Analysis of the Black Feminist Theory - Essay Example

Black Feminism Introduction The of the District of Columbia is a historically black-dominated (Binder 2). For this sole reason, it is almost inevitable for students going here to have an experience, whether first-hand or secondary, with racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Despite the fact that students are within the boundaries of an educational institution, they are not secluded from the issues occurring outside the school. Such issues include those addressed by black feminists. On a personal note, my major experience with racism at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) has been with professors being denied tenure because of bureaucracies focusing on race and gender. There have been several lawsuits against the UDC on discriminatory allegations. For instance, in 2014, a black professor sued the institution for discrimination against him based on a policy that unjustly subjected African-American professors to higher and more tedious standards than it does on white professors during the application for a tenure or promotion (Collins 238). In the same period, another female professor who worked for the institution for two decades sued UDC after she was denied tenure that was supposedly awarded to a white male colleague who did not have a written scholarship. Such discourse, alongside others like the closure of public schools which appeared to target the minority, dominates social discussions in the Washington District of Columbia. However, while most plaintiffs in discrimination cases are black people, even more cases are filed by black women (Gorski et al. 248). Black women are forced to face the challenges of being black, and the constraints of being a woman in the modern day society simultaneously. This fact has led to the sprouting of black feminism as black women strive to fight for their rights on both levels’ being a woman and being black (Williams 2). According to prominent black feminists, through the propagation of patriarchy, white men have gained the ability to disempower not only other racial groups but also other gender groups (Bobo, Lawrence & Fox 319). By hypersexualizing black women, and portraying black men as instruments of rape, white men achieve ultimate supremacy. This notion has led to strong black feminism movements whose primary objective is to fight for the rights of black women against discrimination based on race and gender (Gorski et al. 249). The best way to achieve this has been to introduce black feminism in educational curriculums, academic discourse, and academic communities in order to empower young girls and propagate a culture against racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. African-American women have struggled with their White counterparts in various political fronts either as a team or against each other. However, the majority of White women have rejected and alienated Black women since time immemorial. For instance, in 1970, White feminists were reluctant in advocating against the political prosecution of Angela Davis. For such reasons, Black women shaped the Black feminist theory to address issues unique to them (Collins 233). The Black feminist theory has played a significant role in talking back or countering racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Black feminism encourages black women to emerge as agents of knowledge (Binder 12). By engaging black feminism in academic discourse, black women have become empowered against oppression since they associate themselves with self-reliance and the power of their knowledge (Gorski et al. 250). Black feminism has been an instrument of social change against sexism and racism by encouraging individuals to change their consciousness and advocate for the transformation of political and economic institutions. The Black feminist theory supports the availability of knowledge for everyone regardless of their race, gender, status or ethnicity. By understanding that knowledge is a significant part of social relations, black feminists incorporate their ideas into an academic discourse to propagate a culture of dominance and resistance against oppression (Gorski et al. 252). Through Black feminism, the needs and challenges of a black woman are placed at the center of discussion in academic communities thus fostering a paradigm shift in the way academicians view oppression (Binder 6-11). This has led to the fabrication of anti-racial policies and laws in educational institutions and governmental agencies. Black feminism has resulted in the acceptance of the existence of race, class, and gender as tools of oppression. By accepting race, gender, and class as tools of oppression, black feminists have channeled their efforts toward distinguishing the different systems of oppression as opposed to adding meaningless variables such as age, sexual orientation, and religion. Once the systems of oppression have been distinguished for any socio-historical context, black feminists understand that discrimination is structured through a system interlocking race, class, and gender. This knowledge has expanded the focus of their analysis of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia (Bobo, Lawrence & Fox 322). This analysis, fed by the knowledge of the systems of oppression focuses more on their interconnection as opposed to the previous norm of analyzing their similarities and differences (Smith 2). The analysis of the interconnectedness of the systems of oppression in academic discourse has led to the assumption that each system of oppression depends on another for it to achieve its objective, with this knowledge, feminists have discovered that battling one system of oppression such as gender discrimination, sheds light on other systems such as racism hence integrated policies can be fabricated to work against them as a unit (Collins 234). Black feminism theory counters racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia in different ways. The experiences of black women as mothers reveal that the perception of heterosexual, married couples with nuclear families and a male breadwinner as a norm is far from the natural, preferred, and universal familial structures (Smedly, Audrey & Hutchinson 2). Black feminism is embedded in specific class and race formations. The black feminism theory places black women at the center of academic discourse dealing with discrimination of different kinds. The focus on black women reveals a lot of information about black women’s experiences hence creates a baseline for questioning Eurocentric masculinist perspectives on the family structure and fabric (Collins 236). Through the actions of black feminists, the fight against racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia has ramified to different fields including the fabrication of scholarships solely meant to counter the aforementioned types of discrimination. Empirical studies indicate that heterosexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination remain largely invisible in educational curriculums. Education is a highly potent tool through which black feminists can fight against racial prejudice and discrimination (Bobo, Lawrence & Fox 318). Educational systems have the ability to change the thoughts and attitudes of people by empowering them and making them capable of standing up for justice and equality. Universities play a critical role in setting up appropriate tones to the public lives of citizens because they are training grounds for proper citizenship (Binder 19). Universities are small-scale models of communal and societal life hence the behavior of students greatly portrays that of the society. One such scholarship is the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. These scholarships are mainly sponsored by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is a nonprofit organization that promotes tolerance and justice by advocating for human rights. The founder of the organization, Simon Wiesenthal, believed in a society with tolerance for differences and respect despite the differences. He also believed that education was the best means of achieving social change (Collins 237). All applicants are expected to demonstrate strong leadership skills, initiatives, and respect despite racial, ethnic, gender, and class differences. The possibility of qualifying for a scholarship fosters a culture of acceptance and respect since students have to demonstrate these virtues if they are to be eligible for the scholarship. In 1988, the District of Columbia’s public school system was on the edge of a controversial issue that had the capability of tarnishing its reputation for the next decade. A group of activists argues that the District’s educational curriculum was biased and centered on European knowledge and teaching styles from the West (Smedly, Audrey & Hutchinson 2). This bias affected the performance of African-American students’ hence necessitating action against it. The group of activists also suggested that some aspects of the educational curriculum in the District of Columbia be infused with African-centered academic materials and teaching methods (Binder 22). The lack of a scholarship program in the district instigated a wave of academic discourse with proponents of scholarships meant to combat racism and other forms of discrimination wanting immediate action from school administrators, and opponents dismissing all requests (Collins 237). The constant wrestle between these two groups culminated in the development of educational programs meant to the perils posed by discrimination especially on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, and class. The University of the District of Columbia took the step of initiating an Afrocentric reform scholarship program. While this was a step towards societal justice and freedom and coherence between the two combating groups, it was of a small scale and the results did not have a significant change in discrimination across the district (Bobo, Lawrence & Fox 320). The school-within-a-school approach of the anti-discrimination Afrocentrist program saw that it only attracted 120 students in a district with more than 80,000 students. For such programs to be successful in combating against racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia, certain academic practices should be encouraged. As opposed to focusing on outright, visible, and overt discrimination based on race, gender, class, or sexual orientation, anti-discrimination academic programs should be created to target covert racism (Collins 238). Statistics indicates that most academic programs focus on overt discrimination actions such as hate speeches, physical violence and abuse against people of certain races, classes, or sexual orientations, and stigmatization. However, focusing such programs on covert discrimination will go a long way in tackling the root causes of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia (Smith 2-7). Even though covert discrimination might be very difficult to identify and thus challenging to address, anti-discrimination programs ought to incorporate initiatives such that make it easier to do so (Binder 24). For instance, universities should strive to eliminate stereotypes by making anti-discriminatory protections more accessible, employing professors from overseas and training students on cultural competency (Taylor, 234). Institutional cultures should also promote tolerance and appreciation that creates harmony and acceptance in a multicultural educational setup. Anti-discriminatory programs should also focus on emerging mediums of discrimination such as cyber-racism. As the name suggests, cyber-discrimination refers to all actions channeled towards making people of a particular race, ethnicity, gender, class, or sexual orientation feel inferior by publishing offending, insulting, humiliating and intimidating materials on the internet (Bobo, Lawrence & Fox 319). One of the emerging practices in education is the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative which allows students to use their mobile gadgets in classrooms to aid their learning and boost their understanding. However, such initiatives should be incorporated into anti-discrimination programs since discriminatory materials on the internet can take many forms such as images, videos, blogs, and comments. Conclusion It is evident that black feminism in not a phenomenon of the modern day society. Black feminism has been existent for over a century and the fact that it is only in the modern day that discourse on discrimination based on sex, race, class, and sexual orientation have gained popularity only recently indicates that the objectives of black feminism are being attained. It is of great importance for black feminism to be incorporated into educational curriculums if a societal balance is to be achieved. Works Cited Binder, A. (2002). Public School Curriculum Controversies: The Case of Afrocentrism and Creationism in the Late 20th Century United States. Department of Sociology, Princeton University Press. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: https://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/conferences/Binder.pdf Bobo, Lawrence & Fox, Cybelle. (2003). Race, Racism, and Discrimination: Bridging Problems, Methods, and Theory in Social Psychological Research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66 (4), 319-332. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bobo/files/2003_race_racism_and_discrimination_with_cybelle_fox_social_psycholgy_quarterly.pdf Collins, Patricia H. (2010). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge,Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston: UnwinHyman pp. 221-238. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/courses/BLKFEM.HTML Gorski, Paul., Davis, Shannon. N., & Reiter, Abigail. (2013). An Examination of the (In) Visibility of Sexual Orientation, Heterosexism, Homophobia, and other LGBTQ Concerns in US Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework. Journal of the LGBT Youth, 1 (10), 224-248. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://www.edchange.org/publications/invisibility-LGBTQ.pdf Smedly, Audrey & Hutchinson, Janis. (2012). Racism in the Academy: The New Millennium. The Commission on Race and Racism in Anthropology and the American Anthropological Association. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://www.aaanet.org/cmtes/commissions/upload/crr_reportfull.pdf Smith, Sharon. (2014). Black Feminism and Inter-sectionality. International Socialist Review. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://isreview.org/issue/91/black-feminism-and-intersectionality Taylor, Ula. (2001). The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis. The Journal of Black Studies, 29 (2), 234-253. Retrieved June 20, 2015 from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2668091?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Williams, Brandi. (2013). Disrupting Discourses of Failure: Counter Narratives of Black Male Students and Academic Success. Syracuse University, Pan African Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Thesis Paper 3, Retrieved June 20,2015 from: http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=panaf_theis Read More