Due Wednesday 3/2 no later than
Noon
Imagine you are participating in a conversation with the Combahee River Collective and, in a consciousness-raising group, you read the following article. Using the Combahee River Collective Statement and what you have learned in the past weeks, discuss a black feminist perspective to this issue (In 2-3 paragraphs). How would the Collective approach the issue, especially with regard to privilege, interlocking oppressions, “the personal is political”, and a critique of the limitations of dominant feminist and anti-racist approaches to hierarchies of inequality. What new perspectives might they offer? Be creative…imagine you are sitting at the table with them!
If I were having a conversation with the Combahee River Collective I let them know first off, that I am on their side. After reading the article I could not believe how twisted our government and police force was at that time. I would do anything and everything to have gotten justice for the women who were raped and assaulted.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally unfair for women and espcially women of color to be treated that way, and for nothing to do done about it. I feel for these women and I believe 100% that the people that had anything to do with these incidents should be punished. I would march and protest and do as much research as possible to find out who was responsible for these horrible crimes. I would go to every police station and government official that I could and find a way to get these criminals on trial.
If I were sitting with the Combahee River Collective I would try and let them know I believed in what they were trying to do. They had great intensions on what they were trying to accomplish for women. When I was reading the article I was amazed. I feel so terrible for Ms.Recy Taylor and how she had to deal with that all of her life. I think the collective would have approached this issue in a classy manner. They would make sure that justice would be served and not allow women to feel as if they had to hold in these things such as rape and other horrific acts white men did to women. They would provide a "safe place" for women to talk about their issues with these matters and allow them to discuss ways to make them better.
ReplyDeleteThis atricle makes me upset for Mrs. Taylor, not only did she recieve little if not any justice to what had been done to her, but also that she has to live with that for the rest of her life. When we think of "civil rights" we never think about issues like this one that have occured. All that comes to mind is merely the fact of segregated bathrooms or different schools and water fountains. But african american women, like Mrs. Taylor, would be raped by these men and nothing would happen to them. The officers just acted as if nothing ever happened. To me, this is a huge issue and it really upsetting that many people let this slide by them, with them knowing that it was wrong. All that she wanted was an apology and they couldnt even get that for her. We need to really begin to think what "civil rights" means and not let just some issues have a stereotype on what we think it means. All of these issues fall into rascism and I hope that they continue to fight to get this on trial.
If I had the chance to sit down with the Combahee River Collective I would first and foremost let them know that the changes they have undergone have made lives better all around the world. After reading this article about Recy Taylor I can't say that I am surprised that the white men acted like such pigs. The fact that Ms. Taylor had to experience something like rape and violence is truly sad. Rosa Parks helped her in many ways to overcome this situation and fight for the justice that she deserved. I would encourage the Collective to create counciling groups for colored women who have been raped or treated with this similar act of violence so that they have a way to talk about what happened instead of avoid it. Also I would suggest to the Collective that women are given self defense classes so that in this type of situation they can defend themselves and not be so vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about the way that African Americans were treated the first thing that comes to mind is segregation. Before reading this article I had never given much thought to the violent acts of rape that black women experienced. Recy Taylor will now have to live with this for the rest of her life and the white men just got away with it, no punishment for their actions. If the Combahee River Collective heard about an issue like this they would have done the same thing as Rosa Parks and done their best to achieve justice. Ms. Taylor even said in the article that she was just a 24 year old woman and she had no idea about the law and all that technical stuff. She was just leaving church, walking home, and minding her own business when the white men pulled up in the truck and attacked her. It makes me sick to my stomache when I think of this happening to someone. In my opinion these white men were cowards and they should have been punished for their actions. More people should hear of Recy Taylor's story because it is inspiring how she persevered and moved past this horrible experience.
If I were to discuss this with Combahee River Collective, I would let them know that I agree with everything that they were doing. In this present day and time I will do anything to try and help prevent rape and assault. It is ashame how twisted things were back then, especially as a Black African American Woman. There is no explanation for raping or assaulting someone.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should take responsibility for their own actions, but back then it seemed as if woman didnt matter. They were treated as if they were nothing, the men could do anything to them and there was no punishment behind it. I find it very offensive as a female, a Black female, that women were treated in such cruel and hurtful manner.
A feminist focuses on the value of their contributions based on social, political, and eaqual levels. When we think of feminists, we think of women fighting a a whole for equal opportunity,equal partnership to men, rights as individual Americans, and as human beings. Although feminists mas stand together for these equal rights, not all feminists feel the same. Some feminists feel there are other issues that need to be expressed. A black feminist perspective would focus on racial issues including the race and how it is represented. The black feminists might look that video and focus o the way others define black people and discuss its effects on how black individuals view themselves.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the video "A girl like me" i was very surprised to hear and see some of the things that were happening. I never realized how different african american women felt in society and how they have been looked down upon. The part where the women talked about how they always needed to have "relaxed" or "permed" hair because it was what society sees normal and pretty made it seem like they had to look that way to be accepted.Also another thing that i saw in the video was when the african american children all picked the white babydoll to play with instead of the black one which to me is strange because you would think think that the african american children would choose the doll that had the same color than them. But in reality there are not many places that sell african american dolls for children to play with so that just may be what the child has grown up with and feels it is normal. This video made me actually realize what african american women have to go through in society and how it is difficult to "fit in".
I believe that everything in this article defines the topic of privilege, oppression, and many ways that Recy Taylor was scrutinized and the effects of her attack were down played. This story sounds like many other stories that have been told from this era of time but never heard publicly. There was so much white privilege at this time and age of life that I am not surprised that is was not publicized. The assailants were not punished and that showed the rest of the town that this was okay behavior while Recy Taylor spend the remainder of her life wondering, "why me?"
ReplyDeleteRecy Taylor was a classic case of a black woman oppressed in society. This whole story shows how even the oppression that was around 60 or so years ago last for legitimately an entire life time. Taylor just did not want people to look down on her and she was ashamed. This shows how the oppression she was under took a huge effect on her lifestyle. At the end of this article readers see that Taylor was still not okay. Her comment was, "but I still think something should have been done about it." It is women like this that readers have to ask themselves, "how did they do it?" The women from this era were so strong it was unbelievable.