White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
Called “powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times bestselling How to be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how white feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women, and women of color.
Taking us from the slave era, when white women fought in court to keep “ownership” of their slaves, through the centuries of colonialism, when they offered a soft face for brutal tactics, to the modern workplace, White Tears/Brown Scars tells a charged story of white women’s active participation in campaigns of oppression. It offers a long overdue validation of the experiences of women of color.
Discussing subjects as varied as The Hunger Games, Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, the viral BBQ Becky video, and 19th century lynchings of Mexicans in the American Southwest, Ruby Hamad undertakes a new investigation of gender and race. She shows how the division between innocent white women and racialized, sexualized women of color was created, and why this division is crucial to confront.
Along the way, there are revelatory responses to questions like: Why are white men not troubled by sexual assault on women? (See Christine Blasey Ford.) With rigor and precision, Hamad builds a powerful argument about the legacy of white superiority that we are socialized within, a reality that we must apprehend in order to fight.
"A stunning and thorough look at White womanhood that should be required reading for anyone who claims to be an intersectional feminist. Hamad’s controlled urgency makes the book an illuminating and poignant read. Hamad is a purveyor of such bold thinking, the only question is, are we ready to listen?" —Rosa Boshier, The Washington Post
Taking us from the slave era, when white women fought in court to keep “ownership” of their slaves, through the centuries of colonialism, when they offered a soft face for brutal tactics, to the modern workplace, White Tears/Brown Scars tells a charged story of white women’s active participation in campaigns of oppression. It offers a long overdue validation of the experiences of women of color.
Discussing subjects as varied as The Hunger Games, Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, the viral BBQ Becky video, and 19th century lynchings of Mexicans in the American Southwest, Ruby Hamad undertakes a new investigation of gender and race. She shows how the division between innocent white women and racialized, sexualized women of color was created, and why this division is crucial to confront.
Along the way, there are revelatory responses to questions like: Why are white men not troubled by sexual assault on women? (See Christine Blasey Ford.) With rigor and precision, Hamad builds a powerful argument about the legacy of white superiority that we are socialized within, a reality that we must apprehend in order to fight.
"A stunning and thorough look at White womanhood that should be required reading for anyone who claims to be an intersectional feminist. Hamad’s controlled urgency makes the book an illuminating and poignant read. Hamad is a purveyor of such bold thinking, the only question is, are we ready to listen?" —Rosa Boshier, The Washington Post
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Community Reviews
This is a really excellent book. It is a book that will absolutely cause discomfort in white women, but it’s the kind of discomfort we have needed (I’m a WW) for YEARS. It’s a very teachable moment kind of book. The understanding that white women essentially live 2 lives, the one where we’re oppressed by our gender and the one where we’re the oppressors because of our whiteness. It’s an interesting reality and one that white women need to understand and accept and work toward dismantling the very real ways we oppress women of color. I highly recommend ALL white women read this book, but especially those working toward their anti-racism lifestyle and allyship.
I throughly enjoyed this book, and found so much understanding and acceptance within it. I feel like as a Black woman you’re taught to always take the blame for everything even if you’ve done no wrong. I really recommend this book to women of color it’s been very educational and transformative. I also recommend this book to white women who view themselves as “allies”.
This piece is impactful, real, compassionate, and grounded. I appreciate the historical proof and connections she makes in this novel and the eye opening realities. This is a profound piece of literature and this book deserves all the accolades!
A really good book to read and learn about gender, race, and feminism.
This book really makes you think and released how much white tears have affect our life's.
At the same time I do feel I have been affected by this white damsel in distress tears but at the same time I have affected other women of color without realizing. I have been able to meditate and try my best to understand my position as a women of color to understand the route of racism and how much this white tears affects women of color.
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