Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Trump
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Schroeder’s statement reflected female representatives’ perception that the overwhelming majority of men in the Senate did not understand the issue of sexual harassment and were showing insensitivity in addressing the issue as it was playing out in the Senate confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas.
Barbara Boxer also made references to the appearance of the confirmation process as an all-male club run by the Senate:If there had been charges of fixing a ballgame against this man, they may have given it more attention…. This is about women, and there’s no women over there but two…. And one thing I know is that there just aren’t enough women on Capitol Hill to represent the women in our democracy and there should be more. If there were, then the seriousness and the scope of these issues would be better understood.
Other statements made by female representatives addressed the taint left by the Thomas-Hill affair on the prestigious position of Supreme Court justices. In reference to the qualifications expected of a Supreme Court justice, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stated that judges “should be like Caesar’s wife – above suspicion.” She continued, “Clarence Thomas squeaked by the Senate with 52 votes. The Senate has confirmed a person who received the lowest rating ever from the American Bar Association and about whom serious doubts have been raised.” Pelosi also made statements that focused on the ideological stance of the Bush administration and how the Thomas confirmation was one example among many of insensitivity to women’s issues. “This administration is already anti-choice and anti-family leave,” she remarked. “[The Thomas-Hill case] may be viewed as adding to a certain perception of the Bush administration.”
The female members of the CBC raised similar issues as their white peers. In 1991, only four members of the House were African-American women. Out of this group of four, only two chose to speak out regarding the Thomas-Hill controversy. Bryant found no remarks made by the female representatives that could be classified as belonging to the “race” category. The similarity between the statements made by white and Black women shows that their ideological framing of the Thomas-Hill case focused on the issue of gender and how sexual harassment, usually perpetuated by a male boss, is simply pushed aside by men in positions of power. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the former head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where the alleged harassment took place, explained how sexual harassment does not appear to be taken seriously by men:This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to sensitize millions of men about sexual harassment…. Sexual harassment is the most widely practiced form of sex discrimination today, by men who think it’s all fun and games. If it stops, you don’t Harrumph! And march out. You go on thinking you can do your work in a relationship that’s what you wanted all along.
In reference to race, Holmes Norton stated, “This [the Thomas-Hill case] is about sex and not about race. A Black woman raised these questions, not a question, not a White woman, or White men. I don’t think we can conclude anything about stereotypes about Black men based on allegations made by a Black woman.” Holmes Norton’s discursive strategy was to negate the role of race in order to raise the saliency of gender within the debate.
Maxine Waters (D-CA) made a similar point: “Clarence Thomas has allowed himself to be a pawn of the right wing. I resent very much how he interjected race in this debate.” Waters went on to discuss the real issue, adding, “Women are saying, ‘It’s about time.’ Every male boss in America is reassessing whether he is in line for a sexual harassment suit.” Waters’ statements exemplify the concerns of both the racial and gendered context in which the Thomas-Hill saga unfolded. Waters opposed Thomas on the grounds of his ideologically conservative stance, as well as the allegations of sexual harassment made by Hill.
Of the twenty male Democrats within the CBC, only four chose to speak against Thomas after the allegations of sexual harassment came to light. Had Bryant established the starting point of her analysis in September, when Thomas was first nominated, she would have discovered only two more statements from male CBC members, Alan Wheat and Ron Dellums . When examining all statements made by the 24 CBC members, only 25% (four male, two female) chose to speak out regarding the Thomas-Hill controversy during Bryant’s research period of October 1–31, 1991. The statements by Black men differ dramatically from those of Black and white women in that racial and ideological considerations took precedence over gender. The major exception was Craig Washington (D-TX), who spoke directly about sexual harassment. In his statement, Washington addressed sexual harassment and race. “It’s not Black women who have lynched Black men,” Washington said, engaging the narrative trope of lynching that Thomas had deployed so successfully, adding, “it is White racism that has been tolerated for so long by many of Judge Thomas’s supporters.”
Although Major Owens (D-NY) made references to Thomas’s silence with respect to whether his views on abortion in a floor statement, race and the ideological difference exhibited by Thomas were the paramount concerns in Owens’s press statement:This guy [Thomas] is a danger. He is the highest-placed Black in the country. Conservative Blacks will rally around him. They will be coming out of the woodwork and asserting themselves. We are in for some difficult days in the African American community.
The same ideological concerns were voiced by Edolphus Towns (D-NY), but were directed specifically toward the Bush administration. “We hope the administration gives the same type of attention and support to the Civil Rights Bill as they did the nomination of Clarence Thomas. I hope the President will also look at the Civil Rights Bill and see the same support” (cite). John Lewis (D-GA) chose to attack Thomas’s use of racial rhetoric in order to gain Black support. As a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis stated that Thomas had “shamefully invoked the race card” in such a way that was “entirely inappropriate and irresponsible.” Lewis called Thomas’s “high-tech lynching” comment a “shameful affront to the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.” It would appear that Lewis’s main concern was the use of racial imagery by a man who appeared to stand ideologically juxtaposed to all that the Civil Rights Movement stood for. Lewis mentioned nothing about the matter of sexual harassment.
Can Black Feminism Be Quantified?
Until recently, most of the scholarship on Black feminist thought has been qualitative. Evelyn Simien , however, has been doing groundbreaking work to develop an empirical model that would take into account the interlocking effects of race and gender by examining the 1993 National Black Politics Study (NBPS) .13 Simien’s objective is clear: to advance the study of Black women and politics within the discipline of political science by documenting the development of Black feminist consciousness. With this objective in mind, Simien makes purposeful choices. First, she rejects the singular approach that dominates the group consciousness literature because there is a need to account for the simultaneous effects of race and gender. Second, Simien begins with Black feminist tenets developed from the ideas and experiences of Black women as opposed to white women because the sex roles of Black and white women have been defined differently. Third, Simien makes an effort to examine intragroup differences because this practice has long been omitted from feminist scholarship and Black politics research. Finally, Simien contends that Black feminist consciousness is a “politicized group identification” embracing interrelated attitudes and beliefs that capture the essence of Black feminist thought. More specifically, she asserts, Black feminist consciousness involves the following attitudes and beliefs: (1) an acute awareness of interlocking oppression, which suggests that the struggle to eradicate racism and sexism is rooted in yet another “ism” that plagues humanity—classism; (2) a commitment to gender equality or equality of the sexes; (3) an acceptance of the belief that feminism benefits the Black community; and (4) a sense of belonging or conscious loyalty to the group in question (i.e., Black women) on account of shared experience, referred to here as “common fate” because the individual who identifies with the group label has come to realize that individual life cha
nces are inextricably tied to the group.
Thus far, other scholars have emphasized several themes underlying Black feminist consciousness, among them, intersectionality, gender equality, Black feminism as it benefits the Black community, and “linked fate” among Black women. From a theoretical perspective, the concept of Black feminist consciousness is rich and well developed. Unfortunately, empirical assessments of Black feminist consciousness have been more limited. The 1993 NBPS was a unique study in that it contained questions that measured Black feminist consciousness. Participants were selected in one of two ways: (1) from a national random digit dial sample or (2) randomly selected from a list of households in Black neighborhoods. The response rate was 65%, resulting in 1206 Black respondents, all of whom were voting eligible. A full description of the survey may be found in the codebook compiled by the principal investigators, Michael C. Dawson , Ronald E. Brown , and James S. Jackson .
Since no one definitive measure of Black feminist consciousness is used in survey research with African-American respondents, six items were selected from the 1993 NBPS to construct this measure. It is important to note here that the same items were asked of Black women and men, and all items were rescaled to a 0-to-1 format, with 1 indicating high group consciousness, specifically Black feminist consciousness. One item asked whether racism, poverty, and sexual discrimination are linked and should be addressed by the Black community. Other items asked whether Black women should share equally in the political leadership of the Black community and as a larger percentage of the clergy in Black churches. Respondents were asked if they thought Black feminist groups help the Black community by advancing the position of Black women or whether these groups divide the Black community. Respondents were also asked whether they thought what generally happens to Black women in this country will have something to do with what happens in their own lives. Those who responded affirmatively were asked, “Will it affect you a lot, some, or not very much?” Finally, Black citizens were asked whether Black women suffered both from sexism within the Black movement and racism within the women’s movement. These six items were used to determine the respondents’ level of group consciousness.
The first stage of Simien’s project involved factor analysis. Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to delineate the principal components of a highly abstract construct. In this case, the goal of factor analysis is to reduce the data by classifying a number of interrelated variables—a total of six used here to measure Black feminist consciousness—into a limited number of factors (or dimensions). This method is most useful when constructing multi-item scales. While many questions or items can be used to construct a scale that measures Black feminist consciousness, Simien relies on factor analysis to explain the total amount of variation between and among individual survey items. Here, in an effort to determine the dimensionality of the common factor space, she focuses on explaining the total amount of variation in positions taken by African-American men and women on the six items that tap Black feminist consciousness. The principal components are ordered with respect to their variation so that the first few account for most of the variation in the original variables.
While the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the “feminist feeling thermometer” is statistically significant (p ≤ .01), the two variables are weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = .195). Simien turns to the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the feminist identification measure. This relationship is not statistically significant. Moreover, the two variables are weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = .056). Notice the relationship between the “feminist feeling thermometer” and the feminist identification measure. The relationship is statistically significant (p ≤ .01), and the correlation between the two variables is moderate (Pearson’s r = .37). These results clearly demonstrate that items designed to tap feminist consciousness among white women are problematic because they yield a measurement of support for white feminism among Black women—not Black feminist consciousness. Given that there are many differences, both historically and in contemporary times, between the ways in which Black women and white women experience sexism in this country, it is fair to say that white feminism is not comparable to Black feminism.
We turn now to the relationship among Black feminist consciousness, the “feeling thermometer” for Blacks, and the Black identification measure. The relationship is statistically significant (p ≤ .01); however, the two variables are weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = .077). Similarly, the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the Black identification measure is statistically significant (p ≤ .01), and the correlation between the two variables is moderate (Pearson’s r = .335). Likewise, the relationship between the “feeling thermometer” for Blacks and the race identification measure is statistically significant (p ≤ .01). However, the two variables are weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = .096). Most striking is the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the interaction term. This relationship is statistically significant (p ≤ .01) and the correlation is moderate (Pearson’s r = .366), which is what one would expect when considering that the interaction term assumes that race and gender are separate, mutually exclusive categories and Black feminist consciousness emphasizes the simultaneity of oppression.
In sum, the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the respective “feeling thermometers” for feminists and Blacks was statistically significant. However, the variables were weakly correlated. While the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the feminist identification measure was not statistically significant, the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the race identification measure was statistically significant. Although Black feminist consciousness and the feminist identification were weakly correlated, Black feminist consciousness and the race identification measure were moderately correlated. Most striking was the relationship between Black feminist consciousness and the interaction term because this relationship reached statistical significance and the two variables were moderately correlated. All things considered, the empirical findings bolstered Simien’s claim that Black feminist consciousness is distinct from both feminist consciousness and Black identification.
The second stage of factor analysis delineated the principal components of Black feminist consciousness for Black women and men separately. It is believed that the “both movements” item may be the most difficult for respondents to answer because this item in particular activates the sense of internal conflict often experienced by Black women when they feel that they must choose between race and gender. Black men are expected to experience a similar sense of internal conflict when considering the hierarchy of interest within the Black community that assigns priority to race over gender. This internal conflict is what Gay and Tate have referred to as a double bind, which suggests that Black women will support their interests as women, but their support can be muted or even overwhelmed when those interests collide with race.
It would appear on the basis of the factors cited here that there is a distinct group of Black female respondents who favor more Black women leaders as well as support the idea that Black feminism benefits the Black community; however, this distinct group of Black women reports a lower sense of linked fate with Black women and accepts the position that Black women suffer from mostly the same problems as Black men when considering the “both movements” item. In light of their doubly bound situation, these women uphold the hierarchy of interest within the Black community by placing more emphasis on race than gender. For this reason, the second dimension (or factor) is titled “Hierarchy of Interests.” The proportion of variance explained by the first dimension was 25% and its eigenvalue was 1.49, which meant a certain amount of variance (16%, eigenvalue of .988) was added by the second dimension. Taken together, these two dimensions account for 41% of the total variance.
The results of this analysis bolstered Simien’s claim that the “both movements” item is the most dif
ficult for Black respondents to answer because it activates the sense of internal conflict often experienced by Black women when they feel that they must choose between race and gender. Similarly, Black men must also consider the hierarchy of interests within the Black community. The factor analysis cited here shows that all Black respondents experienced some sense of internal conflict or crisis. However, it is critical to point out that the hierarchy of interests within the Black community does not produce the same divisive outcome for Black men as it does for Black women. In short, gender matters.
Gender Matters
Why do we care about the different identities held by Black women in political positions and how they are engaged and, at times, come into conflict? Specifically, whether Black women can take stands on “Black issues” as well as “women’s issues” is a question of representation. In The Concept of Representation (1967), Hannah Pitkin states that the very nature of representation is an action on constituents’ beliefs in an informal capacity. A representative may seek her own preferences, but also make decisions in the best interest of constituents, despite what they say they want. There must be a fine balance between trusteeship, where the representative acts on behalf of her constituency without their expressed consent, and role of a delegate, where the representative acts on behalf of the expressed wishes of her constituency.