Ain't I A Woman: Black Women And Feminism Quotes
"Books brought adventure, new ways to think and be. Most importantly they brought a different perspective, one that almost always forced me out of my comfort zones."
"Before I could demand that others listen to me I had to listen to myself, to discover my identity."
"My efforts to understand those differences, to explain and communicate their meaning, lay the groundwork for the writing of Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism."
"I cried as she cried. We read her seminal work I Stand Here Ironing and I began to see my mama and women like her, in a new light."
"Our silence was not merely a reaction against white women liberationists or a gesture of solidarity with black male patriarchs. It was the silence of the oppressed."
"Sexual lust originated with her and men were merely the victims of her wanton power."
"The black female slave lived in constant awareness of her sexual vulnerability and in perpetual fear that any male, white or black, might single her out to assault and victimize."
"The rape of black women by black male slaves is further indication that, rather than assuming the role of protector, black men imitated the white male’s behavior."
"We could not form an accurate picture of woman’s status by simply calling attention to the role assigned females under patriarchy."
"Black women had been asked to fade into the background—to allow the spotlight to shine solely on black men."
"On a farm in a moment of crisis... it was woman’s work and therefore impossible for him to undertake."
"Enslaved black females did conform to existing sex-role patterns that granted men higher status than women."
"Christian slave women resolutely believed that it was natural that they be subservient to men."
"In so doing, they were merely imitating the behavior of white mistresses."
"Legally and economically the husband/father controlled the family, but rhetorically the vocation of domesticity gave women the domestic sphere for their own, to control, and influence."
"Misinformation began circulating when scholars shifted the burden of responsibility away from the institution of slavery and its white supporters onto black people."
"The women say that they never mean to do anymore outdoor work, that white men support their wives."
"We are fighting a terrible battle... on the one hand, we are assailed by white men, and, on the other hand, we are assailed by black men."
"In these streets out there, any little white boy... sees me and leans out of his car and yells—'Hey there, hot choclate!'"
"The myth of the black matriarchy helped to further perpetuate the image of black women as masculinized, domineering, amazonic creatures."
"In their private lives, black male activists and political leaders demanded that their wives assume subordinate roles."
"Black woman feminist Mary Church Terrell recorded in her diary that her activist lawyer husband desired her to play no role in political affairs."
"Nineteenth century black male leaders like James Forten, Charles Remond, Martin Delaney, and Frederick Douglass supported the efforts of women to gain political rights but they did not support social equality between the sexes."
"Southern racists and black activists looked at women in similar terms. Both viewed the female as a second sex with distinctly limited privileges."
"Black women wanted to assume the 'feminine' role of homemaker supported, protected, and honored by a loving husband."
"White and black people have interpreted white employment of black women in domestic service jobs while refusing to provide jobs for black men as an indication that they favored black women over black men."
"Black men who absorbed the values of middle class white patriarchs have been most eager to accept the emasculation theory, as they are the men who feel most crippled by the racial hierarchy in American society that has traditionally denied black men unlimited access to power."
"The American male looks to his breadwinner role to confirm his manliness, but work itself is fraught with de-humanizing—i.e., unmanning— influence."
"Many black men who express the greatest hostility toward the white male power structure are often eager to gain access to that power."
"Men of all races in America bond on the basis of their common belief that a patriarchal social order is the only viable foundation for society."
"When the women’s movement began in the late 60s, it was evident that the white women who dominated the movement felt it was 'their' movement."
"They urged black women to join 'their' movement, but in dialogues and writings, their attitudes toward black women were both racist and sexist."
"It took the form of simply ignoring the existence of black women or writing about them using common sexist and racist stereotypes."
"The white American woman’s experience is made synonymous with the American woman’s experience."
"The force that allows white feminist authors to make no reference to racial identity in their books about 'women' that are in actuality about white women is the same one that would compel any author writing exclusively on black women to refer explicitly to their racial identity."
"It is the dominant race that can make it seem that their experience is representative."
"White feminists who claimed to be politically astute showed themselves to be unconscious of the way their use of language suggested they did not recognize the existence of black women."
"Racist and sexist patterns in the language Americans use to describe reality support the exclusion of black women."
"For them, it served two purposes. First, it allowed them to proclaim white men world oppressors while making it appear linguistically that no alliance existed between white women and white men based on shared racial imperialism."
"Had feminists chosen to make explicit comparisons between the status of white women and that of black people, or more specifically the status of black women and white women, it would have been more than obvious that the two groups do not share an identical oppression."
"I think a Black female can be one of the greatest assets in the revolution or in the struggle."
"Black women have a history of perseverance and strength."
"Misogyny was an integral part of Black Macho."
"The American public was not willing to see the 'political' Angela Davis."
"Contemporary black women who supported patriarchal dominance placed their submission to the status quo in the context of racial politics."
"Change occurs only when there is action, movement, revolution."
"The concentrated focus on black anti-feminist thought was so pervasive."
"For every black anti-feminist article written and published, there existed a pro-feminist black female position."
"Feminism is not simply a struggle to end male chauvinism or a movement to ensure that women will have equal rights with men; it is a commitment to eradicating the ideology of domination."
"To me feminism is a commitment to reorganizing U.S. society so that the self-development of people can take precedence over imperialism, economic expansion, and material desires."