often disappointing looking back at people who were trailblazers in their time only to see their deep flaws. Idolizing human beings often sets us up for disappointment.

@whknott

[paulatics@mstdn.ca]

@johnefrancis @mekkaokereke Well. Getting Canadian women the franchise and securing their legal status as “persons” wasn’t minor. But they were deeply flawed humans. People can hold very bad ideas, and still accomplish quite a bit. (You may find this little video I made back in 2020 interesting context.) https://youtu.be/a_HhQP3HoxU?si=uFkE8hxwynHntceR

[johnefrancis@mastodon.social]

@Paulatics @mekkaokereke minor isn't the right word. With the passage of 100 years, a lot more has happened by the subsequent contributions of others.

[cheile@mstdn.ca]

@Paulatics

We only have to study world history to see how the lives of people have improved with the evolution of politics. It dismays me to watch, as those who would do away with these hard fought advances to hold power or monetary gain.

[paulatics@mstdn.ca]

@johnefrancis @mekkaokereke I’d argue that Lord Sankey’s living tree doctrine, established by the Persons Case, led directly to the civil rights of all Canadians, and specifically to queer rights and trans rights. Today, for example, we have 8 Black women in the Senate of Canada. That might make Emily Murphy, a racist, furious - but it wouldn’t have happened without her.

[portlandy@pdx.social]

@mekkaokereke I think a key point for folks to consider is that there were lots of suffragists, lots of people who did exactly what Anthony did, who weren't white supremacists. We learn specifically about her, remember her, put her head on currency, for the same reason we learn about anybody in US history - because white supremacists make sure of it.

[courtcan@mastodon.social]

@mekkaokereke I voted with Black women and for a Black/Asian woman this morning! My 12yo daughter watched me fill out my ballot, and I am so excited that she, a very white girl, is seeing her very white mother changing at least our family tree. I have hope that what we're doing will prove to be part of a new wave, a shift of white women standing with women of color to make change that is vital and beneficial for all of us.

[courtcan@mastodon.social]

@Bam @mekkaokereke @whknott All of our favorites are problematic--because they're human. That doesn't mean we can't hold up the good things they did/do -- we just have to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge aloud that they're sometimes deeply flawed.

If the flaws involve actively and systematically endangering the freedoms and lives of certain groups of people, then we probably need to reevaluate whether or not to keep them as favorites.

[realtegan@wandering.shop]

@mekkaokereke
Yup. While I respect a narrow set of actions she took to get white women the vote, I abhor her generally because she was a piece of shit.

It's the same with the founders. They compromised with people's LIVES to get it done. An entire nation, built on blood and pain and hate.

I love the promise of America, but there is SO much crap to clean up and so many wrongs to fix.

Thank you for the reminder. The heroes of the past aren't always heroes when you learn the true story.

[raccoon@techhub.social]

@realtegan @mekkaokereke
Intersectionality is critical.

[thejen@beige.party]

@hannu_ikonen @mekkaokereke OHHH yes. There was no room whatsoever for women of color in the suffrage movement. None. Black women did not get the right to vote until 1965, IIRC.

Anthony was AWFUL.

[laguiri@queer.party]

@TheJen @hannu_ikonen @mekkaokereke

WHAT.

I mean.

I'm Spanish, with a degree in English, I've had to study American history with some "look how much better Europe is" bias and I never got that bit of information. I'm shocked it's not repeated more.

[thejen@beige.party]

@laguiri @hannu_ikonen @mekkaokereke

Racism drives EVERYTHING here. EVERYTHING. When you wonder why the US did (insert any fucked up thing that happened here) throughout our history, the roots are INEVITABLY in racism. Full stop.

[woozle@toot.cat]

@TheJen @laguiri @hannu_ikonen @mekkaokereke

I feel like I should start a list of USian things that are basically Because Racism.

• suburbs / car culture
• sorry state of public transportation
• lack of public restrooms
• dearth of public community spaces
• lack of universal healthcare
• lack of social safety-net
• (added) underfunding of public schools
• (added) censorship of public education
• (added) violence-oriented policing
• (added) the way the prison system works (punitive and for-profit)

...there's probably stuff I'm not thinking of, but that's what comes quickly to mind. If the question is "why can't we have nice things", the answer often comes down to "because the da..., uh, lazy unworthy people might get some too".