Oppression is Oppresion and it's as simple as that. Why are certain oppresion fighting movements given priority over others. If one individual is oppressed then that affects everyone.
Both of the articles "A Black Feminist Statement" and "Defining Black Feminist Thought" looked at two related yet different perspectives of the black feminist community. Patricia Hill Collins addressed the issue of knowledge within the black community, how important it is for black women to seek that knowledge and the beautiful truth that more and more women are securing it. Despite the fact that "more African-American women [are] earn[ing] advanced degrees"(505), I can not help but think that those achievements will be overshadowed and disregarded because of the many systems of oppression that effect women, as the Combahee River Collective addresssed in their article.
In "A Black Feminist Statment" the collective discussed the numerous systems of oppression that affect the black female community. "We are actively commited to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression and see as our particuar task the development of intergrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking"(312).
In this article they touch on the sad truth that:
**In the fight for black liberation, it is really the men they are seeking to liberate. So it should really be the black liberation FOR MEN. Black women's issues in this case are put on the back burner as race issues are given priority to gender issues.
**Similarly in the fight for women's rights it is actually the fight for white women's rights that they are concerned about. So it should really be the WHITE women's rights movement, as the issues of black women are once again seen as secondary as far as importance.
You would think that a movement attempting to fight for black liberation would include ALL BLACK PEOPLE. You would also think that a movement attempting to fight for women's rights would include ALL WOMEN. Unfortunatly that is not the case.
It is really upsetting, because a lot of black women may think that by being a part of these movements that they are helping the greater cause of all black people or all women, but just as in slavery times, black women are at the bottom of the barrell. Hopefully the knowledge that Collins talks about can be used as a tool to shatter these systems of oppression that the Combahee Collective is fighting against.
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3 comments:
Your points are valid. The movement toward racial equality is about Black men, and the movement toward gender equality is about White women. Perhaps Black women will have to focus their attentions on creating a movement of their own. No more marching for racial equality, no more protesting for gender equality; however we should submerge all of our efforts in to gaining equality for BLACK WOMEN. White women and Black men can do their own thing. They don't want us to do anything more than hold up their signs anyway. It's time we got our own.
I totally agree. Its unfortunate that certain people are left out of an entire oppression. Prioritizing and placing more importance with certain groups defeats the purpose of eliminating oppression. We can't single certain groups out and leave those that are equally or more oppressed hanging on the limbs. Although we shouldn't separate our oppressions, if that's what it takes then we need to unite as black women, or whatever subunit in order to activate change with the personal. Overall oppression needs to be diminished but that goal seems unobtainable at the moment.
And to add to your conclusion, I would hope that black feminism would not take on the same characteristics that the black liberation movement and the "white" feminist movement had. I have always thought of black feminism as the "other" in regards to the two mentioned because from my readings, it was made clear to me always that black feminist are not just trying to liberate black women but they are trying to break down the systems of oppression that hurt people like black women. does that make sense? well hopefully black feminism will grow into the ideal I always thought it embodied already.
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