On the front lines of Friday night’s “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virgina, at the University of Virginia, angry white men with torches flocked to a statue of slave-owning Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. By Saturday afternoon, members of the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other armed militia groups were rallying full force in the streets adorned with Confederate flags and in full Nazi regalia.

Behind them, smaller in number but no less present, stood white women.

For those with an understanding of race relations in the United States, this will come as no surprise.

Harry Benson via Getty Images A woman member of the KKK takes her baby to a Klan meeting in South Carolina in 1965.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Three women attend a Donald Trump rally in Newtown, Pennsylvania, in October 2016.

While there were undoubtedly more white men at the “Unite the Right” rally, which was organized by neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, it is essential that we recognize that white women have always benefitted from white supremacy, and therefore played an integral role in upholding it.

White supremacy is indeed rooted in racism and misogyny ― but white women have historically enabled racism even if it came with the cost of misogyny, and on Saturday in Charlottesville, many yet again chose to maintain their white privilege by choosing subordination to white men over solidarity with people of color.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images A white woman (right) walks down the steps with a group of neo-Nazis at the University of Virginia on Aug. 11.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images A white woman (far left) protests with a torch at the University of Virginia with neo-Nazis.

Many on Twitter made flippant comments about the rally, with jokes about the male attendees being harmless beta male-type trolls incarnate.

Those memes, while funny enough, ultimately do a disservice to the seriousness of the deadly violence that white supremacists inflict on real people (at time of publication, one person has been pronounced dead and dozens injured after a car plowed into an anti-racist group at the rally).

When you find out girls on Bumble have to talk to you first. pic.twitter.com/3L0jUvxo3U — Sara Benincasa (@SaraJBenincasa) August 12, 2017

The “Unite The Right” gathering represents so much more than toxic or fragile masculinity. The gathering was a violent act of white supremacy ― and white women have played a significant role in perpetuating it.

Many on Twitter acknowledged this, with some using the #TrustBlackWomen hashtag as well.

Charlottesville Nazi protest pic being all men doesnt absolve white women from having always been complicit in safeguarding white supremacy — Ivie Okechukwu Ani (@ivieani) August 12, 2017

There were white women marching so y'all not about to get off scott free talking about "patriarchy." White women can be hate mongers too. — Ira Madison III (@ira) August 12, 2017

It's time for white women to use their access to confront white supremacy—in public & at home. No more silent acceptance.#Charlottesville — Women's March (@womensmarch) August 12, 2017

White women, don't think the Charlottesville photos let you off the hook for even a second. A lot of those men went home to cuddles and pie — Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) August 12, 2017

Can y'all stop trying to erase racism from the story of the #Charlottesville white supremacists, saying they just "can't get women..." — Robin Thede (@robinthede) August 12, 2017

Black women tried & tried to warn everyone "on here" abt the hell & racism that wud be unleashed if Trump were to be POTUS. #TrustBlackWomen — Lady J (@kujocelyn) August 12, 2017

Ultimately, as long as white conservative women continue to use their white womanhood to bolster racism and inequality, white progressive women have an obligation to condemn it ― and the brutal events in Charlottesville this weekend remind us why.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article indicated that the “Unite the Right” rally took place at the University of Richmond. In fact, it took place at the University of Virginia.

CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated with additional context on who voted in 2016.