The Dcul3l; Minority
By Joy McNeil
Since Plymouth Rock so conveniently
landed on every person of color, race con
tinues to be a strong, dividing factor.
The Civil Rights Movement blazed a
trail to begin working toward equality. The
race struggle has been and will continue to
be a strong force throughout the world.
man with her to get a fair deal on a car?
Who said God was a man? Why aren't we
learning about more women pioneers in
our schools? Why aren't there more com-
pany-sponsored day cares and supple
ments for women who want a career and
family? Why is it considered normal to see
scantily clad women in music videos or to
hear degrading lyrics on the radio? Why
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Blacks have worked tirelessly in their
efforts to elevate from second-class citi
zenship. But the question remains: What
about women ?
At an October Black Student Movement
meeting, the Celebration of Black
Womanhood Committee did skits about
issues affecting black women. One of the
questions that surfaced was, "Harder
struggle: Being black or being a woman?"
On the surface, the question seems confus
ing. Because I am a black woman, how can
I look at the two separately? However, it's
a question worth exploring, since we, as a
people, seem to get too caught up in the
race that we sometimes overlook or over
simplify gender struggles.
Questions: How many women profes
sors are on this campus (T.A.'s do not
count)? Why do people look down on
women who advocate feminism? Why
should a woman have to resort to taking a
don't police ever respond quickly or effi
ciently to calls of spousal abuse? Why do
young women have to resort to having
babies to find love? Why are women still
being paid 70 cents on the dollar for what
a man in the same line of work makes?
Why are the overwhelming majority of
welfare recipients women? Why can't a
husband take his wife's last name?
The questions were posed for the sim
ple fact that many people think that
women have no struggle. There are many
struggles that women face every day. The
struggle itself comes from lack of choices
or control over decision-making at the
highest levels.
Black women, in particular, have been
plagued by the questions I posed. We are
being heavily shunned because of our so-
called 'attitude' problem. Yet, when a man
goes home to mamma and hears the same
'attitude', she's considered a strong
woman.
Many black women are raising children
alone. Now, black women are overwhelm-1
ingly plagued with AIDS. There are many!
babies having babies. Many young black
women have to go to work to support
their families, haunted by a vicious cycle of
blue-collar labor and little job choice or
advancement.
There is a struggle to be taken seriously
in the world, and there have not been
enough studies conducted about
black women's experience. Moreover,
history seems to skip the contribu
tions of black women as if they do not
exist or just are not relevant to the
fabric of society.
Many women put their issues
aside to fight for the race, and many
women don't understand how their
experience is unique and important to
the race. What can be learned from a
woman is how to survive in a society
where your physique can be the
deciding factor in getting a job or
being an outcast. A woman can tell
you how she survived watching fami
ly members go to jail while she stayed
at home, still a kid herself, and raised
her siblings. A woman can express
how she deals with seeing her broth
ers walk on by because she isn't light
enough, submissive enough, or the
right color all together.
Inside the race there are many
issues that cannot be ignored such as
self-hate and classism. However, woman
hood is an issue that blacks tend to stray
from discussing, unless there is a criticism.
It's as if womanhood is a condition, and
manhood is the standard.
Therefore the original question,
"Harder struggle: Being black or being a
woman?", is not one with a clear-cut
answer. It is my experience that being a
black woman shapes my experience as a
person. I can't talk about being black with
out talking about being a woman. Both
form the core of my existence.
The trick to the debate over race is not
to assume that everyone has the same
experience, because a black woman's expe
rience in society is different from a black
man's experience. Though different, they
should be equally valued and not broken
up to cause more unnecessary divisions.
Let's work on strengthening the race
through understanding and appreciating
different experiences.
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Black INK