Institutions Project

For a very long time in the U.S. society, women of color have suffered too much oppression and discrimination from in many forms including on racial, class, and gender grounds. They have been subordinated, experience restricted participation in existing social institutions, and structurally placed in roles that have limited opportunities. Their congregation includes African Americans, the Asian Americans, the Latinas and others. There case has been made even worse by the fact that being a weaker sex that is subject to oppression from their male colored partners, they are also of color and therefore placing them at the extreme end of oppression. These aspects are more evident in the workplaces, school settings, prisons, families, and others (Zinn and Dill 57). Some studies conducted on this particular issue have been able to show that women of color risk experiencing downward trends in their career lines due to combined effects of birth country, race/ethnicity, and gender. White men have been found to be the dominant group of human beings in most of the sectors of the U.S. economy. It is even more painful that the women of color experience increased gender-based disadvantages than their white counterparts (Lindenmeyer 132). Therefore, such situations have necessitated prompt initiatives that aim to change the situation for this group of people in the United States.

According to Lindenmeyer, these initiatives have developed themselves into a large spectrum of activities that could be as well described as an institution that is based on certain goals (42). In this regard, the women of color initiatives have their major aims in empowering their colleagues to move them up the ladder of self-advancement in the society. They also help...

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... every society member. However, with critical analysis, we are able to note that the activities carried out by women of color initiative groups can be classified under the larger unit of feminism. This is because of the fact that feminism deals with general human rights and not just the plight of the women of color alone. We can infer that the women of color initiatives are a constituent part feminism.

Works Cited

Davis, Angela Y. Women, Race, & Class. New York: Vintage, 1983. Print.

Lindenmeyer, Kriste. Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: Women in American History (Human Tradition in America). Missouri: SR Books, 2000. Print.

Schneir, Miriam. Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings. New York: Vintage, 1994. Print.

Zinn, Maxine, and Dill Bonnie. Women of Color in U.S. Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Print.