Oppression… in one form of another has always hindered the success of African American women and unfortunately mostly likely will continue. Even if our dreams come true and an African American man is elected to office… we cannot celebrate the joy of that possible victory because we have to worry about his safety and if someone assassinate him as his wife Michele Obama worries. While reading A Black Feminist Statement in approximately the end of the second paragraph it saddened me and tying in with what I said above that even though women collectively as a whole are trying to get ahead by participating in a feminist movement there still had to be racism and elitism within the movement that would not allow Black Women to have a voice. Just as the Combahee River Collective said… they felt that they needed to develop politics that was antiracist, unlike those of white women, and antisexist, unlike those of Black and white men. I have never understood politics? I just don’t understand why a group would come together to combat one form of racism, sexism, any kind of oppression in general and place another someone else such as women coming together to combat sexism but being racist at the same time?!?
I greatly respect the Combahee River Collective for the values they use. Disagreeing with SCUM Manifesto by trying to hinder one sex in order to bring up another I greatly agree with the notion of politics coming directly out of their own identities rather than working to end somebody else’s oppression. Expanding on this they are not seeking to be compensated as most do for oppression. They just want to be treated as the humans they are. Rather than using resentment against Black men in relation to sexism they remember that they also struggle with Black men in relation to racism. This reading brought about a good point… how are we to struggle against both sexism and racism? We in a sense as Michele Wallace put it bottom feeders. We are about as minority as a person can get. The paragraph that read “The reaction of Black men to feminism has been notoriously negative. They are, of course, even more threatened than Black women by the possibility that Black feminists might organize around our own needs.” Doesn’t that make you think of the MOREHOUSE MAN that gets defensive and often says negative things about a class they know nothing about in reference to African Diaspora and the World (ADW) calling it a man hating class etc…
In the end I still wonder because I agree with every notion, thought, and perspective they mentioned; but, 30 years later we’re still fighting for that same equality. What has to be done? Will we as Black women ever overcome? It makes me think of just as in the reading when I was growing up I was told by my parents, grandparents, aunts, etc. how to act and be a lady. When I think about when I have children and how I am going to raise them I do intend on telling them the same things. I do intend on and letting them know that we are African American and this is what you’re going to have to do in order not to be seen this way by the White man. I wonder should we stop doing that and say screw it and just be “us.” But anymore after we’ve been so socialized and brainwashed who are we collectively as a people anymore. Also did anyone else notice how the Combahee River Collective capitalized Black Man but kept White Man in lowercase letters… ?!?
I greatly respect the Combahee River Collective for the values they use. Disagreeing with SCUM Manifesto by trying to hinder one sex in order to bring up another I greatly agree with the notion of politics coming directly out of their own identities rather than working to end somebody else’s oppression. Expanding on this they are not seeking to be compensated as most do for oppression. They just want to be treated as the humans they are. Rather than using resentment against Black men in relation to sexism they remember that they also struggle with Black men in relation to racism. This reading brought about a good point… how are we to struggle against both sexism and racism? We in a sense as Michele Wallace put it bottom feeders. We are about as minority as a person can get. The paragraph that read “The reaction of Black men to feminism has been notoriously negative. They are, of course, even more threatened than Black women by the possibility that Black feminists might organize around our own needs.” Doesn’t that make you think of the MOREHOUSE MAN that gets defensive and often says negative things about a class they know nothing about in reference to African Diaspora and the World (ADW) calling it a man hating class etc…
In the end I still wonder because I agree with every notion, thought, and perspective they mentioned; but, 30 years later we’re still fighting for that same equality. What has to be done? Will we as Black women ever overcome? It makes me think of just as in the reading when I was growing up I was told by my parents, grandparents, aunts, etc. how to act and be a lady. When I think about when I have children and how I am going to raise them I do intend on telling them the same things. I do intend on and letting them know that we are African American and this is what you’re going to have to do in order not to be seen this way by the White man. I wonder should we stop doing that and say screw it and just be “us.” But anymore after we’ve been so socialized and brainwashed who are we collectively as a people anymore. Also did anyone else notice how the Combahee River Collective capitalized Black Man but kept White Man in lowercase letters… ?!?
1 comment:
This was a great response. I could relate to your feelings about both articles. But I must play devils advocate. I noticed a pattern with all the blogs pertaining to the scum manifesto. Everyone seems to be focusing on the negative rather than the positive (i.e) the purpose of the article. I believe the point of the article was to show how male dominance is not natural, that the scope can be changed in our favor. Now, feminism is supposed to but women in an equal but how can we believe that if we internalize that we were inferior?
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