I’m Feminist and I’m black.
It recently was revealed to me in reading a race and
feminist related article that black feminism is an actual sub-genre in the world
of feminism and in the blogosphere in general. Prior to me starting this blog I
had never really come across the title and/or belief system, and in all my
posts I never really felt the injection of race was ever necessary; I wrote/write
about experiences and opinions I felt/feel equally played out for women in
general, not particular sects or races. And with some research and reading of
some proclaimed black feminist I can understand the distinction of black feminism, I realize the differences that they’re arguing, but
I guess I never really faced those issues hence why I never did or really could
discuss them. I see their premise being the struggles faced by black women in
some way or another overshadow and are more intense than that of their white
counterparts but that in general is a very perspective and person specific
baseline. And yes in certain cases you do have disparaging differences between
races as far as economic, social and familial structure go, thus creating new
struggles, which is an inevitable truth. Furthermore the wealth gap between
blacks and whites has nearly tripled in the last quarter century, in favor of
whites and wealth usually being the determining factor for all other factions
of lifestyle like education for example does create an issue. That being said I
do understand that maybe in more than just a few cases; in a lot of cases black
women face different or perhaps a bit more strenuous situations. Now this is
not to say you can’t find poverty stricken families of other races and that
other families aren't struggling to make ends meet; and that’s what I want to
make clear, the censuses only go so far; those stats aren't all inclusive of
every families struggle, those charts don’t incorporate everyone’s situation, whether they’re black or white.
As it goes for myself I don’t see my life struggle any
harder than I would of a white, 18 year female with the same socioeconomic upbringing
and family structure as I have. I live in an upper middle class town, an hour
from NYC, and more than half of my town’s demographic is white. And I think
that inherently puts me at odds of truly
understanding and empathizing not sympathizing
with black feminist. Frankly when I first heard the terminology I thought, “Well
here’s another example of race further dividing a people rather than unifying
over the simple desire of gender equality.”
And then it occurred that being black do I know fall under
the label of: black feminist? Am I supposed
to pick up arms and take on this new sub-culture’s battle cry? And I mean I genuinely
think I can’t, I simply have no understanding or ties to this particular genre
of women. Yes, my complexion is dark but I don’t know what it’s like to
struggle in the black community because I never lived there, I wasn't raised or
reared there. Class oppression, economic and educational disenfranchisement,
finding yourself unattractive or less than because of your dark pigment…those
issues aren't my issues and I’m not saying that I don’t care and that I don’t
want to help alter these situations for the better, but it’s very difficult for
me to completely understand them not going through the experience. I do want the
option of decent education offered to every person: black, white, Hispanics, Asian,
or otherwise and I do want to change impoverished and crime ridden communities
and neighborhoods, these are all things I desire but I’d be lying if I said
they were on the forefront of my mind. And it’s not even that I can’t relate to
the community and the issues as much as I don’t think I should try and act like
I've lived there and that I know that lifestyle. Because in large sense doing
that, acting like I've been there and I know the pain and the difficulties, almost
trivialize the point(s) and the situation(s) that black feminist deem as major issues for black women. They’re certain things taken away from
experiences, that are only gotten via the actually experience, some stories can
be told but others have to be lived and I realized that just because I’m black
doesn't automatically enter me into the black feminist organization.
I want female equality for all females whether black
or white.
Straight or gay.
Rich or poor.
Literate or illiterate.
Whether you have a degree or not you know as a person the
treatment you deserve and the respect you desire. For me I’m not going to bring
race into this blog if I don’t have too, it’s simply a paradox box of political
and racial debates that are too hot for my kitchen(lol). And I am of course
willing to bring publicity and notoriety to causes that need it, and if they so
happen to be geared towards a certain race or ethnicity then so be it, if we’re
going to come together as a gender and achieve equality it would be remiss to
leave women behind.
In writing this post and taking time to grasp the ideologies
of black feminism I understand and acknowledge its existence but I think it’ll
take me a bit longer to truly respect its value and appreciate what it’s doing
for feminism as a whole, if anything. And I question how much it actually offers
to the average black woman, who probably has no knowledge of black feminism,
and what it claims to provide, so it’s a very slippery slope.
As always these are
personal opinions of my own and are in no way written to defame, disrespect, or
trivialize any persons or institutes that might have been acknowledge within
the post.
