Emergence of Critical Race Feminism The socio-historical platforms of racism in America have been rigorously challenged by critical race scholars in an effort to shed light on an ongoing battle between freedom and racism. Critical race feminists, even more so, have grappled with issues concerning interesctionality and womanhood as African American women residing in the U.S.. The struggle of African American women in America is only one of many issues concerning the race factor in our society. More needs to be done through the use of rhetoric in order to educate Americans on the true determent of racial inequalities in America. In light of this issue, scholars have documented law cases that illustrate existing prejudiced incidents to understand Critical race theory’s key concepts include discourse on notions of essentialism, white privilege, institutional racism, and radical critiques that emphasize the implications of racism in America. CRT poses that the oppression of minorities in America is not by chance but a form of systematic deception illustrated through American bureaucracy. Furthermore, such laws and institutions help to empower the white voice by making it increasingly difficult for minorities to attain justice in a legal system that has racist underpinnings. From CRT, however, emerged critical race feminism, a theory that focused primarily on issues of race, gender and class. Critical race feminism first came to prominence after the contributions set forth by scholars like Mari Matsuda, Regina Austin, Adrien Wing, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Patricia Williams seeking to redefine feminism through the experiences of colored women. Furthermore, these authors challenged the theoretical frameworks of institutionalized racism by critically examining the often-overlooked perspectives of black women in law, culture, and society. Additionally, critical race feminism offered women of color newfound recognition under the guise of the term interesctionality (Crenshaw, She expresses her concern for the oppression of Black women in the media due to the constant overlap between prostitution and Black women. In order to make a more appealing case, Clark was forced to distinguish herself from the ‘common’ black prostitute, which ironically placed her in a position to intentionally or unintentionally further perpetuate the common stereotypical assumptions mainstream society has on Black women. Austin expands on this point by calling on black women to form a ‘sisterhood’ that seeks to unify both deviant and non-deviant African American women. She asserts that Black women need to better understand the difference between deviance and difference within their lives in order to create a more united class of African American females. Interestingly, she ends on the notion that she expects change from within by stating, “only we can deliver ourselves into freedom”, in order to articulate the urgency of a collective transformation. Austin’s scholarship, however, touches on a larger scholarly discourse that pertains to the notion of post-colonialism and strategic essentialism in the discipline. Austin does not stress the importance of unity amongst black women under the term ‘sisterhood’ in order to intentionally follow the footsteps of hegemonic western scholarship but rather to
In many contemporary spaces, intersectionality is taught and consumed as a static concept of merely listing identities carried by one person simultaneously. It’s used more often as a checklist than a place of analysis or resistance. However, the use of intersectionality as just an apolitical tool, rather than a theory born from the knowledge of Black women experiencing a “triple jeopardy” of oppression and seeking liberation by deconstructing the institutions that bind them, is reductionist at best. In “Intersectionality is Not Neutral”May communicates that intersectionality pushes us to question and challenge the relatively mundane or acceptable norms in society that lend themselves to a continuous legacy of systemic inequality.
Anna Julia Cooper’s, Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress, an excerpt from A Voice from the South, discusses the state of race and gender in America with an emphasis on African American women of the south. She contributes a number of things to the destitute state African American woman became accustom to and believe education and elevation of the black woman would change not only the state of the African American community but the nation as well. Cooper’s analysis is based around three concepts, the merging of the Barbaric with Christianity, the Feudal system, and the regeneration of the black woman.
What began as a movement in the mid-1970s, is a theory that deals with the interconnectedness of racism and the legal system. Critical Race Theory is a concept created in law schools in the United States during a time when “heady advances of the civil rights era of the 1960s had stalled and, in many respects, were being rolled back” (Delgado et al. 4). The theory now encompasses its ideals into three main “features:”
Andrea Smith’s “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy” introduces an alternative framework for the organization of women and people of color (Smith 67). Such framework is non-singular, contrasting the previous which have proven to be limiting to these groups (Smith 67). Through the discussion of the three pillars which are separate, but interrelated and heteropatriarchy within society Smith provides a helpful starting point for organizers to break from systems of oppression and ultimately deconstruct White supremacy (Smith 73).
Beale, Frances. "Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female." An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought. New York: New, 1995. 146. Print.
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
In Michelle Alexander’s article The New Jim Crow, she addresses the importance of educating people on the harsh reality of racial caste in America. As a civil rights lawyer and with previous work experience at the ACLU in northern California, Alexander knows the importance of getting relevant information to the public in order to inform them of important information. In The New Jim Crow Alexander uses a specific wring style through rhetorical devices to convey her message that the US justice system is turning into the modern day laws of Jim Crow, outlawing African Americans and taking away their basic natural rights while creating a new racial caste system and the possibility of the system to change.
While most pundits of America's social and political discourse are either beating dead horses or tilting at windmills, Patricia J. Williams seeks out the racist, sexist, heterosexist, and classist forces that underlie a number of socio-political pathologies. Williams' regular Nation magazine column, "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" is curious in that it often evokes visceral negativity in casual readers. It certainly affected me that way. At first it was difficult to get beyond the name of her page; thumbing through each issue I sheepishly wondered what this crazy lady would get bent out of shape about this week. Though I generally agreed with her ideas, it struck me that Williams was too radical (as if there really is such a thing in a mainstream media culture that chooses to wear blinders). Williams vigorously uproots conventional wisdom as she strips away the "rich-white-male"-centric viewpoint; power and a voice are given to those who simply are acted upon. Like Howard Zinn who has promoted a view of history through a populist lens, Patricia Williams promotes a viewpoint that examines and judges the treatment of the marginalized.
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
For centuries, the world has witnessed the different peculiar forms of the racism in the form of prejudice and stereotyping. Millions of the people has been haunted by this issue of racial discrimination worldwide. This essay discusses the current issues of racial inequality on the basis of color, race, sex, etc. as well as portraying the real picture of the present United States of America, where the law has come to support and legitimize benefits that accrue to white people only. Claudia Rankine in her poetry ‘Citizen – An American Lyric’ and African American legal scholar Cheryl Harris in her article ‘Whiteness as Property’ develop their arguments about the ongoing exploitation of the people of color and agree that the black community is
In our society of today, there are many images that are portrayed through media and through personal experience that speak to the issues of black motherhood, marriage and the black family. Wherever one turns, there is the image of the black woman in the projects and very rarely the image of successful black women. Even when these positive images are portrayed, it is almost in a manner that speaks to the supposed inferiority of black women. Women, black women in particular, are placed into a society that marginalizes and controls many of the aspects of a black woman’s life. As a result, many black women do not see a source of opportunity, a way to escape the drudgery of their everyday existence. For example, if we were to ask black mother’s if they would change their situation if it became possible for them to do so, many would change, but others would say that it is not possible; This answer would be the result of living in a society that has conditioned black women to accept their lots in lives instead of fighting against the system of white and male dominated supremacy. In Ann Petry’s The Street, we are given a view of a black mother who is struggling to escape what the street symbolizes. In the end though, she becomes captive to the very thing she wishes to escape. Petry presents black motherhood, marriage and the black family as things that are marginalized according to the society in which they take place.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) comes from the scholarship of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) which has observed the continuing domination and power of some groups such males and whites over some other groups and it has argued that political and social change was necessary (Taylor, 2009). Derrick A. Bell, an African American, was the first who had tried to establish an agenda in which colonialism, race, and racism would have an important role in intellectual legal...
CRT or Critical Race Theory is used to analyze literature by looking at cultures and races as a whole. It states that racism is intertwined in our society, and that our culture has racist tendencies. Race has to be looked at as a “formation” in which whites have the highest power. Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” is a great example to use the critical race theory lens on. This story is
In relation to the Critical Race Theory, the idea of the “gap between law, politics, economics, and sociological reality of racialized lives” (Critical Race Theory slides). The critical race theory gives us a guide to analyze privileges and hardships that comes across different races and gender. For example, analyzing how and why a “black” or “indigenous” woman may experience more hardships versus not only a “white” man, but a “white”