--You have tilted the discussion slightly but this one is a good read. The initial discussion seemed to be about gender equality and the alleged negative contributions
of that quest to drug/alcohol addiction, singlehood, loneliness, unhappiness etc.
This one is about mainstream white feminist discourse vs what is sometimes dubbed 'womanist' discourse.
Cool.
GE
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lavonda Staples
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 2:03 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Dr. Gloria,
I am not arguing against anything. I'm trying to point out that the writing/opinions offered by Ms. Adichie are nearly the exact same verbiage espoused during the period leading up to failed attempts at an Equal Rights Amendment in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The rights and privileges, fulfillment of the United States Constitution, sought by those women were not aligned with the needs of common women. The forerunners of that movement, the most vocal and the most seen (i.e. Gloria Steinem) were White, privileged, and very far removed from the daily lives of women of color. There was no component which dealt with rights for Latina women who were at that time heavily involved in hand labour in sweat shops, agricultural labor in the Armerican west and southwest, or their access to medical and educational facilities. Concurrently, there was little attention paid to childcare for the increasing numbers of Black women who would go through the experience of motherhood either alone or with the help of an urban matriarchal system. Additionally, Black Americans faced the freedoms given by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with agricultural and industrial skills. This was truly unfortunate as the advance into the techonological age had already been noted by the American president, Dwight D. Eisenhower (in his "Military Industrial Complex" speech) nearly 10 years prior. Added to that the chaos which marked the transition from the Civil Rights Era to the Black Power Movement and the rising action of the economic crisis which would soon engulf all Americans without regard to race or gender. The rhetoric of the women's movement was exceedingly injurious to Black families as the needs of White women really had nothing in common with the needs of Black and Hispanic women or families. Even up to 1974, Black women were waging fights for simple school houses in their communities (see, "Silver Rights" by Betty Curry - re: education in Sunflower County, Drew, MS). Black women bought into a debate which was not to their advantage. As late as 1974 Black men were still fighting for recognition within the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the UAW (see, "Race, Reform and Rebellion..." by Manning Marable - re: A. Phillip Randolp and Bayard Rustin as paid voices against the causes of Black men in the UAW).
The problem with asking for gender equality between Black Americans at that time is that there was no racial or economic parity. So the tenets of feminism could not be applied and acted as a wedge between Black men and Black women. Until circa 1964, Blacks married and stayed married at higher rates or equal with Whites. The raison d'etre was survival as a community and, in the microcosm, as a family. The White feminist argument, at best, is a selfish individualistic argument (it's my turn, it's all about me, I need to be fulfilled, etc. and on and on). The arguments and debates from Hispanic and Black women was ALWAYS family centered, education as a route for improvement for family, medical access to improve pre-natal, neo-natal, and maternal care, safe and affordable childcare so that the FAMILY could prosper through working more hours or simply working outside of the home. Contemporarily, the authorship of White feminists STILL shows a clear line of demarcation with the very history of minority women. In the last ten years there have been titles such as, "The Second Shift," "The Sandwich Generation." Minority women have ALWAYS worked outside the home or had to pursue labor at home to gain extra funds. Minority women have ALWAYS taken care of parents out of respect and duty to the family system. So how in the world does White feminist rhetoric have any real world utilty to African, African American, and Latinas? It doesn't!
Ms. Adichie, in that short article, was talking very "white." She was speaking as if she had no knowledge of the situation in which her sisters live within. I stand on what I said just like John Henry - like a man who will not be moved: her statements as a celebrated, educated, woman of privilege reflect very little, if any real-world knowledge. They are dangerous to the point of sedition. And she does not demonstrate, not even in the modicum, a working knowledge of the immediate fight of every day needs of women. An immediate need of women in Lagos or Los Angeles, is not to become governor or even mayor. In my opinion, just one voice in six billion, she might listen to the proverb regarding putting out the fire on herself before she puts out the fire on the child. "Herself" might be a collection of needs which include healthcare and education and "the child" in this case, is her associates' political desires.
It ain't what you want it to be - sometimes it is what it is.
La Vonda R. Staples
On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 8:51 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
Lavonda,
That someone should be arguing against equality, whether in terms of gender,
racial or ethnic equality, in the 21st century, is shocking.
Gloria Emeagwali
www.ccsu.edu/afstudy/archive.html
www.africahistory.net
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--La Vonda R. Staples
Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Sciences
Community College of the District of Columbia
314-570-6483
"It is the duty of all who have been fortunate to receive an education to assist others in the same pursuit."
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There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed.
---Mohandas Gandhi
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