White women have historically benefited from white supremacy
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Context
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and should therefore dominate them. It has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism and was a key justification for colonialism.
The Argument
White women have a vested interest in white supremacy because it benefits them. During the slavery period of continental Africans and their descendants in the United States, the household was the primary domain of white women who were married to white slave masters. Slave mistresses set out to “civilise” enslaved black women whom they forced to cook the family’s food, and act as handmaids for the white children.[1] Black men accused of raping white women were often punished without ever going to trial. This includes the 1955 killing of 14-year-old Emmett Till where he was accused of whistling at a white woman - a fact she has since admitted to be a lie.
Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy during the first presidential debate fits into this pattern. Women who have benefited from white supremacy know that Trump does not condemn the belief.
Counter arguments
White supremacy, and white men in particular have stood in the way of gender equality. White men are twice as likely as non-white men and white women to own guns.[2] Many white women in the past were defined by their relationship with men, and from the perspective of men and were taught only how to care for their husbands and raise (white) children.