Published On Thu Oct 28 2010

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/882670--no-strides-for-ra...

Re: Women storm city council, Oct. 27

I am very perplexed when commentators write about the underrepresentation of women at Toronto’s city hall, but leave the race of these councillors out of the political equation. Over the life of the last city council, the 10 women councillors were 100 per cent white. With the newly elected women councillors, white women are now just over 92 per cent of the total.

We are living in a city where racialized women are close to 25 per cent of the population. A lone racialized woman on city council is a shameful reality in this city that loves to lionize its multicultural and racially diverse character. Therefore, when we celebrate women storming the new city council, we should be clear that we are really talking about white women making political advance.

Some people may have seen this article already, which has been making its rounds on Facebook and the blogosphere, but INCITE! blog editors loved it so much that they wanted to share it and I couldn't agree with them more!

This article is particularly relevant in Ontario given the recent infiltration of various anarchist and activist groups in the province and ongoing misogynistic bullshit in our movements.

The piece was originally published in make/shift magazine’s Spring/Summer 2010 issue and written by Courtney Desiree Morris.

Why Misogynists Make Great Informants: How Gender Violence on the Left Enables State Violence in Radical Movements
By Courtney Desiree Morris