Klaudette Spencer

Black Women Resist!

By Klaudette Spencer

Graduate Student, Clark Atlanta University

 

    Growing up in a small town in Indiana the sacred hands of a Black woman protected me. Those hands oiled my scalp, pressed my hair and my school uniform, turned the pages of a thousand books as I fell asleep against a beating heart, ushered me to sleep on the coldest nights, and prayed for me when I did not ask. My Bigma, as we called her, was no-nonsense. When I thought the world was crumbling beneath my feet, my Bigma would say to my insistent complaints “words do not equate to actions.” Michelle Obama shared a similar anecdote recently about her late Mother. She said her mother would say to her similar disdain, “Do something!” Hailing from a long line of powerhouse women, often questioned and undermined for their persistence to “do something about it” we must acknowledge the vast and complex history that illuminates a world where we are mistrusted. 

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    During the 17th and 18th centuries, European Enlightenment emerged and paved the way for blazing racism and sexism. Individuals of African descent, women, and many others were cast as inferior by the evolving science of the time. Race was considered a biological taxonomy and Black women were put at the bottom of the hierarchy.   

    In Appropriating the Idioms of Science: The Rejection of Scientific Racism, Stepan and Gilman (1993) center concepts of scientific racism that emerged throughout the western world’s transformational period of enlightenment.  According to these scholars, “[s]cientific racism…provided a series of lenses through which human variation was constructed, understood, and experienced from the early nineteenth century…if not until the present day” (p. 170-171). Scientific racism attempted to indicate that people of color were not intellectually sufficient, and therefore an inferior class. As this new science developed, a blistering sexism was also being conditioned simultaneously. The Doctrine of Separate Spheres emerged, stating that men and women were different and created to serve different purposes (Rosenberg, 1982).  It argued that a woman’s place was in the house, and they did not mean Congress. This new branch of science, which was used to undermine the humanity of many people, also led to a brutal colonization across the world.

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    Sadly, the disproven scientific research of the Enlightenment period is still a pervasive thought in modern times. Just a few weeks ago white nationalist attempted to use an outdated Supreme Court decision stating that enslaved persons were not American citizens in order to argue that Kamala Harris is ineligible to run for President of the United States. It is obvious that the legal question at hand - her right to citizenship is a reflection of the racism rooted in the founding of our country (Kilander, 2024). 

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    Resistance - “the act of fighting against something” or “refusing to accept something” is known well by Black women. Black women, who are all too familiar with the intersection of sexism and racism, have resisted these complex ongoing ideologies throughout history. We have used our voices, writing, and audacious willful acts in a refusal to accept this rhetoric. When the ground shook beneath our feet, we did not lose balance or falter in our pursuits. We did something about it; we turned our words into actions. 

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We ran for office - In 1968, the very first Black woman was elected to the United States Congress. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was a fierce resister of the brutality of sexism and racism. Although many attempted to deter her, Congresswoman Chisholm advocated for civil rights and social justice, becoming a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. And when she saw more changes needed to be made for the betterment of the country she ran for President. Since Chisholm, 33 Black women have been elected to Congress. Despite sentiments of their inferiority, these audacious Black women have acquired enough seniority to chair committees, serve in leadership roles. Similarly, Black women have ascended to the Executive Office and Supreme Court. Each woman after the other willfully resisting the deep- seeded hate that emerged at the same time as progress. They made their voices heard, continued to push the needle forward, and cracked the glass ceiling. They did something about it! 

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    The scientific racism of the past continues to haunt our country. And we must continue to challenge that narrative. We do so when we fight back! Black women are powerful, intelligent, determined, moving, innovative, and audacious resisters. Just as Congresswoman Chisholm ignored the constant badgering of those who demeaned her and deemed her as inferior, we must continue to resist because our lives depend on it. 

 

References

 

Kilander, Gustaf. (2024). Republican Group Cites Notorious Dred Scott Ruling as Reason Kamala Harris Can’t Be President, The Independent, https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-president-supreme-court-b2601364.html. 

 

Rosenberg, R. (1982). Beyond Separate Spheres: Intellectual Roots of Modern Feminism. Yale University Press.

 

Stepan, N. L., & Gilman, S. L. (1993). Appropriating the Idioms of Science: The Rejection of Scientific Racism. The “Racial” Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, 170-93.