For as long as there has existed a 'lower class', a 'lesser gender', a 'sub-species', a 'deformity of the mind', there's been division within society. These partitions are central to any attempt at structuring power or delegating agency between peoples. Without them, power would be constantly challenged, even overthrown.
So it comes as a surprise to me when the benefactors of these divisions — those whose notions of identity and existence are on the 'right' side of them — are oblivious to their presence. They are surprised, even deeply wounded, at the very suggestion that the divisions exist.
In our current global climate, minorities and oppressed communities are branded as being 'divisive' when attention is drawn to the void which exists between those with power and those without. This allegation stands firmly on the understanding that our 'unified strength' against a common enemy will bring about the change we so passionately fight for.
This isn't wholly incorrect. But it is often forgotten that the terms by which we define 'strength' and 'unity' impact the efficacy and suitability of our actions. Often when the case is made that our strength lies in unity, the assumption is that all parties are to unify with the majority, that 'all our differences should be put aside' and those of lesser power should fight for equality in a way that those in power see fit.
This is inherently problematic, and when disenfranchised communities denounce this approach as the perpetuation of the current status-quo feigning as revolution, they are, again, said to be 'divisive' and to be actively impeding progress.
It's rarely the people who see me as an 'angry-black-non-patriotic-millennial-SJW' woman who's 'anti-free speech' and 'preaches political correctness' that accuse me of being divisive. Rather it is my well-intentioned 'allies', the self-proclaimed 'intersectional' feminists who preach of our 'unified strength'.
In my experience as a young queer black woman, I encounter this reaction, more often than not, from black men, the extended LGBTQIA+ community, and white women — i.e. from communities that already experience forms of discrimination and are my nearest potential allies.
Of course this doesn't relinquish blame from those who occupy positions of power. But it's worth noting the dichotomy of maintaining certain structures of power (those that benefit us individually) while seeking to dismantle others.
"If we fight for women's rights but neglect everything that makes 'womanhood' diverse and dynamic, then what we get is 'white supremacy — but now, with gender parity'."
The 'divisive'