Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

During a conversation for The Washington Post, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke said, “We are trained as a country to respond to the vulnerability of white women.” Burke’s statement challenges us to look at who we are conditioned to empathize with and who we are leaving behind.

Burke founded the #MeToo movement to protect vulnerable communities, and she continues to work on their behalf. But much of the mainstream media coverage focuses on the stories of white, cis, straight, able-bodied women. And when our response to white women’s plight is disproportionate to that for the marginalized folks among us, we have a problem.

Many in the media have focused on the stories of white women despite black women facing harassment and assault at higher rates than white women. The instances are even higher for those who identify as queer, trans, nonbinary, and those with visible and invisible disabilities. Media need not contribute to this burden by siloing the communities the movement was built to protect.

However, some outlets have gotten it right, and they’re to be celebrated. They’ve given voice to people whose #MeToo stories have been wrongfully overlooked and set an important example for outlets whose coverage has been exclusive to one kind of #MeToo story.