Last week I wrote that it was pretty obvious that #EndFathersDay was in no way a part of the feminist movement. Not only is there not a single shred of evidence indicating that feminists as a whole supported the hashtag, but well-known feminists like Jessica Valenti have even written in support of fathers. Based on recent tweets from an account called @NayNayCantStop, it seems that while the tag was created as part of a 4chan hoax, there is a deeper backstory:
@FeministaJones First of all, y'all started it with us when you launched #BlackPowerIsForBlackMen Why'd y'all play us like that?
— NayNay Thompson (@NayNayCantStop) June 17, 2014
For those who didn’t follow along on Twitter, #BlackPowerIsForBlackMen was a hashtag started by prominent black feminist Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) to discuss how black women are affected by black male privilege. @NayNayCantStop appears to be claiming credit for #EndFathersDay as some sort of retribution for that tag – going so far as compare black feminists on Twitter to the KKK:
@IamShataiya If you got a problem with a specific BM, then call him out. But you called us all out. Y'all worse then KKK. At least they +
— NayNay Thompson (@NayNayCantStop) June 17, 2014
NayNay’s anger goes to further demonstrate the level of outrage that feminists of color receive when they dare speak out about the intersections of race and gender issues. Another hashtag recently started as a 4chan hoax, #WhitesCantBeRaped, was viewed by many as an attempt to drive a further wedge between white feminists and feminists of color. White feminists like Michelle Goldberg claim that black feminists are “toxic,” and mainstream feminist media overlooks the fact that white feminists ignore the struggles of feminists of color. It’s easy to see how trolls would latch onto that existing divide to try to break feminism into racial factions.@NayNayCantStop was clearly playing along these divisive lines, as indicated by their pinned tweet from 6/15:
#WhiteFeministsBeLike: "Is this a joke account?" Translation: "Your struggles and oppression are a joke to us."
— NayNay Thompson (@NayNayCantStop) June 15, 2014
One of the easiest ways to defeat a group is to reap discord from within. While these divides are easily exploited because mainstream/white feminism sweeps the concerns of black feminists under the rug, the harm falls almost entirely to women of color. Feminism’s path to reducing oppression can only come to fruition by fostering an atmosphere of intersectional feminism – feminism that exists along the lines of race, class, sexuality, and gender [Commenter Sharon Morris notes, correctly, that this should include intersections along the lines of disability]. A community that ignores the struggles of women of color is not a community any of us should want to be a part of. Until the feminist community, as a whole, comes to that realization, internet trolls like @NayNayCantStop will continue to tear us apart – at the expense of women of color.