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[–]emptiedriver 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Black men don’t have power over white women. Physically possibly because they are men, but politically or any other way? Not really. History, recent and way back, can verify this.

I think it's just a question of different kinds of power. I would say broadly speaking that white people have social power over black people, and men have personal power over women, so black men can have personal power over white women, but white women can have a kind of social power over black men - and whereas this is straightforward when it's white men or black women in question, it becomes confusing when it's black men or white women. Having one form of power but not the other will work differently depending on the specifics of the situation. A large black man and a small white women gives an advantage to the black man. A rich, well-known or respected white woman and an unknown or scrappy looking black man can shift the advantage to the white woman. It is also important what the environment is: if the issue is private, fast, physical, the man has odds whereas if it is public, contextualized, socially judged, then the white person does...

The point is, both kinds of power are real and having them overwhelmed can be life-changing. We shouldn't ignore that or shake our heads at each other about it - it's not an either/or situation, and it's not a competition. It just depends. But we should be remembering the whole time, both forms matter. Non-black women matter and black men matter, just as much as black women. Misogyny and racism are both still active forces.