In addressing intolerance and racism, we often ignore other forms of oppression that exist within civil rights movements for “the greater good.” Misogyny is a form of intolerance against women, including the rights and freedoms of women to live free of abuse and oppression from men who believe they have rights to our bodies, our children, our livelihoods, our minds, and our hearts. And yet we manage to convince ourselves that “women’s issues” aren’t about intolerance at all, and in fact, addressing such things is divisive and distracts from our main goal of ending racism. However, 51% of the human population is female, so it would be egregious to assume that the needs and rights of slightly more than half of humanity are not necessary to discuss.

            Not addressing the needs and rights of women makes the new ruling on Title IX, which places protective status on one’s “gender identity,” an inevitability. Starting on August 1, 2024, single-sex spaces, bathrooms, sports categories, and opportunities meant exclusively for girls and women will be deemed discriminatory against males who identify as the opposite sex. Women and girls will no longer have the right to women-only intimate spaces or compete fairly amongst their own sex class. Men who identify as women are now entitled to take designated opportunities away from women. Males may expose themselves in front of women and girls in various stages of undress, and this will no longer be considered sexual harassment but “progress for equality.” 

            The new Title IX ruling could only be conceived and roundly applauded in a society that continuously dismisses and minimizes the rights and needs of women and girls in favor of the rights and desires of men and boys. Many people may say they “like” women and are therefore, “not misogynists,” but many of them will also say this new ruling that removes rights from women and girls is “fair” because the implications for women and girls are not as important as the rights and desires of men and boys who identify as them.

            It is no surprise that we see women at the forefront of this issue on both sides since many within civil rights movements are guilty of ignoring and even participating in misogyny against women and girls. Prioritizing rights based on race without equal respect based on sex positions women in a perpetual state of loss and makes women expendable for the advancement of males. As a result, women leave and adhere to other movements that promise them an iota of respect or protection after being ignored within their former movements. To continue to disregard the rights of 51% of humanity is to make unstable ground for protecting and advancing the rights of all.  

            If racial issues still seem more pressing than sex-based ones, consider that violence against black women remains a commonality long after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a movement that could not be without the tireless activism of black women:

            Regarding sex-based crimes and sexual violence, 29% of black women have been raped in their lifetimes. 23.8% of black women have faced sexual coercion at some point in their lives. 40.5% of black women have faced unwanted sexual contact. 26.6% of black women have faced sexual harassment in public. 40% of sex trafficking victims are black girls and women.

            Black women are three times more likely than their white counterparts to die as a result of domestic abuse, and 40% of black women will face domestic violence at some point in their lifetimes compared to 31.5% of all women. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of death for black girls and women aged 15-35.

            Black women only make up 14% of the female U.S. population, but 31% of femicide victims with a male perpetrator were black. In 2020, the rate of femicide against black women rose by 33%, more than double that of their white counterparts; 5 black women and girls were killed each day, most of them with a firearm.

            In 2024, a new study from The Lancet demonstrated that black women are 6 times more likely to be murdered than their white counterparts. An article covering these findings suggests the vulnerability of black women is due to “homicide inequality” and to address it, the focus must be on “structural racism.” However, it is unlikely that focusing on racism alone will resolve violence against black women as 90% of black women were killed by someone they knew, 56% within that percentage by their current intimate partner.  

            Even though most black Americans agree that feminism is important and women’s rights have not gone far enough, the follow-through with that sentiment is severely lacking. Even after the #MeToo movement, black women are still expected to stay silent about the violence they face.

            One prevailing theme is that black women feel obligated to put race-based issues before sex-based ones, to identify more with being black than being a woman which means protecting black men by not reporting them. This silence is reinforced by a culture that looks down on women for looking for help in or outside the church community. Even as the degrading attitudes against women are acknowledged by black women within the congregation, there is a hefty stigma for seeking help away from one’s place of worship.

            Black women also frequently face mistreatment when they go to the police.  If black women dare to defend themselves against their abusers, such as in the cases of Kim Dadou and Marissa Alexander, the penalties can add up to 20 years in prison. Black women are often seen as “collateral consequences” by our justice system.

            One only has to observe the anxiety Megan Thee Stallion felt and the criticism she experienced coming forward about rapper Tory Lanz to know that fame and fortune doesn’t shield women from the burden to stay silent. Is it any wonder that Ebony.com editor, Jamilah Lemeiux, felt compelled the start #BlackPowerIsForBlackMen trending on Twitter?

            The precedent for black women to suffer in silence in civil rights movements has been noted in I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr. written by Michael Eric Dyson, where King’s promiscuity and misogyny was documented and black women were made to go along with it for the sake of the movement. Instead of a thoughtful retrospect of the civil rights icon, a 2009 review of the book on the Southern Poverty Law website created a discussion guide that urged educators to assert that Dr. King is still a hero regardless of how he treated women, and echoed the assertions of King’s biographer that he should be forgiven for his abuses as he had forgiven others and seen as “more inspiring” for his honest humanity.

            Considering the appalling state for black women sixty years later, despite all that black women have sacrificed and suffered and the attitudes and stereotypes that persist against black women, I offer an alternative take on how these actions and attitudes should be viewed beside accomplishments.

            Critical thinking in our society requires that we recognize how one may contribute greatly to society and still be antagonistic towards the advancement of others:

            Richard Wagner was a brilliant composer. He was also a vehement antisemite who was infamously quoted as saying, “The Jew is the plastic demon of the decline of mankind.” Ghandi believed in the power of peaceful protest and was instrumental to India’s independence. He also engaged in child molestation, believed that Europeans were superior to Indians, and that black people “are troublesome, very dirty like animals.”  Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement that inspired others to act to advance social equality. He also embraced a culture of misogyny and his behaviors against women was easily dismissed because the burden of forgiveness is placed only on women.       

            More than one thing can be true of a person, and while lessons can be learned from one’s actions, attitudes, and accomplishments, no one need tell others they must revere someone who’s been antagonistic towards them.

            Ignoring the truth about those antagonisms within civil rights movements and historical figures makes rulings like the latest on Title IX possible, where we favor the rights and desires of some for the rights and needs of others. For progress to be made, we should not ignore the ugliness of our heroes and movements because we ought to aspire to be better.

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