*sigh*
:ately, I've been reading a lot of articles and posts about what it means to be Black and Woman and the issues that surround that intersection. I guess I'm just trying to figure out others' take on my identity, wondering if my experience is mirrored by anyone else. Or more so, I guess I'm just trying to comprehend my identity, find some common ground, some foundation, some understanding of my own experience as it relates to the greater social group of those both under-appreciated and devalued racially and by gender.
There have been three things I've come across recently that have stuck with me. The first being this quote from an article from Clutch Magazine entitled "Three White Hoes and Betty White":
"Since the days of slavery, and subsequently Jim and Jane Crow, the devaluation of Black women has been systemic, malicious and purposeful.
Why?
Because we are the backbone of our communities. Whether we are sisters, daughters, mothers, lovers or friends — or a hybrid of all five — a Black woman confident in her sensuality, comfortable in her strength, secure in her beauty and in love with herself is perceived as the key to the continued progression and elevation of Black communities, thus rendering us a threat to the intrinsically racist status-quo in this country."
For so long growing up I heard the "Strong Black Woman Mantra". I was taught this: that Black women are the strength of her community. Black women are the glue that holds the family together. This was the reason I was given for why I should be loyal to the race and date black women, the reason I was given for why I should get married and have children, the reason I was even given for learning about my racial history, and for going to school and for bettering myself. Because I would be the strength of my community so I myself had to make myself strong.
My encountering this quote from author Zora Neale Hurston went even further to solidify this:
"Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it's some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don't know nothin' but what we see. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see."
Black women have the burden of being in the minority both racially and by gender, and we have to carry and deal with the constant tugging and pulling of our at times warring identities. I guess we have to be "strong" enough to carry this burden.
But running across this article on the blog What Tami Said about the Washington Post/Kaiser foundation survey on Black women really had me thinking. The survey, which was given to 800 African American women across the country, is being toted as a portrait of African American women today. It's results say (for the most part) that African American women are deeply religious, self-confident, career driven women, who aren't really looking for marriage but don't mind having children.
Tami isn't convinced that this survey is a true portrait and honestly I'm not either. It leaves me with more questions than answers like:
What exactly is our position? Are we actually the backbones of our community? Are we actually the "mule uh de world"? And how did it get to be so? When did we get this burden laid upon us? Is this how we view ourselves or just how society views us? Is this behind our drive to be successful, educated, better, more? Is it behind my drive? And what does this say about our men? About society's view and respect of our men? About how we treat our men and how they treat us? About our relationship dynamics and why they are the way they are?
And why is America so suddenly interested in dissecting African American women when for so long we've been invisible?
*sigh*
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