White Women, Read This: Race Trumps Gender | Teachers College Columbia University

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White Women, Read This: Race Trumps Gender

While many white women are acutely aware of the impact of their gender on their careers, they haven't had to pay a great deal of attention to issues of race. White women are willing to go to bat on matters of gender but fall silent when it comes to race.
While many white women are acutely aware of the impact of their gender on their careers, they haven't had to pay a great deal of attention to issues of race. White women are willing to go to bat on matters of gender but fall silent when it comes to race.

It's more comfortable for white women to focus on how they're oppressed because of their gender, their working-class background or their religious beliefs, says Sarah Brazaitis, a lecturer in social and organizational psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York City. "If white women could acknowledge that yes, they're white, and yes, that has an impact, it would make such a difference to women of color, rather than just focusing on the fact that we're all women, women, women."

This article, written by Jennifer Gill, appeared in the June 1, 2006 publication of Working Mother.

Published Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006

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