There’s a really biased, one sided article floating around Facebook about a bunch of white feminists who are “uncomfortable” with Chris Brown performing at the Grammys, and the comments are full of other white feminists patting each other on the back.
You know, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry will also be at the Grammys and they write blatantly misogynistic music. Eminem has performed at the Grammys and he also writes sexist music.
Yet I don’t see any white feminists critisizing the Grammys for that.
Nope.I finally just read the article in question and, yeah, it’s a pretty solid reminder of why whitecentric feminism is not how I work or what I deal with. For starters, it’s sloppy to mention that if Chris Brown had hit Taylor Swift things would be different. No shit! Let’s talk about that, cause it’s not like being famous neutralizes Rihanna still being a black woman and still being treated (and ignored) like one.
I guess one thing that bothers me about white people jumping on Chris Brown is this: What have y’all done for black women lately?? (Talking shit on black men does not count.) I will be the first to say that I wouldn’t like Chris Brown even if he could put a decent pop song together or do any of his own dance moves. But what is that alone doing for black women? Not a damn thing. Other than making this once again revolve around men, and in this case revolve around vilifying black men. Plus put down black women who still buy his music.
Most people who assault black women will not be doing something as high profile as performing at the Grammys, so if you really wanna be down for black women, go to where we more often are being assaulted. If you wanna not support people who are violent against black women, then maybe start with
- the police
- the prison industry
- the war on drugs
- violence against sex workers
- welfare cuts
- school systems that criminalize students of color
- border patrol
because all those forces have a damn lot more to do with violence in our lives than the fucking Grammys.
Also, white people mad at Chris Brown, do you actually know what Rihanna wants? Has anyone asked her? I mean, rule number 1 in supporting someone after partner violence is you do what the survivor wants, not what you want, and you don’t step on their toes. But again, what black women in general, and one black woman in particular, want and need has been forgotten about. What seems to be more important is finally having the opportunity to openly talk shit on and vilify a black man.
Even more than asking what if he had hit a white woman, I think I’d like to know about what if it had been a white man hitting a black woman, or even a white man hitting a white woman. Would he be a monster in the same way? Would there be the same pathologizing of other black women who remain a fan of his? Would y’all still be shaking your heads at how black people are too complicated to fit into your women’s studies textbook? HELL NAW. Plenty of white men in Hollywood and pop music are known to be abusive, violent, and sexist, and yeah, white feminists will call them on it, but are rarely out for blood and the end of their career the way they are with a black boogeyman.
There are two sets of careers I would like to see end: Chris Brown’s/cops’/prisons’, and racist white feminists.
