When examining issues related to gender inequality, race and racial identity matter every time. This dates back to the first Women’s Movement. The popular assumption of the women’s movement is that it was for all women. This is grossly incorrect. Susan B. Anthony, a pioneer of that movement, was a known racist. In fact, the main argument for women’s suffrage was that it would secure white supremacy. If white women could vote for the same racists that the white men voted for, black people would continue to be pressed down. This is also apparent in the 19th and 20th century when white women were placed on a pedestal. They were the picture of virtue, honor, and everything pure. Black men were lynched for even looking at a white woman, and no interracial relationship would even be considered as consensual. Instead, the black man was accused of raping the precious white woman every time. Whereas black women were treated totally opposite, they were raped and impregnated by white men at record numbers without cause or charge against the perpetrator. Clearly, since the beginning, race has mattered when dealing with gender inequality.
After watching, “Rush to Judgment”, I STRONGLY believe that Clarence Thomas would not be a Supreme Court justice if Anita Hill would have been white. She accused him of sexual harassment, but existing stereotypes of the oversexed black woman cut her credibility down to nonexistent. There is a clear gender inequality because here is a powerful man accused of taking advantage of a less powerful woman, but he was not punished. However, the outcome is not surprising considering the race of the parties involved.
It’s the classic “double negative”: black and a woman. Historically, the bottom of the totem pole. The least important. Being a woman is one thing but being a black woman is worse in terms of inequality. The plight of women is not the same across racial lines. Women being stay at home mothers because they weren’t allowed to work is the history of white women. Black women, even today, seldom possess the option of staying at home instead of working.
The inequality against black women exists strongly today. Black women have constantly been left out of the push for equal rights. With the exception of traditionally low-paying jobs like maids and waitresses or the performing arts like music videos and BET, a person would be hard-pressed to find a black face among women moving up in the ranks. Look at Congress. How many women are in the Senate? Sixteen. How many black women? Zero. The first woman Senator was in 1922. The first black woman was in 1993. Obviously there is a gender inequality but racial inequality coupled with gender is astonishing. As hard as it is for a woman to gain equal footing with men, apparently for a black woman, it is impossible.
Instead of the high-tech lynching that Clarence Hill claimed to be a victim of, the case was actually a reaffirmation of inequality among black women. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the perpetrator was a black man. The case acknowledged and confirmed his position above, even if only one step, the black woman in terms of justice and equality.
This does not come as a surprise to me, a black woman. Although black men may claim to be betrayed, held down, usurped, degraded, etc by black women, they still have the clear upper hand. This is exemplified by cases like this one, rap music, and even statistics that they choose to ignore. The triumph of Clarence Thomas clearly validated black women’s skepticism of the justice system, and proved, once again that black women get the short end of the stick more often than not. But maybe that’s just me.
