"Black feminist thought and practice respond to a fundamental contradiction of U.S. society. On the one hand, democratic promises of individual freedom, equality under the law, and social justice are made to all American citizens. Yet on the other hand, the reality of differential group treatment based on race, class, gender, sexuality and citizenship persists. Groups organized around race, class, and gender in and of themselves are not inherently a problem. However, when African-Americans, poor people, women, and other groups discriminated against see little hope for group-based advancement, this situation constitutes social injustice." Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (2000), page 23
In fact, the group identity, and the awareness of shared history, leads to discussion and organization around shared solutions; by contrast, the rhetoric of color blindness has the negative effect of making the social inequalities themselves invisible, if we are unable to talk about the ways in which different treatment affects groups differently. What we seek in recognizing this history of racial and gender discrimination is understanding of the ways in which both forms are entrenched in American society, and interlocking in their effects. The problems themselves cannot simply disappear, or be wished away, without some difficult examination, without some challenging confrontations with the status quo.
In examining the HistoryMakers database, you will hear many stories of the ways in which black women and men experience a different reality, but you will also hear stories about how these individuals came to commit themselves to changing this reality. What are some of those transformative situations and encounters that the subjects talk about in their interviews? You should continue your research in the database by finding and analyzing some of these stories.
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For the most part, many of the profiles I have had a chance to review tell their struggle of feelings of unequality, or being told (and it being shown in action) they were inferior due to their skin color. Being inferior was presented in every form possible- jobs, educational institutes, and any other everyday life event imaginable. The differnce between the stories of the men and women, of course, deal with sexism in everyday life as well. For some women, the though of their children (in the flesh or in future thought) going through some of the same experiences as they once had to was impossible to fathom, and they were in search of a real change. Although many report having to deal with these issues, I love how it motivated them to change the situation, and not just an attitude towards one specific person. To be thought inferior by many around you may have the capacity to have a person begin thinking in a negative light. For those who have been so resistant to believing their futures were headed no where, may have compelled them to exceed their white counterparts, and served as motivation without knowing it.
ReplyDeleteIn the interview of President Obama he talked about the transformation of having to fight the stigma of being just an African American man that only talked about getting into politics, he had to act instead of just saying that he wanted to do it. So he changed the barrier that faces so many African American men today, which is “All they are good for is selling drugs and running out on their children”. He explained that he also changed the barrier of African American men not taking their education serious enough”. Although he admits that he was falling into that stigma for a while, until he realized that he would not become what he wanted to do if he didn’t take his education more seriously.
ReplyDeleteAnd I sincerely hope that you will also be motivated, encouraged, and stimulated into action and taking your own educations more seriously; many of the things we will see in the database from these oral histories should help you think and feel differently about the world we live and work in.
ReplyDeleteMost of the interviews I've listen to talked about racism and how it affected their lives. They also talks about their different struggles and obstacle they faced being Black in America.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was inspired by their huge success and accomplishments.In an interview with Carol Moseley Braun, she talks about critiicisms she faced and how she overcame them. This has motivated me to strive for the highest goals in life.