Newly-Appointed ACLU Ambassador Sasheer Zamata Explains Privilege to a Clueless White Dude
Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata is now an Ambassador for the ACLU, and she’s created a video to remind well-intentioned allies that the fight for women’s rights is far from over.
In the video, Sasheer is told to smile by a catcaller, racially profiled by the police, walks by a billboard advertising the show “White Guys,” and sees advertisements that warn her she’ll have to choose between family and a fulfilling career. Her white male companion is oblivious to Sasheer’s experience of their surroundings, and is literally awarded the key to the city after announcing that he’s a feminist.
On the ACLU’s blog, Sasheer explains her motivation behind creating the video:
I’m working with the ACLU to shine a spotlight on gender and privilege
[…] The fight to protect and advance the rights of women and girls is far from over.
Sure, we’ve made incredible strides in the past several decades. Without them, I wonder if I would have made it to SNL. But women still face greater barriers in employment, education, health care, and criminal justice – especially those of color and living in poverty.
I’m not joking around (for once). In the U.S. today, women make only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man — with African-American women only earning 64 cents and Latinas a measly 55.
Plus, a woman’s right to choose is threatened by extreme lawmakers who have introduced more than 100 abortion restrictions in 2015 alone. Oh, and I almost forgot: Few legal protections exist for pregnant workers and new mothers — even though women are the primary breadwinners in 4 out of 10 families with children.
(via Jezebel)
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