WOMANISM

Why Moms For Liberty Group Acts a Lot Like Daughters of the Confederacy

There's a common thread that unites them

Two members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy | Photo Library of Congress

Elizabeth McRae, a historian and racial scholar, referred to White women as "segregation's constant gardeners." We can see this in the way White women protested integration. For instance, on September 4, 1957, Elizabeth Eckford and eight other Black students faced an angry mob of White women as they tried to make their way into Little Rock Central High School. White women yelled and taunted the students, calling for Eckford "to be lynched," shouting, "two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate!" Indeed, White women played an active role in fighting against diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout American history, but we rarely hear about white extremist women's groups. Why is that?

White women are part of a marginalized gender group and a privileged racial group. The gender-racial pay gap between men and women hasn’t changed in the past two decades. And just last year, women were stripped of their reproductive rights by the Supreme Court and hold significantly fewer leadership positions than men. Nevertheless, White women are still capable of expressing racism, of punching down at Black people and people of color, which extremist groups led by women illustrate. The historical…