Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference by Audre Lorde
This work discusses and analyzes American society and gives a voice to the oppressed and objectified groups within it from the perspective and experiences of a black, lesbian, feminist woman. Lorde explains how there is a “norm” that exists that widely excludes and displaces members of our society who are not white, straight, young, male, or financially stable. The author states, “Certainly there are very real differences between us of race, age, and sex. But it is not those differences between us that are separating us. It is rather our refusal to recognize those differences, and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation” (Lorde, p. 115). By saying this, Lorde points out that the oppressions can never be corrected if acknowledgement is never given to implications of difference. Something that is also talked about by Ijeoma Oluo.
So You Want to Talk About Race | Google Talks by Ijeoma Oluo
In this video, Ijeoma Oluo introduces her book, shares her personal experience with racism as a woman of color in the United States, and analyzes the answers behind the question- Why is it so hard to talk about race? Oluo’s words were very moving when she described our society as one that was “defaulted for whiteness” and how ignoring difference or the topic of race is impossible for people of color (Oluo, 2018). This work made me further realize the privilege that I posses as a white person who is not expected to or burdened with the responsibility of stretching out and bridging the gap between myself or peers and those who have oppressed or harmed us like Lorde spoke about in her work.
The Combahee River Collective Statement | 1976
The Combahee River Collective Statement defines and discusses the political and social struggles and stances of black women. In this work, difference and the implications of difference are acknowledged. The statement reads- “The major source of difficulty in our political work is that we are not just trying to fight oppression on one front or even two, but instead to address a whole range of oppressions” (1975). This gave me a whole new perspective on black feminism because I realized that there are lines of separation even in groups of people that seem to be united-like sexism between black men and women or racism between feminist. This statement made it even more clear that ignoring the real problems behind oppression only perpetuates the system.
One idea that stood out to me from The Combahee River Collective Statement was about how the oppression a black woman in America faces is different because they face oppression from multiple difference sources. Tupac seemed to be commenting on this same fact in his song “Keep Ya Head Up”. Tupac was an activist and wrote songs like this one that often commented on social and political issues among the black community. In this song, I can relate it to this week’s reading because he is asking why black men are treating black women so poorly when they should be united together.
“You know it makes me unhappy?
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy.
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?” (Tupac)
KEYWORDS
DIFFERENCE, OPPRESSION, RACE, SEX, CLASS
QUESTION: Why do you think it's hard for our society to talk about race and how do you (or would you) deal with the social affects that often follow hard or ill-received conversations?
I think it’s hard for people to talk about race because some people simply don’t see why some people still talk about race. For example, slavery happened so long ago, and people have the thought of “Why can’t these people just let it go? It’s not like there slaves anymore.” And them you have some people who just think talking about the problems with racism is simply not their fight. Then you have other people who aren’t comfortable with talking about race because they are tired of having to continuously address the problems of race and nothing is being done about it.
I think race is a hard subject for most people because of their mindset. Most people think that since ” its not as bad as it use to be ” there’s nothing to really talk about. Some people cant handle the tension if the conversation happens to go left , they might not be able to handle it. Some feel strongly and some are shutting it out as if there hasnt always been a problem throughout all of our lives whether it’s big or small.
I think race can be a difficult subject to talk about for multiple reasons. I think there are people who don’t want to face any of the injustices that occur. Others may see it as a sensitive topic based off of personal negative occurrences in the past. There are also some people that are insensitive about the topic and will continue to remain in their ignorance. With so many different conflicting views and intents, it can be hard to have a fruitful conversation about race in the eyes of society.
Good afternoon and great work!
I believe that society merely doesn’t want to acknowledge the issues at hand. They want the past to stay in the past and believe that things have gotten much better when racism is still rampant in today’s world. The conversation about race is hard because of this, and those who do acknowledge things are silenced or shut down because they won’t agree with the other side.
The most important part of a conversation is listening. I think it is hard to talk about race because people do not actually want to listen. They assume they know enough and are okay with the choices that they already make. Also, at what point in history would we start this conversation? I would want to start the conversation with how I am being affected today and give historical examples of how the black community has been oppressed. I would hope the person I am having this conversation with understands that not every situation applies to everyone because that could cut down on the conversation being ill-received. A talk about race can not be completed in one sitting, however, it is important to make small efforts when we can.
I think the reasons it’s hard for people to talk about race are numerous and varied based on where they are in their personal experiences. For some, it’s hard because they know the systems are rigged and they don’t know what they are supposed to do about it. Others, like Lorde said, don’t want to believe that the nation they were told was the best on earth is built upon a corrupt system and feeds on inequality — the wealth and income gaps, particularly along racial lines, are a real problem. And then there are some who know there’s a problem but benefit from the problem and if they talk about it they are going to have to admit (even if it’s just to themselves) that they really don’t want to do anything about it. Nobody wants to think of themselves as a racist oppressor, and if they don’t talk about race, about oppression, then they don’t have to.