TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE

The question white men should be asking themselves is: "What does that hashtag mean to me?"

Do you feel threatened?

Does the male gender frequently talk about how much they fear walking alone at night? Are men cautioned about leaving their drinks alone? Are men sent to the hospital with crushed orbital bones, broken teeth, and mouth lacerations, because their significant others beat them? Are men typically objectified in the media? Has there been a hushed history of white men who've been strung up into trees by mobs? Are white men frequently the target of the police? Are white men disproportionately represented in the prison system? Are white men targeted through the judicial system and Jim Crow laws in order to disenfranchise huge percentages of them from being able to vote?

These are rhetorical questions, because the answer to all of them is "No." It is important nuance. White men have the physical, social, and institutional power to do all of these things to other people, and they have. So if white men were to suddenly start spouting "kill all women" or "kill all blacks" it's seen as different, because they have the means to turn those phrases into action.

I don't in any way take offense to what Bahar Mustafa said, because I can understand why she said it; for the same reason that I understand why Ice Cube said "Fuck Tha Police." We may not be actively murdering women, but look at the fight over Planned Parenthood. If PP is completely defunded, women will die as a result. You may not agree with that, and that would be awesome, but the effort is being made, primarily, by white, Christian men. Because they control the government. We are, through law enforcement, killing black people, every day. Every year. And we imprison them at a ridiculously high rate. Felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects people of color. Voter ID laws disproportionately affect poor people, which is disproportionately represented by people of color.

So if your gender, or your race, is constantly targeted by institutionalized oppression on a daily basis, without adequate representation in the legislative process, effectively without a voice, I guarantee you'd have some pretty harsh words if the microphone ever got too close.

Edit: Downvotes don't actually do anything...