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What was the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas hearing? What is black feminism and how did it play a role in the hearing of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. This research paper will explain the problem of how black feminism played a role in the Anita Hill vs Clarence Thomas hearing. Intersectionality is the first theory I have chosen to help explain the problem. The next theory that will explain the problem of how black feminism played a role in the Anita Hill vs Clarence Thomas hearing, will be third wave feminism. To begin, with we must learn who Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas are. Anita Hill was born in Oklahoma in 1956 and excelled in her studies, gaining admission to Yale Law School and was one of the only black students in her class. Anita …show more content…
The public watched as she restated her allegations of sexual harassment from Thomas. The hearing started with an opening statement from Joseph R. Biden Jr saying “Today, the senate judiciary committee is meeting to hear evidence on sexual harassment charges that have been made against Judge Clarence Thomas, who has been nominated to be an Associate justice of the supreme court. I want to speak very briefly about the circumstance that have caused us to convene these hearings. We are here today to hold open hearings on Professor Anita Hill allegations concerning judge Thomas. This committee handling of her charges has been criticized, Professor Hill made two request to this committee: First, she asked us to investigate the charges against Judge Thomas, and, second, she asked that these charges remain confidential, that they not be made public and not shared with anyone beyond this committee. I believe we have honored both of those request” (United States., & Miller, A. (1994). The complete transcripts of the Clarence Thomas--Anita Hill hearings: October 11, 12, 13, 1991). Many people felt as if the opining statement as if the opening statement was natural and showed no bias to either side, but as the hearing went on the senate showed their true …show more content…
The end of Anita Hill opening statement was powerful but left room for the senate to question her as a person, “It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone except my closest friends. As I've said before these last few days have been very trying and very hard for me and it hasn't just been the last few days this week. It has actually been over a month now that I have been under the strain of this issue. Telling the world is the most difficult experience of my life, but it is very close to having to live through the experience that occasion this meeting. I may have used poor judgment early on in my relationship with this issue. I was aware, however, that telling at any point in my career could adversely affect my future career. And I did not want early on to burn all the bridges to the EEOC. As I said, I may have used poor judgment. Perhaps I should have taken angry or even militant steps, both when I was in the agency, or after I left it. But I must confess to the world that the course that I took seemed the better as well as the easier approach. I declined any comment to newspapers, but later when Senate staff asked me about these matters I felt I had a duty to report. I have no personal vendetta against Clarence Thomas. I seek only to provide the committee with
However, the hardships and misfortunes of other groups of women due to race, religion, sexual orientation, etc are not often mentioned because feminism has a widespread message and definition worldwide. In the United States, black women or any women with darker skin complexions were treated inhumanely and did not, also still today did not benefit from white privilege. As explained, referring back to the era of slavery up until the American Revolution black enslaved women were mistreated due to the color of their skin and they were without a voice because of their lack of power in a society where man had more power over women and blacks were overpowered by those with lighter skin. Overall, it is important to note and realize that all women were subjected to unequal treatment due to many variables, but some women more than others because of certain variables as
In “In Living Color: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi claims that racism still takes place in America’s contemporary society. According to Omi, media and popular culture shape a segregating ideology by giving a stereotypical representation of black people to the public, thus generating discrimination between races (Omi 115:166). In “Bad Feminist: Take One”, Roxane Gay discusses the different roles that feminism plays in our society. She argues that although some feminist authors and groups try to create a specific image of the feminist approach, there is no definition that fully describe feminism and no behaviors that can make someone a good feminist or a bad feminist (Gay 304:306). Both authors argue
The article “Interracial Rape Cases in North Carolina” reminds me one of Harper Lee’s famous novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” as Tom Robinson was accused from raping Mayella. The entire trial, to the guilty verdict, were all racially biased. Yet, there is a long way to go for the world to get rids of its injustices, and injustices will comply with the society for many years to come. Race and inequality are often related together because of the racial segregation in the 1800s. During that time, racial inequalities had increased dramatically. To study this scenario, the article “Interracial Rape Cases in North Carolina” portrayed several evidences of how blacks slaves were falsely accused rape; they seem hopeless and eventually sentenced to death. Yet they did have evidences to prove them innocent, however, everything does not go as was hoped. What it was like
Beale, Frances. "Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female." An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought. New York: New, 1995. 146. Print.
Being an African American male I have no clue of what women had to go through in order to be treated fairly, like how women had to fight harder than the men did because when black people were given the right to vote it did not include women. Today as a young black man and being raised by a single black mother I see the struggle that she goes through each everyday for the color of her skin and the fact that she is a women.
... further legislation. Although McCaskill is noble in her actions, her bill does not go far enough to stop sexual assault in the military.
Before stepping into the critical analysis of the speech, it is important to understand the historical setting from which the speech arose. The context can be briefly summarized as the following. In 1995 Clinton had a sexual relationship with one of his White House interns by the name of Monica Lewinsky. On January 17, 1998, a sexual misconduct lawsuit against him was filed. Clinton then quickly delivered a forceful public statement that he did not have a sexual relationship with the woman. However, unknown to President Clinton, Linda Tripp, one of Lewinsky’s associates, had recorded several conversations of Lewinsky describing her affair with the President. In the seven months afterwards, Kenneth W. Starr, the StarWhitewater independent counsel, had began collecting evidence of the affair and carrying out investigation about Clinton’s obstruction of justice. Evidence of Clinton lying under oath would be grounds for impeachment. On August 17, 1998, Clinton decided to a...
The Conflict Perspective, in itself, focuses on the ruling class and the ruled class. In the perspective, the ruling class defines what is deviant based on how it helps them. In this case, the ruling class would be defined as upper-class and white. The ruled class would be defined as lower-class and black. This is illustrated through the emphasis placed on the impact of the differences between the woman who was raped and the young men who were accused of raping her. The woman who was raped was a white and wealthy business woman who worked as an investment banker on Wall Street. The young men who raped her were lower class, black, and from Harlem. Due to these extreme differences, there was immense media attention. The media was often one sided and viewed the young men as criminals and animals in order to make them social pariahs. The media and upper-class wanted to make an example of them to reinforce the laws and separate the two groups even further. Also, the court system had the woman give a testimony despite the fact that she could not remember anything that happened that night. The documentary stated that her testimony was simply used to “pack an emotional punch,” and make the young men look even more inhuman. Finally, when the men were exonerated, the media barely covered it. The news was no longer about showing the lower-class where they belonged. Anything
Walking into the auditorium, conversations about the excitement of the Brown sisters giving a talk about the historical decision, politics, sports, and other everyday conversations could be heard. The auditorium filled with people of different ethnic groups, mainly Caucasians but several African-Americans came to hear the true story behind Brown v. Board of Education. I would have to say about 60 percent of the people were Caucasians, 25 percent African-Americans and the other 15 percent were either Asians or Hispanics. People of all ages came to hear what the Brown sisters had to say; some as young as the age of seven and some as old as in their late 60’s. Children, undergrad students, grad students, professors, as well as people with other professions filled the auditorium, with undergrad students making up most of the people who attended. However, the auditorium was not full or as filled as one would expect knowing that the Brown family was going to discuss the Brown v. Board of Education decision, a disappointing reality.
Females have had over 400 years of injustices in this country, and as soon as this hearing starts people pretend to care about them, and Anita Hill. Throughout history black females have been seen as property, and sexual objects for all men. Way back in the day there was no laws against rape for black women. This has brought upon a negative connotation for black women. They are looked upon as “less” by many people, not only by whites, but even by African American men. This is not just how they have been depicted, African American women have actually been used in this way. Black women are used to the oppression, Barbra Smith states, “I was furious by how Anita Hill was treated by the Senate, but as a black feminist, socialist, and a lesbian I was not particularly disillusioned or surprised” (Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around par 4). For so many years Black Women have been treated as lesser, so it was not a surprise to them when Anita Hill was also treated like this. She was being treated just like any other black women would have been. The sole fact that women aren’t even surprised at how Anita Hill was treated by the Senate is enough to show that there is a problem with gender inequality in the United States of
Throughout history and in present day, there has been a large neglect of Black Women in both studies of gender and studies of race. Combating both sexism and racism simultaneously is what separates Black Women and our history and battles from both white women and black males-combined with what is discussed as a triple jeopardy- race, sex and socioeconomic status provides black women with a completely different and unique life experience when compared to, really, the rest of the world. Beverly Guy-Sheftall discusses the lack of black feminist in our history texts stating,“like most students who attended public schools and colleges during the 1950s and 1960s, I learned very little about the involvement of African American women in struggles for emancipation of blacks and women.” (Words of Fire, 23) I, too, can agree that throughout my education and without a Black Women’s Studies course at the University of Maryland I would have never been exposed to the many founding foremothers of black feminism. In this essay, I will discuss the activism, accomplishments and contributions of three of those founding foremothers-Maria Stewart, Anna Cooper, and Ida B. Wells.
The theory of intersectionality posits that black women stand at the intersection of race, gender, and class, which form a matrix of oppression. In other words, black women, along with black men, are systematically oppressed due to their race. Because race and class are inextricably linked, black women experience class discrimination along with black men. However, they are also oppressed because of their gender, and this oppression can come at the hands of both white men and black men in their
Many black feminist movement organizations were ran by women in the background, unless there were strictly constructed for women. Interstitial politics is a term that is used in Springer and it means coveying two meanings for black feminists and their organizations. Black feminist took great pride in their organizations, but there did not let being in an organization confine them to only being activist when they were working with their organizations. We must remember that there is a huge distinction between the black feminist movement, black feminist organizations and black feminist
In the “Declaration of Conscience,” Margaret Chase Smith addresses the American public and the United States Senate during a time of political unrest. Communist accusations and a “national feeling of fear” has brought upon this speech. Even with an upcoming election, the Republican Party decides a freshman woman senator would speak to the public, an uncommon practice at the time . In this paper, I will argue that Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience” proves her credibility as a woman politician. Smith uses a masculine tone, simple diction, and repetition to prove to Americans and the Senate that she is a strong political figure.
Multiracial feminism addressed the fact that racism was the core of oppression for most women of color. Along with racism it also addressed class, gender, and sexuality. All of the interlocking oppressions worked together against women of color which made necessary for their own brand of feminism. The mainstream feminism associated with Second Wave did not take into consideration any of these other forms of oppression for women. This lead to Black, Latina, Native American, and Asian groups of women to start feminist organizations that individually addressed their unique struggles as women in America. For example, in early 1970s Black women formed the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) which focused solely on the issues of black women such as stereotypes of black women in the media, discrimination in the workplace, and Black women’s self- esteem (Thompson 53). Groups such as NBFO helped to serve antiracist agenda while providing inclusivity for the women of the Black community. Racism was so prevalent in the United States that it could not be seen as a stand-alone problem to sexism or