Some Things Never Change
The 2018 midterm elections proved yet again that white women value their whiteness over their womanhood.
Georgia’s Gubernatorial race was one of the most important state races in modern history.
Georgia hadn’t elected a Democrat in over 20 years.
Democratic representative Stacey Abrams looked to not only break the streak of Republican elects, but to also become both the first African-American governor in Georgia and first female governor in U.S. history.
Abrams received her BA from Spelman College and her JD from Yale University. She also served as the minority leader of the House of Representatives from 2011–2017. Yet, even with her exceptional educational background and political experience, Abrams still was unable to garner enough support to edge Republican nominee and former Georgia Secretary of State, Brian Kemp.
Kemp received 50.3 percent of the vote while Abrams fell just short at 48.7%, but as you delve deeper into the exit polls, there was one group who drastically affected this election.
In 2016 when Hillary Clinton ran against Donald Trump in the presidential election, naturally, she gained a lot of her support from American woman. However, Clinton did not earn the majority vote from white women (53 percent voted for Trump), and just like in 2016, 2018 proved to be no different.
According to exit polls conducted by CNN, 75 percentof white women voted for Brian Kemp. Now, this is not to say that white women were obligated to vote for Clinton and Abrams as this country is predicated on free will, but the strength of the feminist movement is definitely in question.
Feminists for years have advocated for equal rights, equal wages, and most importantly equal representation in leadership for women. With a chance to put a woman in a position of leadership, (literally what feminists are fighting for) white women clearly have no interest, further proving that white women would rather choose the blatant racism of the Republican party than the moral coalition represented by men of color and other women. The only question is why? Why are white women still consistently voting for Republicans even as the party has shown its ugly truths?
Well, the answer is quite complicated. White women, are actually very complicated individuals. They are afforded social power from their race, but yet they cannot access it because of their gender. As racism and sexism are two of the country’s biggest social problems, white women must choose to either be loyal to their race, the dominant aspect of their identity, or to the lesser of the two, their gender. More often times than not, race wins. Because of this, the feminist movement is adversely affected.
Without the support of ALL women, the movement loses steam. Diversion in political views between the women allows critics to poke holes in their arguments and creates confusion upon common goals.
Jordan Davis is a Junior English major and Journalism minor. He aspires to become a renowned sports journalist or anything relating to the field of sports media and communications.
