General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Yes, I am a Feminist. Deal. With. It. [View all]SunSeeker
(51,559 posts)If you are saying the poor are the most screwed in this society, I agree with you. But that does not mean there is no institutional racism and sexism. Bigotry adds to the burden of the poor who do not happen to be white or male.
My mom was a janitor. But because she was a woman, she was afraid to take the late night jobs cleaning offices because she was afraid she'd get jumped on her way home (as a poor woman, she had no car). So, she had to take the lower paying, but day-time job of motel maid. My dad was a construction worker. He did not worry about people jumping him at night. And even though both of my parents worked bone-breaking jobs, my mom came home to be a maid to a construction worker. If us kids looked tattered, people would look askance at her, not my dad. We were her responsibility according to societal mores. My mom and my dad were poor, but my mom was way more oppressed in every sense of the word. Her oppression continued even at home. She had no respite. Things have not changed a whole hell of a lot as far as I can tell.
I know the indignities of poverty. But I also know how sexism heaps insult upon injury. As bad as your lot may be, it would be much worse if you were black or female. To refuse to acknowledge that because "80% of the country is richer than you" makes no logical sense.