Among all the "isms" of American society, the ism of feminist is being introduced to the Black community as one that should be considered and possibly embraced as everyday Black thought. Unsure of the greater public opinion on the issue, Afromerica will explore two theories, one from an advocate of Black Feminist thought and one who questions the need for the concept entirely.

Feminist Contributions to Black Family Life (pro-feminism)
By Carolyn M. West

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Some African Americans express suspicion and contempt for feminist beliefs. Common misconceptions are that feminism primarily addresses the concerns of middle-class white women; that feminists are mostly angry, man-hating lesbians, whose attitudes undermine Black male-female relationships; that feminism isn't relevant to black women because racism is the primary form of oppression they experience; and that black women don't need feminism because they are already "liberated."

Afromerica Interpretation (AI)
Black Women Have No Reason To Be Feminist (con-feminist)

First, feminism in its current meaning is something that women believe in if they feel men are oppressing them. Second, Black men have never had the resources to blatantly oppress Black women, and last, we must understand what brought the feminist mind-set to the forefront from the start.

Originally, feminism was a white woman's grievance. It was they who rebelled against the oppressive rule of the white male. And if anyone had an authentic grievance for female oppression, it should have been Black women not white ones, because Black women were the ones actually reared the children (black and white) and cleaned the toilets. White women raised their voices based mostly on money and power, not equality.

Equality for women gained momentum during the Civil Rights movement when all whites feared they would have to share everything with Blacks. That is actually when white women cried "oppression." The first women's movement for rights came in the late 1800s for the right to vote only because white women wanted to own property and have more power over the laws of the nation. At that time Blacks were not even in the equation - so to speak - when it came to equality.

The author "Ms. West," suggest that among Blacks "common misconceptions are that…black women don't need feminism because they are already 'liberated.'" Who says this? Who believes this? Black women are not liberated in any sense of the word simply because they are Black. They are not free to expand in any area of America life like white males are. In fact, no one - neither Black men, women, nor white women - have that liberation fully.

Thus, there is no real or viable support for suggesting that Blacks have any type of real view of Black feminism simply because it is not even an issue among any secular Black social groups other than the author's own group, which is more than likely the "elitist" group of Blacks.

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But the feminist perspective does not ignore race or class oppression. Instead, by examining gender oppression, it illuminates the multiple forms of oppression, including racism, classism, sexism, and discrimination based on sexual orientation that influence the lives of African Americans.

AI
Feminism alone can never shine light on or abolish other forms of oppression. First come human bondage, then racial oppression, then class oppression, and then gender oppression. And this is how America was built. Therefore, any milestones in the fight for gender equality could never actually lend anything to the fight for human or racial equality without human or racial equality first being dissolved. In other words, Black-Americans must first deal with and defeat racial oppression before discussing gender oppression.

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In fact, however, African Americans have a rich feminist history, and since the appearance of the feminist movement in the nineteenth century numerous African-American scholars and activists, male and female, have articulated a feminist worldview that addresses the diversity and complexity of the black experience.

Today, according to the National Survey of Black Americans, substantial proportions of black men and black women hold positive attitudes about gender equality, even as the responses to specific benchmark of attitudes toward feminism vary based on economic class and level of education.

AI
What is Black's feminist history? Black men never had the resources to oppressed Black women, and from what? The second-rate jobs they got from the white man? Furthermore, how can Blacks have a worldview when their world was limited within the wider white world? Pertaining to the National Survey of Black Americas, who are these people but overly educated extensions of the white worldview. So of course they would slant the stats of gender equality toward an elitist agenda.

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For example, about 50 percent of men and women agreed that sex discrimination was a problem for both black and white women. Women who had a higher educational level and higher household income, and who were politically active, were more likely to view sex discrimination as a problem-evidence, most likely, that their experiences in the work force raised their awareness of gender inequality.

Among men, those who were married and had higher levels of education were also more likely to agree that gender discrimination was a problem. The more limited economic opportunities for their wives, generally speaking, may have raised these men's awareness of sex discrimination.

AI
Anyone who has a higher educational level will get better jobs, mainly in corporate America where white males dominate. If Black men and women of that stature were more likely to view sex discrimination as a problem, it is because they are dealing with the problem face to face everyday, which is white men. And of course in any political arena gender issues will be a factor. If these people had no knowledge of gender inequality before they obtained a higher degree of education and involved themselves in politics, then they were not living in the real world, not in the Black one anyway.

In addition, if the men who were married and had higher levels of education agreed that gender discrimination was a problem, what did they think before then? Could it be possible that they - and all men who currently are not married or have higher levels of education - were focused on the real issue, which is racial discrimination? Does having the knowledge of gender discrimination make racial discrimination null and void, or of somehow now equal importance if any at all?

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Although women as a group were significantly more supportive, African Americans as a whole believe that housework and paid employment should be shared equally. Among women, those born after 1947, and employed women were more likely to endorse egalitarian gender role attitudes.

This finding is not surprising. Working outside the home and coming home to a "second shift" of housework and child-care can be challenging. Among men, those with high black group affinity-that is, feelings of closeness to other African Americans-and men who had contact with unemployment agencies were also more likely to endorse egalitarian gender roles. It's possible that group affinity makes these black men more aware that African Americans share a common fate, and that unemployment makes them more aware of their own economic marginalization. Consequently, embracing egalitarian gender roles may reflect their belief that survival of the group requires men and women to work together.

AI
First of all, no one said women had to work outside of the household. That was their choice. Traditional family values, (and biblical ones) encourage women to be chaste, keepers of the home, and that men and fathers provide for their families. Feminism has all but destroyed traditional values thus if women - any women - feel that a "second shift" is overbearing, it is because of their own doing. Not because men have forced this burden on them. It is a catch 22 for men.

As far as "group affinity and these Black men" are concerned, confined to ghettos was and is more than enough to get acquainted with and share a "common fate" with other Blacks. If a study had to be conducted for these findings, the researchers had nothing more to do with their time and have no real view of life whatsoever. When the popular saying "it takes two to make it" took root in the Black vocabulary as a proverbial concept, no one had to question whether or not an egalitarian lifestyle should uphold the Black family, they knew it. But that does not make feminism a contribution of Black advancement.

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Taken together, the findings indicate first, that both black men and black women generally recognize sex discrimination exists significantly, believe in the importance of equal gender roles, and endorse political activism to reduce gender discrimination. Secondly, they show that African Americans' support for feminism is influenced by such factors as gender, age, income, education, marital status, experience with racism, and even contact with public service agencies. Thus, a person's demographic background and life experiences can be a catalyst or a barrier to the development of a feminist ideology.

AI
In other words only elitist Blacks fit the profile. If Blacks opposite this profile of higher educational, social, and political status were to be surveyed, according to the findings based on those who were, other Blacks would not see a real need for feminism and would less likely support or endorse it through political activism. Not because they do not care about women's roles, but because they are faced with more realistic issues such as racial-economic discrimination.

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Are black families truly egalitarian in their daily lives? Certainly, some families equally divide work and family responsibilities. However, in other families there is a contradiction between the expectations of equality and the actual activities performed in the home: the wives work outside the home while maintaining their role as family nurturers and performing household chores.

In contrast, both wives and husbands expected black men to conform to societal expectations of the competent male provider role. However, because economic inequities make this role unattainable for some black men, some wives and husbands act in ways that obscure the reality that the husband is not the primary breadwinner.

AI
Unfortunately most Black families are egalitarian in their daily lives. This is not how it was meant to be thus makes this type of lifestyle in essence dysfunctional. Why complain about a situation that you have put your own self into? When did the purpose become to push for egalitarian families? Why is this type of lifestyle desired? The delusion is so deep-seated that people cannot see that they are actually fighting a monster they have created for themselves.

If nature were to take its course, the family would remain traditional. White America has strayed from the traditional family life, and mind you, that it was not due to any efforts of Black people, but by the efforts of white women and hen-pecked white men. The immorality of America has driven this country into a disillusioned tailspin without end. Everything natural has deminished and everything immoral is surfacing, thus people are complaining about problems they have themselves created.

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This neo-patriarchy must be addressed with deserves caution: It can create a "second shift" of work for black women who, saddled with the "superwoman image," are expected to effortlessly balance full-time employment with housework and child-care. Feminism may also offer black families guidance on child-raising, helping parents better understand how children develop their perceptions of what is "appropriate" and "valued" gender-related attitudes and behavior.

AI
This is how these ideas gain strength. They are taught to children as normal and acceptable and the next generation takes it a step further. Black men do not have a history of gender oppression. If there is documented evidence of this it definitely comes from Black men who have emulated the white man. In Africa, it was never considered "sexism" for the women to carry out normal motherly duties and for the man to provide for his family, it was simply human nature and tradition.

Only in America has family tradition declined as a result of a movement that questions tradition and history. Only from the mouths of women who had to sit and watch an entire race of people beaten and oppressed by their own husbands and brothers have the concept of gender oppression surfaced as a social issue?

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Violence can occur in any family or community, regardless of ethnic background. However, a disproportionate number of African-American families experience domestic abuse. Black feminist researchers have devoted considerable effort to examining how the combination of race, class, and gender inequalities have historically exposed African Americans to many forms of violence-from racially- and sexually-motivated violence of the Slave and Jim Crow eras to contemporary violence in the home (incest, child abuse), in intimate relationships (dating abuse, marital rape), in the workplace (racial and sexual harassment), and community violence. In order to address the unacceptably high rates of black family violence, feminists contend that we must address this web of trauma.

AI
Legal action will never eliminate domestic violence simply because domestic violence is not a legal problem but a domestic problem, therefore it must be met with domestic solutions. How do we address domestic problems using domestic solutions? We search for the principles of domestic life. If roles are switched and values are confused, in addition to outside racial oppression on economic, political, and social fronts, again, how can the feminist concept alone solve the other main problems without confronting those problems first?

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Thus, a feminist perspective has much to offer Black America: It can help us to understand diversity among black families, gender and family roles enacted by men and women, childhood gender socialization, and exposure to violence. In order to heal the dissention in black male-female relationships and strengthen the foundations of our families, there is an urgent need for a critical discussion of gender and sexism in the black community. By beginning a respectful and loving dialogue, feminism can truly become a Black thing.

AI
Feminism should not become a Black thing by any means. We must first heal ourselves as a people, as one. We must first build a foundation and a structure and this can only happen with the family first. If the family is based on what America has to offer now, what can we expect as an end result but dysfunction. No. We must not look ahead in the sense of a feminist worldview, but must look back at the traditional concept of the family, only then can we focus on what is ahead and have promise and substance in our future.

Source article from: Abstracts for The State of Black America 2003, National Urban League