Feminism's ongoing problem with race

#solidarityisforwhitewomen is the hashtag created by Mikki Kendall (who explains it more detailed terms here) after Hugo Schwyzer's Twitter meltdown the big-name feminist websites that published him and remained silent during or dismissed his harassment of many WOC bloggers. (Here, here, and here for a storify timeline.) It's more than just that, too and even writing that sentence makes it sound like a single event, or even a couple of events, but it's also about letting the voices of those privileged on just about every axis be heard above all others.

I'll admit, I'm as at fault as anyone. I've been silent when I could have written a short post condemning him, or signal boosting others. I never wanted to write that post because I don't trust myself to write it without screwing up -- I'm sure I'm screwing up now. I was never targeted by Hugo. I'm almost as old as he is, I'm not a famous blogger, I'm not in the clique he so desperately wanted to be a part of, I'm of no use to him. Until 2011, when the story of his attempted murder of his girlfriend broke, I never though of him as anything but a shitty writer. But I still see myself as part of that community, no matter how loosely tethered, and I know that none of those things is an excuse.

Jill from Femiste posted an apology, call for atonement, that I think everyone should read, too. Whether her apology is good enough is not my call to make, but I see myself in some of the things she writes: not wanting to name him, how silence can be interpreted as compliance, and how silence often is compliance.

(ETA : Last week I wrote a short post about the interview HS did with NY Magazine. This was pre-Twitter meltdown and I tried to turn it into a larger piece about men's roles in the feminist blogosphere. I took it down because in an effort to force a larger discussion, I minimized the damage he's done. Sorry.)