After a white woman conflicts with a woman of color, her battle is done for the time being. The woman of color is sufficiently chastened and the white woman turns her attention back to invoking a nonexistent sisterhood in order to keep fighting “patriarchy.” But this is a patriarchy they themselves have just ensured will continue, because their weaponized tears are a form and function of it. This kind of behavior is a key way by which whiteness asserts and retains its power. By keeping the old structures in place, white women’s innocence and virtue serve as the front line of white
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