The Transformation Of African American Women

Introduction

African American women’s role originally in the Black community was to be a mother, a wife, and to make sure that the household was taken care of. African American women weren’t liable to hold positions such as doctors and lawyers, but could be an educator. Many black women were backbones of the Church in the black community, but higher positions were for men. For many women that was a problem because they wanted to hold positions like that, but the man felt that was a leadership role and leadership roles were usually for men.

This topic is significant because one will be informed of the progress of African American women and how they have overcome those barriers set not only by the world, but by the Black community itself. Barriers, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2014, can be defined as a law, rule, or problem that makes something difficult. Using this term in this sense means that there were rules and laws set into effect to make it difficult for African American women to achieve anything other than those roles assigned to them. It is also important because it shows how African American women who had children still worked within the labor force, although people had negatives sayings about what it would lead to. This means that people had negative notions that if black women began working within the labor force this will ruin the black community.

The purpose of writing this paper is to inform one of the struggles African American women had to endure not only from the Europeans, but from their own people. The lifestyle of African American women in the Black community will be described in detail. Not only will this paper examine the struggle for equality, it will show how gender roles played a...

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...p and became a part of the labor force significantly. “Women work in the USA is gender-race divided. Disproportionate numbers of black women are at the bottom of this division of labor. African American women are at the bottom of the service sector with some regional variation and some convergence of women’s status across race in gender segregated jobs. African American women represent a significant component of the New Working class” (Brewer 1999. p36).

Conclusion

In conclusion, this paper analyzes the transformation of African American women from how they were seen as people who hold emotional roles to how they have also been a part of the labor force. Many thought that woman holding positions such as these would deter black men’s leadership, but historically, to become workers and produce workers were the main reason women were brought to the United States.