I'm gonna say something very unpopular. But it's a hard truth that we need to face. White women have brought much of this on ourselves. We (collectively - not you personally, or maybe you personally) have voted in our own personal economic best interest. That is, what works best for me is to keep fiscal conservatives - aka those who support institutional racism whether conscious or unconscious - in power. Those folks are the most likely to also support or compromise on policies that bend on women's autonomy.
Unless you have been out there actively voting every time for those who will be there for ALL women - not just white suburban middle or upper class women - you have participated in this SCOTUS decision. Unless you actively participated in trying to change white women MAGA minds instead of throwing your hands up in "what can ya do" defeat, you participated in this SCOTUS decision. If you sat out 2016 because you just couldn't bring yourself to vote for Hillary Clinton you actively participated in this decision. Or worse, if you sat out 2020 because Biden wasn't progressive enough for you, you participated in this decision. If you don't educate yourself before you vote ALL THE WAY downballot, this is on you. Where do you think these people get their start? In their city councils. In their school boards. In their state assemblies.
If you are a white woman who wrung her hands during BLM protests and said "Oh, but the destruction of property!" you actively participated in this decision. If you criticized Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee, you participated in this decision. You participated in the perpetuation of the value of some lives over others. That keeps power in the hands of those who would take away ours. And this is all about power and white supremacy, not life. And white supremacy is all about white MALE supremacy. They will ALWAYS be coming for you.
If you are a Jew who voted single issue - Israel - because you were afraid the Democrats would defund Israel (which ha they won't) you have actively participated in this decision. And against your own self interest, because Jewish law values existing life over potential life. And they are coming for you. Because this is about white male CHRISTIAN supremacy. And if you don't know by now that they are ALWAYS coming for us? Well...
If you're in your 20s and have taken it all for granted and never voted because "both parties are corrupt" guess what? You get some blame too.
White women, do not ask and expect Black women to do the work for us every damn election. They are tired. Yet they still do the work. Every damn time. Because their lives depend on it. Black & brown communities are the ones most impacted by fiscal policy and by abortion bans. Not white women. Even though we only hear white women's stories. The little white girl who was raped and then forced to have the baby? That happens daily in Black & brown communities. We only pay attention when the little girl is white. Black women do they work every day and every election because their lives depend on it. Every time. Well guess what? Now ours do too. Get the hell off your asses and DO. THE. WORK. Not the performative work of writing Facebook posts. The actual work. Volunteer for campaigns. You're retired? Great! Spend some time on a campaign. You're not? Do what you can. Do you have the means to donate? Do the work of learning the best candidates and organizations to donate to. They are already out there. Do what you can. But DO. THE. WORK.
We are all rightfully pissed the fuck off. We are rightfully scared. For ourselves. Our children. Our daughters, sisters, friends, granddaughters, cousins, nieces, students, little girls, and fellow women and others with uteruses. It's time to put our money where our mouths are. Start thinking about the greater good instead of ourselves. And then do the work of convincing our fellow white women and the white men in our lives to do the same. Because this statistic below is horrifying.
