It has been a tough week for Women’s March Inc. The group had already been ditched by big-money groups like the SPLC and DNC and their last-ditch effort to get clear of the anti-Semitism allegations backfired when Tamika Mallory went on the View this week and refused to condemn “Minister Farrakhan.” Today, former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has written a piece for USAToday saying she won’t participate in the DC march because of its leadership’s inability to clearly condemn anti-Semitism.
I walked away from the Women’s March on Washington two years ago absolutely electrified by the promise of what a movement built around sisterhood and solidarity could accomplish.
Today, sadly, I must walk away from the national Women’s March organization, and specifically its leadership.
While I still firmly believe in its values and mission, I cannot associate with the national march’s leaders and principles, which refuse to completely repudiate anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry. I cannot walk shoulder to shoulder with leaders who lock arms with outspoken peddlers of hate.
How hard should condemning the Nation of Islam really be?
Farrakhan has a long history of anti-Semitism. He has said that Hitler was a great man, compared Jews to termites, and tweeted about “the Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan.” What is more, he does not hide his bigotry, regularly maligning women and the LGBTQ community.
It should not be difficult to condemn this hate speech and the person who constantly voices it.
Yet, at almost every turn, Mallory has failed to clearly denounce Farrakhan.
She hasn’t just failed, she has pointedly refused. There is a big difference. Mallory isn’t just missing opportunities. She has looked at the Nation of Islam and decided it’s a net positive despite the rampant anti-Semitism and anti-white bigotry it promotes.
Wednesday, comedian Sarah Silverman also expressed disappointment with Tamika Mallory and the Women’s March. The remaining question is whether or not regular people who participated in this even the past two years are feeling the same way. If so, this year’s march (at least the one in DC) could be significantly smaller than the two previous years. Over at the NY Times, Michelle Goldberg seems to have a sinking feeling:
Two years ago they helped create something magnificent. The exhilarating energy of the 2017 march went on to fuel countless local Resistance groups that worked because they were organized face-to-face and had definable, practical aims. It’s painful to see the Women’s March fall apart now, but maybe it was always destined to be a moment instead of a movement.
Was this a movement or just a moment in time. That’s probably what the co-chairs are waiting to see this weekend. If the march goes well, they will consider themselves and their leadership vindicated no matter who has dropped out in protest. But if it goes poorly, then maybe they’ll be forced to admit a leadership change is needed.
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