Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
In her powerful speech, “Ain’t I A Woman?” Sojourner Truth summed up the vocal efforts to slow down the women’s rights efforts of her time. “Well, children, where there is so much racket, there must be something out of kilter.”
That was in 1851. Almost two centuries later, something, once again, is definitely out of kilter. Today, Black women are being bombarded by social media trolls, far-right media juggernauts, MAGA politicians and conservative judges who are hellbent on creating the false reality that all opportunities and barriers are equal and that equity efforts to advance our constitutional democracy are no longer necessary.
This is particularly true at America’s colleges and universities, where a zero-sum game mirrors our country’s polarized political and cultural environments. This game uses misinformation and disinformation — and, frankly, fear tactics — to outpace truth and undo the progress Black women have achieved.
In recent months, faculty, staff, and students across the country have been forced to reckon with efforts to weaken or eliminate diversity on campus. Claudine Gay’s resignation as Harvard University president, independent of her actions and good and bad faith interpretations of them, came after weeks of racial maligning rooted in misogynoir. Her audacity to be a Black woman leading one of the world’s top institutions of higher learning was more than enough for her to be targeted.
As a Black woman, I, and countless others, worry about this sordid trend. Black women — who are among the most educated and lead small businesses at the highest rates of any other group in the country — continue to break barriers and climb ladders: a Supreme Court justice, the vice president, C-suite executives, and more. Many people who benefit from systems created and maintained by…
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