3.1 Partie III, Chapitre II
Note 52: Greco: black women tend to monitor
how they look, emote, talk, and behave if they want to fit in and lead at
work.
Note 54: Richardson: adherence to temperance,
cleanliness of person and property, thrift, polite manners, and sexual
purity» These characteristics were linked to religiousness and to the
weekly attendance to church where black women were forced into « corporate
prayer which was a preferred form of civil disobedience.
Note 55 Esposito: Women's lifetime risk of
being killed by police is about 20 times lower than men's risk. Among women and
girls, black women's and American Indian/Alaska Native women's risk is highest;
we expect between 2.4 and 5.4 black women and girls to be killed by police over
the life course per 100,000 at current rates.
Note 56 Gupta: since 2015, nearly 250 women
in total have been killed by police officers, of which 48 -- about a fifth --
were Black, according to a Washington Post database. In that same time frame,
there have been two cases in which officers were charged with manslaughter or
murder in an on-duty shooting of a Black woman, Professor Stinson said. One
officer was acquitted and the other case is still pending. By comparison, there
have been five cases since 2015 in which officers were charged with
manslaughter or murder in an on-duty shooting of a white woman and three of
them resulted in a conviction.
Note 57: Watters womanhood» has
traditionally been equated with « White womanhood,» and the call to
put « woman- hood» above all else has often resulted in the concerns
of White middle-class or upper-class women being prioritized above all else.
While White women obtained the right to vote in 1920, most Black women were
unable to vote until decades later. White women earn eighty-two cents for every
dollar earned by White men, but Black women only earn sixty-five cents to every
dollar. Additionally, around seventy- two percent of trans people murdered in
the United States are women of color Nevertheless, modern feminism often fails
to ac- knowledge these disparities, which can lead to the othering and
exclusion of women of color.Both the Women's March and Black Lives Matter were
founded by women who felt angry, disillusioned, and helpless against a system
that does not equally enforce the political, social, and economic rights of its
members. Women from all walks of life showed up to the Women's March in an act
of resistance against this violence. Yet, women of color are often left
standing alone on their own front lines. The position of the White feminist
movement is clear--all women are expected to be feminist, but not all feminists
support all women. This position must change if either movement is to
survive.Black women also face gender-specific risks from police encounters,
such as an increased likelihood of sexual harassment and assault, thereby
further conflating issues of race and gender. However, even within the Black
Lives Matter movement the victimization of these women is less protested. For
example, although the story of Sandra Bland was widely publicized, there are so
many other unknown Black women who have been victimized at the hands of law
enforcement that a second campaign, #SayHerName, has arisen in response. Both
the Women's March and Black Lives Matter were founded by women who felt angry,
disillusioned, and helpless against a system that does not equally enforce the
political, social, and economic rights of its members. Women from all walks of
life showed up to the Women's March in an act of resistance against this
violence. Yet, women of color are often left standing alone on their own front
lines. The position of the White feminist movement is clear--all women are
expected to be feminist, but not all feminists support all women. This position
must change if either movement is to survive. Black women also face
gender-specific risks from police encounters, such as an increased likelihood
of sexual harassment and assault, thereby further conflating issues of race and
gender. However, even within the Black Lives Matter movement the victimization
of these women is less protested. For example, although the story of Sandra
Bland was widely publicized, there are so many other unknown Black women who
have been victimized at the hands of law enforcement that a sec- ond campaign,
#SayHerName, has arisen in response. The parallel is clear--although Black
women's challenges are exacerbated by police violence, all women share a common
struggle to have their live- lihoods legitimized in this patriarchal
society.
Note 58 Malala Assembly: Black women's
experiences are continuously ignored or sidelined -- and not only within
justice systems. According to ProPublica, Black women in the U.S. are 243% more
likely to die from pregnancy-or childbirth-related causes than White women.
Most complications are said to occur because doctors tend to downplay Black
women's cries of pain. Because these stereotypes are rampant in the media,
doctors may not even see their own biases. Black women and girls are also
victims of increased rates of misogyny and sexual violence. More than 18% of
Black women in the U.S. will report being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes
-- and that just accounts for the women who report. Because Western media
hypersexualizes Black women and girls, Black girls are often seen as women when
we are in our pre-teens. This phenomenon, known as « adultification,»
aggravates the issue of sexual harassment and predatory behavior against Black
girls. Only one in 15 Black women report their assaults because of their fear
of the police and not being believed. And Black women are at highest risk of
any group for experiencing sexual violence perpetrated by police
officers.
Note59 Fischer: City politicians boosted the
narrative that sexually profiled women--consistently marked as Black in media
accounts--posed a threat to the urban economy. For example, in a 1979 meeting
with hundreds of city officials and businessmen, Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson
declared that « hookers' effect on the economy and urban development . . .
cannot be lightly dismissed. We must reckon with the fact that in twenty-first
century cities nationwide, law enforcement authorities and politicians have
engineered a situation where the privilege of « downtown living»
depends on the police harassment, arrest, abuse, banishment, and murder of
women--poor, trans, undocumented, Latinx, Asian-American, Indigenous, and
Black. These women may not be as visible as male victims of police power. But
in our overpoliced and gentrified cities, we bear daily witness to the harm
done to them. Luxury condos, outrageous rents, the « trendiest restaurants
and shops»--and a bloated army of richly funded police to protect this
wealth--are at once the stark proof and perverse erasures of state violence
against women.
Note 60 Pasek: intersectional invisibility
provides a framework to understanding how Black women, who live at the
intersection of racism and sexism, may be harmed when their unique experiences
as Black women are not recognized. Black women are considered much more
masculine than their White counterparts. The operative word in defining how
similar to other groups Black women are is more « Black» and less
« women.» The result is that Black women are dually excluded from the
superordinate category of women, and their distinction within the Black
community is erased via underdifferentiation from Black men, in ways that may
carry social and political import. Black women's concerns are addressed within
feminist movements (Goff & Kahn, 2013; Grzanka, 2019), as highlighted by
hashtags such as #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen (Freelon et al., 2018). Likewise,
the underdifferentiation of Black women from Black men may also explain why
movements against anti-Black racism have often been criticized for not doing
enough to address the issues that affect Black women--not because people
necessarily do not think of Black women as Black people, but because people
think of Black women similarly to how they think of Black men. As a result, a
one-size-fits-all approach to anti-Black racism leaves Black women's concerns
overlooked. Black women face similar rates of racial disparities in terms of
traffic and pedestrian stops, frisks, and arrests. Among Black children, Black
girls face racialized and gen- dered discrimination sometimes at rates even
greater than their male counterparts (Crenshaw, Ocen, & Nanda, 2015), and
Black women and girls are more associated with threat and danger than are White
women and girls (Thiem et al., 2019). These realities speak to how Black women
are doubly victimized: first, by a crim- inal legal system that harms them
dispropor- tionately; then, by social justice movements that, in their foci on
single axes of identity, often fail to fully address the first type of
victimization (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2016a, 2016b).
Note 62: SONG From slavery to the present,
black female bodies have been bought and sold. Even though Beyoncé and
her creative collaborators make use of the powerful voice and words of Malcolm
X to emphasize the lack of respect for black womanhood, simply showcasing
beautiful black bodies does not create a just culture of optimal wellbeing
where black women can become fully self-actualized and be truly respected. It
is only as black women and all women resist patriarchal romanticization of
domination in relationships can a healthy self-love emerge that allows every
black female, and all females, to refuse to be a victim. Ultimately Lemonade
glamorizes a world of gendered cultural paradox and contradiction. It does not
resolve.
Note 63 Freeman: Characters and popular
culture icons are often crafted on the negative racial stereotypes of
Mammy--the asexual, happy, obese, dark-black mother figure; Jezebel--the
shameless, oversexual, schemer; and; Sapphire-- the rude, loud, and overbearing
emasculator (Balaji 2010, 2009; Fischoff et al. 1999). These historical
caricatures have been transformed into contemporary distortions: the welfare
queen, who is sexually promiscuous and schemes for money; the video vixen, a
loose woman; and the gold digger who schemes and exploits the generosity of men
(ibid.). Regardless of opportunities for diverse media representation, studies
indicate that women in the videos of male artists, especially hip-hop or rap
videos, are often portrayed unfavorably; typically, multiple women are shown in
provocative poses and revealing clothing and vying for the attention of the
male artist or artists and their entourage (Balaji 2010, 2009; Hall and Smith
2012; Collins 2006). Ward's 2003 content-analysis research suggests that
feature videos by female artists similarly present women in subservient or
oversexualized roles compared to the videos of male artists.
Note 64 OKORO: If Black men's psychological
masculinity was undoubtedly restored and their images were improved, Black
females remained pictured in a negative light. Most Black-authored
historiography treated stereotyping as « gender-neutral» and
therefore the persistent vitality of racist myths and stereotypes about Black
women did not fade away.
Note 65 Green: Recent research has shown that
whites are likely to hold these stereotypes especially with respect to issues
of crime and welfare. As political and legislative decisions still are
controlled by white males, these negative biases are often expressed through
policy formation. There is an obvious trend in this society to discriminate
against and deny access to social institutions to African Americans (Jewell,
1993). A 1997 study conducted by Peffley et al indicated that whites who hold
negative stereotypes of African-Americans judge them more harshly than they do
other whites when making hypothetical decisions about violent crimes and
welfare benefits.
Note 66 Fatty: Though the institution of
slavery ended, the steryotypes have persisted. Faced with not only racial
discrimination but gender discriminaton, black women are consistently forced
under the trope of being the `superwoman'. While this may seem like a
positive attribution, the perpetuation of this myth contributes to the harmful
mindset that black women have a higher pain threshold. Seen only as strong and
self-sacrificing, as opposed to vulnerable and emotional, it creates a society
where black women are not only victims to police brutality, sexual abuse,
systematic racism, and gender discrimination, but even to the healthcare
industry. As doctors ultimately take advantage of this tale to refuse them
adequate care, the disparities between overall health and pregnancy related
deaths between black and white women are extremely yet unnecessarily high. When
black women give birth, they are 3-4 times more likely to die than white
women. When black woman get paid they are given just 63 cents compared to
every non-white mans dollar. When black women are victims of sexual assault,
only 1 in 15 will report. Yet despite these statistics the troubles of black
women still go unrecognized and undiscussed, even within the movement itself.
Though black women are strong, for many of them this trait was not chosen
willingly. Instead it was forced on them as a mode of protection. If this is
truly a movment for black lives, then
it is important not to further perpetuate the discrimination
black women face by ignoring them.
Note 67 Blain: Breonna Taylor's story is
reminiscent of countless others, and reflects a long-standing pattern: For
decades, black women have been targets of police violence and brutality. And
for decades, their stories have been sidelined in public discussions about
policing. Many scholars point to misogyny to explain the continued
marginalization of black women in mainstream narratives on police violence. As
Andrea Ritchie, one of the authors of the groundbreaking #SayHerName report
explains, « Women's experiences of policing and criminalization and
resistance [have] become unworthy of historical study or mention, particularly
when those writing our histories are also men. Fannie Lou Hamer who was born in
Ruleville, Mississippi, in 1917, and was a sharecropper who joined the civil
rights movement during the early 1960s. « After learning that she had the
right to vote under the U.S. Constitution, Hamer became active in the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an interracial civil rights organization.
The organization worked on the grassroots level to help black residents in
Mississippi register to vote at a time when only 5% of the state's 450,000
black residents were registered. In 1963, Hamer and a group of other activists
were traveling back home after attending a voter's workshop in Charleston,
South Carolina. They stopped at a restaurant in Winona, Mississippi, to grab a
bite to eat. The restaurant owners made it clear that black people were not
welcome. Hamer returned to the bus, but then reemerged when she noticed
officers shoving her friends into police cars. An officer immediately seized
Hamer and began kicking her. Later at the police station, white officers
continued to beat Hamer. As she later recalled, « They beat me till my
body was hard, till I couldn't bend my fingers or get up when they told me to.
That's how I got this blood clot in my left eye - the sight's nearly gone now.
And my kidney was injured from the blows they gave me in the back.
Note 68 Murphy: « The movement against
gendered police brutality has a much longer history, however. And a critical
early effort demonstrates why we cannot lose sight of the particular threat of
police violence against black women. Almost a century ago, racialized police
brutality in Washington, D.C., was surging. It included the shootings of 40
black men between the late 1920s and 1930s, as well as white officers
subjecting at least 29 black women and girls, ranging in age from 15 to 68, to
harassment, abuse and physical violence.» In several cases, the same
officers who attacked black men barged into black women's homes, policed them
on the street, punched them in the face, knocked out their teeth and hurled
racial epithets at them.» « To give one example, in 1936, sisters
Martha and Ruth Lloyd, students at Dunbar High School, were exiting a bus at
the corner of Tennessee Avenue and 14th Street NE. The sisters noticed that a
riot was unfolding on the street and tried to escape the violence. But Officer
John Sirola, dressed in plainclothes, grabbed Martha Lloyd and pinned her to
the ground. Both sisters were arrested, and in the car, Sirola beat Martha
Lloyd with his blackjack because she « sassed» him.» «
white police officers instinctively associated black women with criminality,
arresting them at much higher rates than white women for disorderly conduct,
intoxication, enticing prostitution and during Prohibition, bootlegging. The
economic crisis also threatened white men's dominance, and some white police
officers seemed to relish the opportunity to assert racial and sexual dominance
over black women. Barging into a black woman's home while she was asleep and
alone, running a gun across her stomach and beating her was a display of power.
Because of sexist assumptions, it was an exercise of power not only over black
women themselves but over the men in their lives who could not protect them. As
of 2017, black women were twice as likely to serve time in prison as white
women, according to the Sentencing Project. Time in prisons and jails poses a
risk for black women: In 2015, a state trooper arrested Sandra Bland for
failing to signal a lane change, and three days later, she was dead in her jail
cell. And cases of police rape and sexual assault are an ongoing problem. Even
today, the ACLU reports that in 35 states, police officers can use consent as a
defense against sexual assault of arrestees while in custody.
Note 69 VAWnet: Rape in the United States is
a systemic crisis, even as 60 to 80 percent of rapes go unreported according a
survey by the U.S. Department of Justice.1 Furthermore, when victims do report,
those incidents are systematically undercounted by at least one million cases
by police departments. As scholars and advocates have pointed out, rape and
sexual assault are systemic practices that continue because of the pervasive
acceptance of misogyny and violence against women within which we live and
state officials operate. Sexual misconduct by police officers, or public
officials, is the second most prevalent form of police crimes as noted by a
2010 annual report conducted by the CATO Institute. officers tend to profile
victims whose credibility will likely be doubted, and victims of police crimes
are, understandably, reluctant to report the crime to their perpetrators, the
police. For Black women in the United States specifically, fully accounting for
the ways in which their experiences of sexual assault, or rape more
specifically, constitute an act of torture requires understanding the
historical context and institutional legacy of slavery and the contemporary
burden placed on victims of police sexual assaults. Black
women in the United States face a peculiar form of rape-based torture that has
its origins in American slavery and the state apparatuses that evolve to
protect the interest of the economic elites, white men, and public officials.
As women, Black women were subjected to sex-specific violations such as rape,
forced pregnancies, and other gender-based violations. As Blacks they were
subjected to chattel slavery, as was true for Black men and children, and were
therefore reduced to being viewed, treated, and consumed as property, and not
as human beings. As bodies to produce other enslaved bodies, as flesh to
satisfy their slave master's desires, as slaves to be worked as needed, and as
property to be sold at will, Black women were deemed not able to be raped.
Black women were thought to not only lack the capacity to make morally sound
decisions but they are made to bear the blame for their own abuse. This racist
logic further implies that this deficient capacity and animalistic quality
function to entice their perpetrators, which means Black women seek out their
own rape and sexual exploitation, and therefore cannot be raped because they
wanted it--it's in their nature. Furthermore, Black women could not be raped
because they were not legally people, but rather property. The Women's Prison
Association (WPA) cites that 93 out of every 100,000 white women were
incarcerated in 2008 while the number for Black women is 349 out of every
100,000. Although the Black population is 13 percent of the entire population
of the United States, meaning around half of Black women make up 6.5 percent,
Black women comprised 32.6 percent of the female prison population. white
policeman by the name of Daniel Ken Holtzclaw in Oklahoma City was charged in
August 2014 on sexually assaulting, raping, stalking, fondling and exposing
himself to at least eight Black women, who are between the ages of 34 and 58,
during traffic stops while on duty. According to reports, Holtzclaw targeted
these women because he profiled them as drug users, prostitutes and sex
workers, women whose credibility will be called into question. Given that all
these women are Black and at least one is not in fact a sex worker or drug
user, and none fit the typical age profile, Holtzclaw profiled these women
precisely because of their Black female identity. Despite the admission of
investigating officers that there might be more victims, Holtzclaw was released
on a mere $500,000 bond after having an initial $5,0000,000 bond.» This
incident shows how little attention is given by both the media and the court
when it comes to black women and how white policemen can get away with
accusations that black men or black women cannot. Even when it comes to
policemen raping black women, the statistics show that « Despite the
facts that 22 percent of Black women and 50 percent of racially mixed Black
women experience rape in higher amounts when
compared to white women, 20 the long-standing legacy and
continued devaluing of Black women as legitimate victims of rape and assault
generally compound Black women's continued victimization and likelihood to get
a conviction against a police officer no less.
Note 70 Brunson: Feminist scholars suggest
that young Black women are far from immune from negative experiences with the
justice system. Girls are more likely than boys to experience juvenile justice
interventions for relatively minor offenses (MacDonald and Chesney-Lind 2001),
and African American women and girls receive more punitive treatment than their
white counterparts (Bush-Baskette 1998; Miller 1999; Visher 1983). Moreover,
research suggests that Black women crime victims are less likely than white
women to receive police assistance (Robinson and Chandek 2000). African
American women and girls receive more punitive treatment within the justice
system than their white counterparts. For example, the contemporary « war
on drugs» has led to unprecedented levels of incarceration among
Black women (Bush-Baskette 1998). Research on the adjudication of delinquent
girls suggests that African Americans are disproportionately placed in
detention, while whites are more likely to be tracked into treatment-oriented
programs (Bartollas 1993; Miller 1999). Visher's (1983) groundbreaking study
was the first to demonstrate how gender and race intersect to shape
police/citizen interactions. It was long assumed that the police treat women in
a « chivalrous» manner, providing preferential treatment in
arrest decisions. Visher (1983, 5) challenged this assumption, suggesting
instead that « chivalry exists ... for those women who display appropriate
gender behaviors and characteristics.» Drawing from data on
police/citizen encounters, she found that older, white, and deferential women
received more leniency than other women. Younger women received harsher
treatment, and African American women were significantly more likely to be
arrested than white women or men. In fact, they faced arrest at rates
comparable to those of African American men. The police are more likely to
arrest younger African American women than white women (Visher 1983) but little
research has examined other discretionary aspects of policing for young women.
Girls' accounts most closely paralleled those of boys when they were in young
men's company and thus tainted by the suspicion applied to young men. In
addition, girls who reported participating in serious delinquency described
being stopped by the police. Ironically, though, they were typically stopped
for curfew or truancy violations rather than for their involvement in criminal
offense. Young women often described being stopped at night. In addition,
many young women expressed specific concern about the lack of police
responsiveness to crime victims in their communities. They displayed deep
pessimism about police efforts to protect community members, especially women
from crime. The police are more likely to arrest younger African American women
than white women (Visher 1983) but little research has examined other
discretionary aspects of policing for young women. Girls' accounts most closely
paralleled those of boys when they were in young men's company and thus tainted
by the suspicion applied to young men. In addition, girls who reported
participating in serious delinquency described being stopped by the police.
Ironically, though, they were typically stopped for curfew or truancy
violations rather than for their involvement in criminal offense. Young women
often described being stopped at night. In addition, many young women
expressed specific concern about the lack of police responsiveness to crime
victims in their communities. They displayed deep pessimism about police
efforts to protect community members, especially women from crime.
Note 71 Savali: According to Dr. Treva B.
Lindsey, an assistant professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at
the Ohio State University, this kind of gender-exclusive narrative is all too
common. « Prevailing narratives around Black violability and anti-Black
racial violence pivot around Black men and boys,» said Dr. Lindsey. «
Both historically and contemporarily, when many people working towards racial
justice around the issue of racial violence, the presumptive victim is a Black
male. From lynching to police brutality, the presumed victim is a Black male.
Therefore, Black women and girls are viewed as exceptional victims as opposed
to perpetual victims of anti-Black racial violence. Our narratives around
racial violence, unfortunately, have yet to evolve into ones that are gender
inclusive. Black Victim=Black Male.
Note 72 LAW: Aiyanna Jones, age seven.
Eleanor Bumpurs, age 66. Pearlie Golden, age 93. Yvette Smith, age 47. Kathryn
Johnston, age 92. What do these women have in common? All were killed by
police. All were Black women. While we're directing our outrage (and rightfully
so) at the individual police who have killed these men, the police departments
that have created a culture in which Black lives are seen as dispensable, and
the power structures that allow these killings to continue, let's not forget
the other people affected by police violence: women and trans people of color.
Gender is not a separate discussion from profiling and policing,» said
Andrea Ritchie, the director of Streetwise and Safe, at a panel on policing and
gender in May. Streetwise and Safe is a New York City organization that works
with queer youth of color who experience criminalization. Ritchie frequently
works with people who have been stopped under the New York Police Department's
infamous Stop and Frisk system, a policy that allows police to stop and search
anyone they deem suspicious. Although the practice is purportedly color-blind,
the police overwhelmingly target young people of color, particularly black and
brown men. But Ritchie frequently hears stories of police violence from people
who do not fit our perception of who gets victimized by police brutality, like
women and trans people of color. She recounted that one young woman was stopped
by the police, ordered to remove her newborn daughter out of the stroller and
place her on the dirty sidewalk while the police searched the stroller. The
police found nothing
illegal in the stroller. In another instance, during a stop
and frisk, a police officer searched a young woman's phone, copied her number
and began sending her text messages which have grown increasingly threatening
and violent. In yet another instance, four young women--ages eight, nine,
thirteen and sixteen--were stopped. None had anything illegal, but police took
them to the precinct where they were held until their mother arrived to pick
them up. But even in or just outside their own homes, women of color aren't
safe from police violence. Two incidents this summer demonstrate times in which
police have assaulted women in or just outside their homes. Less than two weeks
after they came under fire for killing Eric Garner using an illegal chokehold,
New York police placed a woman who was seven months pregnant in a chokehold
before arresting her. Her crime? Grilling in front of her own house. One
week later, New York police--responding to an unrelated 911 call--yanked a
woman out of her apartment and left her in the hallway topless for several
minutes. Shortly after midnight on May 16, 2010, seven-year-old Aiyanna Jones
was sleeping at her grandmother's house when she was fatally shot by police who
raided the wrong apartment. On the second anniversary of Aiyanna's death,
police forced their way into her family's new home, verbally berating and
physically assaulting them. According to family members, this is not the first
time they have been harassed by police since Aiyanna's killing. Home also
wasn't a safe haven from police violence for 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston
either. Johnston was inside her home in Atlanta, Georgia, when police broke
down her door during a drug raid. Johnston fired a single shot at the
intruders, hitting none of them. In response, police fired 39 shots, killing
her. Finding no drugs in her house, they planted three bags of marijuana, which
they later admitted during trial. Police violence--particularly against people
of color--isn't just a problem in Ferguson or in Detroit or in New York City.
Police violence, particularly against people of color, is systemic. But women
who have been brutalized or killed never become as well-known; their names very
rarely stick in public memory and never gain the same traction as Eric Garner
or Michael Brown.
Note 73 Shabazz: In Berkeley, police killed
Black women like Anita Gay (2008) and Kayla Moore (2013).
Note 74 Urge : Women are dying and are not
immune to the police brutality that is taking place across the country. Just
two weeks ago, 37-year-old Tanisha Anderson died after the police slammed her
on the pavement outside of her home. The Huffington Post covered the ties
between RJ and Ferguson and listed the names of « Yvette Smith in Bastrop,
TX; Eleanor Bumpurs in the Bronx; seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in
Detroit; Tarika Wilson in Lima, OH»; all women who were killed by the
police.
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