Feminists must denounce the use of white insecurity - whether in relation to white womanhood, white neighborhoods, white politics, or white wealth - to justify the brutal assaults against black people of all genders.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
Their suffering is intense, widespread, expanding, systematic and socially sanctioned. And the victims are unable to organize in defence of their own interests.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the severe and widespread suffering of a group of victims who lack the ability to defend themselves.
Henry Spira's quote emphasizes the systematic and socially accepted nature of certain suffering in society, suggesting that the victims are not only facing intense hardships but also are marginalized to the point of being unable to advocate for themselves. This reflects on the broader implications of social injustices where the power dynamics inhibit the oppressed from organizing and seeking change.
In practice
In a speech addressing social change, one might reference Spira's quote to illustrate the importance of advocating for victims.
Feminists must denounce the use of white insecurity - whether in relation to white womanhood, white neighborhoods, white politics, or white wealth - to justify the brutal assaults against black people of all genders.
In the racialized space of capitalist gentrification, police are not only arbiters of the peace, they are the muscle of retail racism: You can only be in this space if you transcend your blackness by showing us some green dollars. Even then, there is no guarantee that green will transcend your black skin.
Unless young blacks are brought into the mainstream of economic life, they will continue to be on the curbstone.
The consumer boycott is the only open door in the dark corridor of nothingness down which farm workers have had to walk for many years. It is a gate of hope through which they expect to find the sunlight of a better life for themselves and their families.
The same crime element that white people are scared of black people are scared of. While they waiting for legislation to pass, we next door to the killer. All them killers they let out, they're in that building. Just because we black, we get along with the killers? What is that?
I'm for the poor man - all poor men, black and white, they all gotta have a chance. They gotta have a home, a job, and a decent education for their children. 'Every man a king' - that's my slogan.
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