How white women weaponize their privilege

Nowadays, it’s common for white women to support radical movements such as those for prison and police abolition, as well as Indigenous land sovereignty. However, I remain cautious and critical of their support, namely because of my own lived experiences with white women. Last November, a cis white woman, whom I had considered a neutral acquaintance because she was best friends with my then-partner, decided that one of my art posts on Instagram was so offensive to her that she called the campus police. Not only did she center her own whiteness around the work of an Indigenous Mexican artist translating the pains of her Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)—which is already a highly stigmatized health issue—but she also enacted real systemic violence against me by calling the cops on me and reporting my art to Instagram. When I confronted her about the issue, she refused to acknowledge her white positionality, ignored the resources on OCD that I sent her, and continued to demonize me. The incident also happened during one of my last exam periods, and though I was able to practice resilience and finish the semester strongly, the emotional and psychological toll of having to deal with a white woman’s act of violence against me still makes my blood boil with anger. Furthermore, this white woman claimed that she was the victim, stating that she felt “unsafe” because of my art. I remember shaking with so much anger that I could barely type out my response, mainly because she refused to grasp how harmful her actions had been towards me. 

Of course, I don’t conflate the actions of one white woman with the behaviour of the respectful white women that exist in the world, but I’m growing tired of seeing how white women tend to leverage their marginalized gender identity while still abusing the power and privilege of their whiteness to harm queer people and people of colour. The harmful actions of white women are even present in my larger community at UofT, specifically at Victoria College. A white woman I personally knew was highly celebrated at Victoria College, earning a leadership award and holding multiple high-ranking positions in levies and student spaces. Last year, it came to light that this person had sexually assaulted and harassed multiple members of a marginalized community at Vic. It would be completely unethical for this woman to continue holding power, especially in organizations that involved first-years. With the consent of my friend and other student leaders, we successfully deposed her from her roles to ensure the safety of other students. In response, this white woman retaliated with defensiveness, self-victimization, and an overall lack of accountability, all of which were key psychological tactics used to salvage her former position at Vic. 

White women are born with a certain power and privilege that was granted to them by the violent structures of white supremacy in our society, and they are still protected within this cocoon of entitlement. For far too long, white women have been cloaked with the protection of the second—and third—wave feminism movements, unjustly aligning themselves with the marginalized positions of trans women, Black women, and Indigenous women. But the truth is that white women still retain the power and privilege of whiteness, and many victimize themselves in a way that white men do not. Instead of acting in physical forms of violence as white men may be encouraged to do, white women use emotional or psychological tactics of violence, namely through the manipulation of the truth or through the weaponization of their presumed innocence and vulnerability. The innocence and vulnerability of white women are highly prioritized in our contemporary society, as legions of police forces would scour the ends of the Earth to search for the body of one missing white woman in Canada while thousands of Indigenous women go missing without any real attempt to find their murderers. White women are cared for and grieved for because of the political worth of their whiteness, while Black women and women of colour are perceived as less valuable, and, therefore, disposable across institutional and political structures.

My main concern regards white women who abuse their power and face no consequences for their harmful actions simply because they are protected by the shield of white privilege and the armour of presumed innocence. We must never forget that in the horrible case of Emmett Till, it was a white woman who decided to let her white male friends lynch an innocent Black man, on the grounds of a rape accusation that she revealed to be false almost sixty years later. Though white women do not use the same forms of violence as their male counterparts, their self-victimization and lack of accountability still upholds the sinister structures of white supremacy and continues to violently harm marginalized communities. In the age of radical-left movements which strive for the emancipation of marginalized communities, it’s necessary for us to start holding white women accountable for their harmful actions. 

To white women: if you are confronted about your own harmful actions, the best way to hold yourself accountable is to apologize, compensate those you have harmed in any monetary or social manner, and educate yourself on equity issues around marginalized peoples.

To white women: if you are called out for racism, do not become defensive, and do not center the situation around your own vulnerabilities. Do not victimize yourself by crying or demonizing those who call you out. If you, as a white woman, feel threatened by the actions or presence of a Black or an Indigenous individual, do not call the police. Instead, examine your own internalized racism. Remember that the institutional force of the police will only traumatize those from marginalized communities and further uphold the interests of white supremacist superstructures at hand. If white women continue to use their power and privilege in harmful ways against marginalized communities, more and more of us will suffer the consequences. I have not trusted white women for over a year, and I will most likely never do so under the political structures that I am subjected to every day. However, I believe there is hope if white women can learn to critically examine the presumed innocence that their white privilege grants them. White women, you can, and you must do better.