In this January 2021 commentary, Jack Kammer argues that discussions of the Capitol riot and rising white supremacist violence have overly focused on angry white men, neglecting the substantial, often hidden, role of white women. Citing sociologist Kathleen Blee’s Women of the Klan and a 2018 New York Times piece by historian Elizabeth Gillespie McCray, Kammer highlights how women have historically organized, spread propaganda, and managed logistical support for racist movements—from the 1920s Klan to 1970s Boston school desegregation protests. He introduces the term “the Matrix” to describe a female‑centric power structure that operates behind the scenes, analogous to a corporate board directing a CEO. Kammer uses anecdotes (a 2019 CNN‑reported white supremacist’s pitch to women, the “Karen” meme) and a personal collection of 52 photographs showing men focusing on women to illustrate women’s subtle, pervasive influence. He concludes that both angry white men and women deserve scrutiny and opportunities for healing, urging empathy toward women involved in white supremacy while also calling for similar support for men.
Chapters
It's January 17th, 2021. The Capitol riot was 11 days ago. Capitol Hill and vicinity are on high alert for what might happen around the inauguration on January 20th. No doubt about it, white men are the face of the anger and the rage. But white women are a big part of the problem too. There's been a fair amount of strong reporting in the past several months, especially in the days since the Capitol riot, about the mistake of blaming alt-right extremism and white supremacy exclusively on angry white men. Several experts have pointed out that there are plenty of women who have been directly involved in overt manifestations of white supremacy. There's even a meme for it. White women who are not shy—or perhaps I should say a little too audacious—about expressing their white female privilege are called Karens. When Karens are afoot, they're pretty obvious. But there may be a deeper, less visible, and much more important story in how women have been indirectly involved, behind the scenes, away from the front lines, less visible, less easy to blame. On our comeback, we talk about how the world is quite ready, willing, and able to see male power and its excesses. People talk a lot about the patriarchy. They don't talk much about the matrix, the our comeback name for the female power structure. But it's clear that the matrix exists. And it has played a huge role in the history of white supremacy. Let me read to you from a book called Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s by sociologist Kathleen Blee. Both popular and scholarly accounts portray the terror of the Klan through images of bigoted, hate-filled white men. Not women. When we include the less public actions of Klan's women, the poison squads that spread rumor and slander, or organized boycotts, the picture changes. Women of the Klan drew on familial and community ties. Traditions of church suppers, kin reunions, and social celebrations to circulate the Klan's message of racial, religious, and national bigotry. They spread hatred through neighborhoods, family networks, and elusive webs of private relationships. And here is an excerpt from a 2018 New York Times article titled "The Women Behind White Power" by historian Elizabeth Gillespie McCray. Stories about the nation's racism have focused on the dramatic, not the daily; on the speechifiers, not the low-level campaigners. But it is the mundane and the persistent that make movements. In the 1970s, women led the effort to avoid the desegregation of Boston public schools. While men debated in legislative chambers and listened to challenges on the bench, women headed to school cafeterias, playgrounds, and PTA meetings, doing the bulk of the behind-the-scenes work of supporting the politics of segregation. They transformed their homes into centers of bureaucratic efficiency, copying flyers, signing neighborhoods for petition drives, and scheduling protest shifts at elementary schools and bus garages. Still, though, most media tend to see men as the primary actors in white supremacy. But even if only for a thought experiment, suppose we think of it the other way around. Yes, men are on the front lines. But in a war, where are the generals? They are at a safe and strategic remove, calling the shots from a distance. Are women in any way like generals? Do women really have that kind of power and authority? Or are power and authority maybe the wrong words? Do women have that kind of influence? That's probably the better question. Let's think also about how big corporations are structured. If you look at the Patriarchy and the Matrix, which one looks more like a corporate board of directors huddled around the higher goals and visions of the company? And which is more like an organizational chart of the company staff with the CEO at the top and all his underlings reporting up to him in his efforts to achieve the more exacting goals of efficiency and profit the board has laid out for him. Boards of directors hire and fire the CEO. A 2019 story on the CNN website mentions a speech by a male white supremacist who spoke to a group of women about how his group would promote family safety. One woman said, "He made a really good argument for families." She said she liked the family security, the promise of safety. It's very appealing. So, from that scenario, we can imagine the white male supremacist coming to that group of women to sell them on an idea that had never occurred to them: that family safety is a good thing and that oppressing Blacks somehow makes white families safer. But maybe we should look at it the other way around, that the women knew exactly what they wanted and were looking to hire an outfit that would improve family safety. And so, of course, that's exactly what the man is going to say during his sales call, that his company knows what they want and he can deliver it. Also on the issue of women's influence over men, imagine a neighborhood where white supremacy bubbles close to the surface. Which sentence do you think a man in that neighborhood is more likely to hear from his wife or girlfriend? Number 1: A family from Somalia is moving into the empty house down the street. Let's take them a cake to welcome them to the neighborhood. Or number 2: A family from Somalia is moving into the empty house down the street. What are you and the boys going to do about it? Remember the adjectives that Professor Blee used to describe the power and influence of white women in white supremacist activity? Subtle and pervasive. Finally, on the issue of women's influence, I want to show you a collection of pictures I've been gathering since 2002. See if you can identify what they all have in common. That was 52 pictures. Each one shows a man devoting his full attention to a woman, either to make sure she is pleased or to gauge how he might change something to please her. Xi, on the other hand, pays no attention to him but looks outward toward us. The feelings those pictures convey strongly to me at least, are that she is in control. In nearly 20 years of gathering these pictures, I have found only 2 in which the balance of attention is in the other direction. This one is a counterpart to the last of the 52. They were in the window of a shop that catered to both men and women. And this one is from a promotion for a documentary film. The man has just gotten out of prison and he is checking out the camera. It's subjective, I know, but the 52 pictures might be seen as evidence of a subtle, pervasive type of influence exercised by women that has no name but is real and powerful nonetheless. Those pictures seem like the kind of situations the phrase "wrapped around her little finger" was invented for. So maybe if we are looking for ways to increase harmony and lower divisiveness in our country, we can't just be beating on angry white men. Many white women, too, are angry, and their influence on men can be profound. Especially on men whose sense of honor depends heavily on protecting women, and children too, and helping them feel safe, no matter how real or imagined the threat actually is, and no matter how much their aggressive protection tramples the rights of those perceived to be that threat. The bottom line is that women are as human and flawed as men are. They need and deserve our scrutiny as much as men do. If we feel moved to be empathic and understanding toward the women involved in white supremacy, why do we not offer the same opportunities for healing to men? I'm Jack Kammer. Thanks for listening. Best wishes to President Biden, Vice President Harris, the Congress, the courts, and the good old USA. Let's make America great again. Let's make it better than ever.
