Black Feminism: Equality and Challenges

Black Feminist Movement

Our generation is a generation that is very closed minded when it comes to this word called “feminism”. Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes; it is not a word that women use to define themselves as people who are against men but rather people who want the same opportunities and rights as men. Being a woman alone is hard work; we are expected to look pretty and stand tall , know everything yet be ignorant, have a perfect body and clear skin, take care of a man, the children, the house, and be dependent on a man yet have an independent mind set. It’s all a big contradiction . But how does feminism affect African -American women? Do African American women face the same problems

as the other races? Every woman’s story is different.Every woman has to face different challenges and obstacles and the sad part about it is that race plays a big factor in how their day to day life will go. The whole reason for the feminist movement is to get equal rights, but how different is that goal, or the process to achieve it, for black people?The battle for equality began a long time ago with the civil rights movement. Black men and women marched and were jailed all for equality and, although that was fifty years ago, a lot of progress still needs to be made. This is still a close minded world that we live in and there are still issues with equality in America. There is still the fight for equal rights not just for women in general but for black women. Black women are deserving of equal rights,both in regard to our gender and our race.It has not always been easy for black women to make it in our society.But what will it take for America to get there?
When you look up what the black feminist movement it says that it is a “school of thought which argues that sexism,class oppression,gender identity and racism are inextricably bound together”(womenspeak.bk)
Time and time again there have been barriers set ,trying to hinder them from reaching their goals.We have to be twice as smart, twice as fast,twice as prettier or thinner just to get a ounce of what is handed to other women.They are looked at as the underdog simply because of the color of skin. In many cases black women say that they feel no need to go to the feminist rallies that are held across the world.They feel as if the problems that are being addressed have no relation to the problems they face everyday. On one hand black feminists argue that the ins and outs of sexism makes the experience of black women different.Some of America’s most well-known feminists were unfortunately racist.In the early nineteen-hundreds Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the American suffrage movement, expressed anger over the fact that white women were denied the right to vote while “degraded black men” were given the opportunity to line up at the polls.Another suffragist,Frances Willard,refused to support the prevention of lynching in the South because she believed that black men were “drunk menaces” who were collectively guilty of raping white women.Moreover, white women leading equality campaigns in Washington, D.C blatantly requested that black suffragists walk at the back of the parades.As a result, some black women chose not to march at all,refusing to participate in yet another form of segregation.White feminism is very real as well, it puts women of color in a margin.White Feminism fails to give feminists of color a platform to discuss how racial inequality relates to gender inequality.It consistently reminds us that beauty standard in our culture remains thin,blonde,and white.Faced with the sexism of black men and the racism of white women, black women in their respective movements had two choices: they could remain in the movements and try to educate non-black or non-female comrades about their needs, or they could form a movement of their own. The first alternative, though noble in its intent, was not a viable option. While it is true that black men needed to be educated about the effects of sexism and white women about the effects of racism on black women's lives, it was not solely the responsibility of black women to educate them. Noted Audre Lorde:”Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap of male ignorance and to educate men as to our existence and our needs. This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors to keep the oppressed occupied with the master's concerns”(feminismtalk.com).Now we hear it is the task of women of Color to educate white women-in the face of tremendous resistance-as to our existence, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival. This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought. In light of these facts, the women decided to forge their own movement, the Black Feminist Movement .White Feminism is present in Hollywood,our government and the internet.In addition to the excluding women of color from feminism, it excludes women who aren’t straight or able-bodied as well.
Often, women of privilege do not even realize that they’re excluding other groups.This is not an excuse for their behavior,but it is a chance for women of color to honestly tell feminist privilege how their lack of self awareness affects other women.By helping each other recognize that women of different races sexual orientations,and socioeconomic statuses experience gender inequality differently we can all become more inclusive feminists.Because of the tension between themselves and White Feminism many women of color do not even like to call themselves feminists.In fact women of color are uneasy about identifying as feminists.This does not mean that black women aren’t lobbying for equal rights across the board; we just can’t ignore the racism in the movement’s history. These feelings aren’t new.In the 1980’s when Gloria Steinem was the poster child mainstream feminism, women of color were birthing the “Womanist and Mujerista”(blackandwhite.sim) movements in response to being left out. Alice Walker an African American feminist leader wrote in her book “In Search of Our Mothers Garden”that a “womanist” as black feminist or feminist of color. In the book she author elaborates on what it was like for her to go through her trials at a young age.She explains how she saw her mother work tirelessly as a seamstress for a all white family.She says”I never will understand why my mother never stood up to them when she had the chance ,they treated her so wrong and degraded her as if she were not a human at all”. Many of the movements that were started in the earlier centuries are still around today. However many women of color can not identify with these groups so they feel like they have no place in the world of feminism.Knowing that women of color feel like the have no place in the world is hard enough but knowing that they feel as if they have no place as a woman to express themselves is a hard pill to swallow.It does not make sense how we can always say that we are about equal rights and equality to all yet have our feet on the necks of the ones that need the most help. African Americans just want to be heard but not only that they want people to listen and understand that not only do they face the same problems as you but they have faced them longer. They also do not want to be spoken for , no one understand their struggle except for them.
Building a Black Feminist Movement was not an easy task.Despite the need for such a movement, there were few black women in the early 1970s who were willing to identify themselves as feminists.Barbara Smith articulates the reservations of many black women about a
black feminist movement:” Women of all races,classes, nationalities, religions, and ethnicities are sexually oppressed; black women are no exception”(equalwomen.edu).Upon further examination, the other myths prove to be false.

“Racism and sexism must be confronted at the same time; to wait for one to end before working on the other reflects an incomplete understanding of the way racism and sexism, as forms of oppression, work to perpetuate each other” (blackfeminism.library). Black feminist struggles against institutionalized, systematic oppression rather than against a certain group of people, be they white men or men of color.While it often requires no stretch of the imagination to infer man-hating in some early (and some recent) feminist writings, the goal of feminism is the end of sexism. It is only a sane response of an oppressed people to work toward their own liberation. Finally, the assumption that feminists are nothing but lesbians reveals the homophobia which persists in many black communities as well as a misunderstanding of both lesbians and motivations for joining the feminist movement”.For a single movement to deal with all of the issues listed requires multi-focused, strategic action, which is exactly what was needed for black and Third World women”(blackfeminsim.say). It was important for black feminism to address the ways that racism, sexism,classism and heterosexism all worked to perpetuate each other. In these two definitions of black feminism/womanism, one can see the complementary nature of one's personal life in relation to one's political life. From the personal, the striving toward wholeness individually and within the community, comes the struggle against those forces that hinder individuals and communities unwhole. The personal is political, especially for black women.Black feminist writings were to focus on developing theory which would address the simultaneity of racism, sexism, heterosexism,and classism in their lives. In addition, the

audience of these writings was to be black women, rather than white feminists or black male activists. As mentioned earlier, to continue to address the oppressor's needs would be a waste of valuable energy.
Black women needed to develop a critical, feminist consciousness and begin a dialogue which addresses their experiences and connected them to a larger political system. Black Feminism is a movement that has moved through generations and is motivating not only women but people throughout the world. The problem against black women is far from over but in the end it can only go up from here. It is not something that you can fix overnight but it takes time. With the help of you we can change the world & give justice,peace and equality to all genders,races, religions. It starts with you but it doesn't end there. A nation divided is no nation at all