Joe Biden is not our savior.

Believing or not believing Joe Biden has very little to do with him. The context in which some are professing support and “belief” and others are expressing their rage and frustration matters. That context is the patriarchal and racist institutions of which he, and we, are products. That context pushes women to comply and be obedient, and punishes us when we aren’t.

It’s in this context that an undue burden is being placed on women, both white women who prop up the patriarchy in their own self-interest, and women of color, who have worked to make our institutions more equitable and accountable. Institutional white male supremacy pervades our economy, our democracy, the media. It allows each of these institutions to leave the fundamental humanity and agency of women in the garbage pail of history.

I have been a Democrat from the day I first became a citizen in 2000. And in my early days as a political novice, I was a true believer. Over time, I also became one of the Democratic elite, you could say. I participate in the pageantry of conventions and debates, and I emphatically support Democratic women of color. But I appreciate now that the party is also a product of our society, that it is deeply flawed and a victim of its own success. The more reliable its base of Black women and other voters of color, the more it takes us for granted. The more we show up, the less it…