BLACK WOMEN, AMERICAN IDENTITY, AND THE LAW: HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Jump to Comments

Historically, the knowledge produced about black women has incorporated attributes from both the black racial identity and the female sexual identity. Black women are labelled strong due to their past role as enslaved workers in American society. Since strength is traditionally viewed as a male quality (see analysis of Rosie the Riveter), the label strong allows black women to be black and female simultaneously. The strength of the black identity is constantly at odds with the perceived weakness and lack of control of the female identity. You will remember that the conceptualization of women within the law renders them out of control of the value of their work and the value of their reproductive health (their bodies). The intersection of these often contradictory legal identities creates a legislative conundrum for members of both the black and female identity groups. The Constitution and Black Women There is no direct reference to black women in the constitution. This absence has the effect of rendering black women invisible while preserving them in the law as an identity group with two identities. Black women were conceptualized in the law implicitly within the 19th amendment. The 19th amendment gave black women a legal status as blacks and a legal status as women simultaneously. Similarly, the gender hierarchy preserved in the fourteenth amendment is such that race trumps gender in terms of political identities The implicit creation of this dual identity gives black women a unique legal base upon which they can request legal protections for themselves. They can ask for legal protections secured to the black identity group or they can ask for legal protections secured to the female identity group. What happens however when black women face discrimination on the basis of their racial identity group and sexual identity group simultaneously? Kimberle Crenshaw discusses three such instances in her essay, Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.[1] In all three instances, black women sued for protection from the standpoint of a black female identity as opposed to a female identity or a black identity. The prevalence of discrimination against the black identity and the female identity increase the odds that black women will feel discriminated against at some point during their lives. [2] Black Women, Danger and Justice Who produces knowledge about black women? What is the effect of this knowledge? First, it is helpful to note that the american governance structure produces no direct knowledge about black women specifically. Black women are not present in the constitution, giving them an invisible status in identity politics. Indirectly, the black and female identity groups produce knowledge about black women. Black women are strong and capable workers due to their servitude in slavery. Black women are sexual beings who are not allowed to articulate the value of their work due to the female indentity conceptualized within the constitution, that spelled out no political rights. The combination of these traits often cause black women to be labelled stoic and/or hypersexual. Although stoicism does not logically entail hypersexualism, conflicting labels are common within the black female identity group.For these reasons, many black women choose to produce knowledge about themselves. While it is excellent for those black women who choose to take on this task, the fact that the law does not afford black women more legal protections is an injustice. In my previous site on American infallibility, I wrote that justice and danger are inextricably linked. I also wrote that anyone in a position of knowledge-production was dangerous. The American governance structure produces knowledge about American identity groups. This makes the American governance structure dangerous. Many of the injustices perpetuated in society today stem from a lack of legal protection in the governance structure. It is unfortunate that black women have some of the highest rates of depression, obesity, and HIV/AIDs transmission of any other identity group in the United States.[3] The leaders of the United States should look at the way resources are distributed to various identity groups. They should also consider giving resources directly to dual-identity groups, since it is very likely that members of these groups are looking in multiple places for resources. There is someone out there who will argue this point with me and ask me why black women deserve special treatment. It is not a matter of special treatment, it is a matter of justice. People in the U.S. who are not designated as black or female do not have to think about their “unique identity”, they are simply American. The presence of the black and female identities in the law designate these two groups as unique or outide of the original conceptualization of America. A government that takes the time to extend protection to specific groups should take additional steps to ensure that these same groups are truly receiving the equality created for them in the law. As Tiger Woods said, this idea of equal rights and protections “is not true” and it probably will not be true for some time [mine] but it is certainly “a goal worth working for”.
			[1] Crenshaw, Kimberle. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics. The Black Feminist Reader [2 The dissenting justice in the Plessy v. Ferguson trial said that segregation and the separate but equal doctrine negatively effected blacks hearts and minds. Black women have internalized both racism and sexism as members of the black identity group and the female sexual identity group. The statistics found in item three below speak to the physical manifestations of mental and emotional trauma for black women. The words of the dissenting justice can be found here: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/33.htm [2]This Cender for Disease Control site discusses the current AIDs/HIV health crisis and its effect on black women. The government must think of ways to better serve these citizens. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm. Many black women suffer from mental health and depression and never seek medical treatment. This website discusses depression and mental health and their effects on the black female identity group.http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/666 Many black women suffer from obesity and diabetes as a result of poor health care habits. This article discusses this trend: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MJT/is_3_14/ai_103380683 These ailments can be traced to the idea of strength associated with the black identity and the idea of sexuality associated with the female identity. Black women are encouraged to view ailment as a weakness, a trait that is not associated with the black identity group. They are also encouraged to misuse their bodies sexually through unsafe sexual activity. This is related to their sexual agency as females. [3] Madame C.J. Walker, was an early black women entrepreneur who helped to pioneer a separate industry for black women. More information about her is available at the Black Inventor Online website, available here: http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/madamewalker.html

http://www.duke.edu/~kac18/CritStudies/raceandgender.html

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized