Created Concepts of Oppression

African American feminist theorists are constantly proving that experiences of "gender oppression" by women of color are different from those of white women. Gender oppression for women of color cannot be discussed without the inclusion of race and class. Race, class and gender are all created concepts. These concepts were created separately. However, when combined they are the enabling force which produce economic oppression. This article has some very compelling facts which support this theory.
Race is the most dominating of the created concepts. The “Taxonomy of race” was created to produce a justification for “racial dominance.” Racial inequality is one of the reasons that women of color experience gender oppression differently than white women. For example, when white women were forced into the subordinate roles of “childrearing” and “homemaker” they experienced gender oppression. However, they saw their oppression as unequal access to the workforce and not the subordinate role. The establishment of their societal roles were not oppressive to them because they “used their economic power, class, to reassign” most of these roles to women of color. This reassignment was based on race and class.
Class is the most underlying of the practiced concepts. Class creates lines of economic status. Within these lines is the hidden fact that regardless of how high a person of color’s SES is, there will always be a person of color beneath a white person. Based on created racial lines, there should never be a person of color above a white person. However, events in history are “transforming” this fact.