Women Solidarity - Literature review Example

The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle the Masters House by Audre Lorde addresses some of the discriminatory issues affecting women and suggests the best way forward to solve the challenges. She believes that interdependence among women is key to freedom, creativity and the way to creating a woman as a creative being. It is apparent that history of American feminist has evolved from an essentialist notion of womanhood where there was a false unity and solidarity among women was presupposed. Women lives particularly women of color have undergone complexity and diversity as they define themselves in struggle against men and societal believes. Commonality that can unite women is therefore and focusing on context-specific positioning of women are the only tools that women can use to address the complexity of the multitude of oppressions confronting women. Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing by Andrea Smith is among the articles that are geared towards women of color where she describes three pillars of white supremacy as slavery/capitalism, genocide/colonialism and orientalism/ war. The author highlights common problematic trends in women of color that include the organizing principle of shared oppression against white supremacy faulty and assuming experiences with white supremacy and solutions for social change as universal. Smith seems to incite people in terms of racism and the notion that capitalist system ultimately makes all workers become commodities and racism is the hierarchy of commodification. Blacks are depicted to be at the top of the hierarchy while whites enjoy the top of it believing that they are not as much of a commodity as the blacks. The notion that whites are superior to blacks still hurts the current society amid voices calling for equality measures. The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Future of Ethnic Studies by Gary Y. Okihiro This article offers some insight for homophobia and too many writers engaging in celebration of diversity and multiculturalism that he believes as people with good intentions. The truth of the matter is that books written by insiders tend to benefit the natives more than outsiders’ ideas. America, just like any other country are terribly racist full of self-righteous and bitter discourses. Rational use of various kinds of diversity is marred with nasty fights and protective behaviors because bitterness drives all thought out of expression making most people understand that learning institutions do not teach truth. It is worth knowing that ethnic studies is crucial to both abused groups and the so called privileged groups but intellectually, it is represents some of the top diversity in US. Americans have not freed their minds and laws to tackle this issue appropriately. Ethnic studies should not be gotten rid of and therefore women and people of color should be incorporated fully. Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11 from Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects by Amaney Jamal and Nadine Naber . The article is rich with in depth exploration of Arab American and Muslim experiences in the US and intervenes in the ongoing debate over the racing Arabs in America. Racism has been a very challenging and highly provocative topic discussed across the world. Law actions after 9/11 were directed to the groups which were affiliated to the Brotherhood who were Muslims but the movement seek legal protections that recognizes the legality of American constitutional democracy. It is therefore upon Muslims to respond and eliminate the increasing fears of citizens who do know understand them. The nervous response of Muslims to the public question may be attributed to the insecurity that they phased in their initial phase of appearance such as hostile public depictions. American-Muslim needs to behave like serious political actor, which will largely help it in its pursuance to civic involvement. Immigration, Citizenship, Racialization: Asian American Critique by Lisa Lowe believes that understanding Asian immigrants to America is significant in understanding the economy and politics based on racism and foundation of the nation and contradictions that see Asians involved in the workplaces and American markets. It is apparent that national memory haunts the conception of Asian American that go beyond the repeal of individual of the existing laws in U.S where Asians are regarded as immigrants instead of attesting to the absorption of cultural difference into the universality of the national political sphere. It is indeed true that the relationship between Asia and America has never been that of immigrants or the enemy within and the real Americans who are considered superior to the Asians. After the 9/11 attack, Asians have been construed by Americans as dangerous people as it has been done by immigration law that quickly responded to the post 9/11. Relatives of Interned Japanese-Americans Side with Muslims by Nina Bernstein is about a Brooklyn Judge’s ruling that the government has latitude to detain noncitizens indefinitely on the basis of race, religion or national origin, a move that did not go well with Holly Yasui who was an American citizen of Japanese ancestry. Discrimination and segregation based on one’s race or religion are serious vices in the eye of the current civilized society. It is apparent that the current American society is not free from discrimination and that even the arms of the government such as judiciary that are supposed to condemn the acts are spearheading the vice. It may therefore be argued that America is not actually a democratic country as it is believed to be because there are some groups who are still discriminated against based on race, religion and ethnicity among others. Race and Globalization by Ruth Wilson Gilmore Racism has played an important role in the global economy and political divisions in the current society. Geographical boundaries have been created based on different race, ethnic groups or religious differences leaving a particular group of people sharing a common race, ethnicity or religion staying or dwelling in the same place. However, this kind of segregation has encouraged discrimination against some races. The challenge, however, is that there is no legitimate biological basis that can be used for dividing the world into racial groups and that is why there are some knowledge of racism everyday as well as violence. The Four "Is" of Oppression by John Bell, YouthBuild USA It is indeed true that almost every individual has experienced a certain form of oppression regardless of the common things such as racism and ethnicity. However, there are certain groups that are more exposed than others by virtue of their origin, sex or any other difference whether biological or physical. Interestingly, oppression is an ideology imposed on the society either through deeds or laws of the land which has made the society to treat it as normal. For instance, women in certain parts of the world such as Muslims have been made to believe that they are inferior to men and whites have always regarded themselves superior to people of color. Nevertheless, the good news is that some of the oppressed have decided to voice their concern so that they can be heard and freed from oppression. Inaugurating Multiculturalist White Supremacy by Dyan Rodriguez Obama’s administration has made great steps towards stopping different forms of oppression. Racism politics has taken a different turn since Obama’s administration came to power and it is apparent that people are never as racist as they used to be. There is a huge transformation and although there are still some forms of white supremacy, the level of oppression has at least gone down. By analyzing the steps taken by Obama’s administration in trying to unite Americans, the current young generation is not as racist as the older generation. The Colonialism that is settled and the Colonialism that Never Happened by Andrea Smith Colonialism indeed contributed much to the indigenous genocide and anti-Blackness as Smith explains. The colonial powers believed that whites derived their sorry-status that include poverty from their native origin, Africa. They argued that the people of color are properties whether they were owned or not and this was actually the beginning of discrimination. Indigenous people were also finished through genocide because of the belief that they were threat to America as a nation. Indigenous were not even allowed to hold land tittles and were thought to be lazy people who could not make discoveries hence the elements of discrimination. Colonization came with a lot of oppression among the people and introduced inferiority complex to certain group of people. The Forgotten “–ism:”An Arab American Women’s Perspective on Zionism, Racism and Sexism by the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association Arab women in U.S have faced several struggles in their quest for equality and freedom as their Islamic origin is used against them. Western societies such as America have made their laws in favor of their own societies and disregarding other societies such as Arabs whom they feel have inferior policies compared to theirs. Such kinds of oppressions trigger racism ideologies among Arab women. Oppression among Arab women has always taken the form of exclusion and invisibility and less attention is given to the Arab woman’s concerns. American society should revisit their attitude towards Arab woman as a democratic and liberal country. Read More