Race, Gender, and American Politics Midterm Terms

single-axis framework

treats race and gender as mutually exclusive categories of experience; implicitly privileges the perspective of the most privileged members of oppressed groups; distorts experiences of Black women esp. (privileges one group over another; ignores intersectionality)

Combahee River Collective

Black women who are radical feminists (1970s); why they’ve broken away and what they want to see in the world; not just arguing against ‘feminism’—arguing against ‘Black feminism'; upset about lack of intersectionality; complexity and mutually inclusive ways identities interact w/politics; do everything all at once/universality; no their job to educate those more privileged than themselves on how to be allies; these writings/speeches (of Black women’s liberation) greatly influence other movements

intersectionality

study of relative power; no ‘pure’ form of oppression; oppressions are multiplicative and operate in tandem (Black women specifically occupy a unique space); how different systems of oppression intersect and affect people

19th Amendment

largest social reform movement in US (1878-1920); only gave White women (w/money) right to vote; 1965 VRA for WoC; 1990 for women w/disabilities

Seneca Falls Convention

first women’s rights convention in US; held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY; launched women’s suffrage movement which led to 19th Amendment and (some) women’s rights to vote; *excluded NA peoples despite that their matriarchal societies greatly influenced the ideas of the convention and movement

American Political Development

history behind political science (perspectives, experiences, ideas, etc.)

consciousness

quality or state of being aware esp of smth within oneself

gender consciousness

awareness of how one’s gender affects many aspects of life, like political preferences, careers, religious beliefs, how one views the world, etc.

feminist consciousness

women’s subordinate status in the sex-gender system leads to experiences that can produce an awareness of gender inequality

race consciousness

tendency towards sentimental and ideological identification w/racial groups; race becomes an object of loyalty, devotion, and pride; awareness of race and status in society; similar to gender consciousness

misogynoir

dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against Black women

Matrix of Domination

theoretical approach used to explore the interlocking systems of oppression in terms of race, gender, class, and other social categories faced by marginalized people; theorizes power in 4 domains: structural (residential, segregation), disciplinary (social rules or politics), hegemonic (system of ideas), and interpersonal (routinized daily practices); studies power dynamics and systems

womanism

centered in particularized souther Black women’s aesthetic; “time to be grown,” “love other women", responsibility, “womanist = feminist as purple = lavender;” Africana women can be feminists

Alice Walker

(born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.) is an American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture; her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on women; **connected to/proponent of womanism; believes in subjective truth/efforts to build whole truths

linked fate

invested in someone/community b/c they share important identity w/you; group interests > individual interests

citizenship excess

benefits you get from being a citizen; things/factors/resources you need to be an active citizen (language spoken, time, etc.); applied part of philosophy —> action; universal rhetoric, holisitic

Stonewall Riot location and date

Stonewall Inn (bar) Greenwich Village NYC 1969

Stonewall Riot - basics

police raiding queer bars and clubs to extort closeted people and harass queer people in general; people got sick of it and fighting broke out esp between police and lesbians and drag queens; many urban legends surrounding event

Stonewall Riot - significance

time of lot of social unrest/social context; oppressed people can fight back; misconception that Stonewall was beginning and face of queer liberation movement headed by White, gay, heteronormative men; trans people esp trans people of color pushed to margins - still fighting; whose Stonewall?

Marsha P. Johnson

one of the trans activists involved in/wanting to reclaim Stonewall; was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those effected by H.I.V. and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights

Sylvia Rivera

part of Stonewall; tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements; fought against exclusion of transgender people, esp transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights

Sojourner Truth

formerly enslaved woman, outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the 19th century; famous speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” exposed hypocrisy of misogyny in America but also hypocrisy and exclusive nature of women’s rights movement

Dolores Huerta

Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, she is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20^th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement; “people power”

Kimberle Crenshaw

pioneering scholar and writer on civil rights, critical race theory, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law; work has been foundational in critical race theory and in “intersectionality,” a term she coined to describe the double bind of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice; Her studies, writing, and activism have identified key issues in the perpetuation of inequality; Crenshaw and AAPF (Columbia Law School African American Policy Forum) launched the #SayHerName campaign to call attention to police violence against Black women and girls

Cardi B

singer/songwriter who grew famous on social media for being transparent about her background as a sex worker and for being an avid feminist; stresses the idea that anyone can be a feminist no matter their background and/or identity

Patricia Hill Collins

“Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination” (1990); social theorist whose research and scholarship have examined issues of race, gender, social class, sexuality and/or nation

linked fate

Michael Dawson - 1994; what happens to group can easily happen to individuals —> individuals think of themselves as part of group b/c they’re connected to group; idea that if people who share identities and linked fate think one thing it’s portably what most will think/agree with due to shared characteristics and experiences, etc.; **really only applies to Blackness in US (history and oversimplification)

shifting the center

putting at the center of our thinking the experiences of groups that have been formally excluded otherwise many groups simply remain invisible

centering difference

uplifting, trusting, and valuing the lived experiences of the people most impacted by the issues and inequalities you seek to address

either/or thinking

tendency to simplify things; choices that come from scarcity mindset, a belief that we can’t or shouldn’t look beyond

hegemonic femininity

celebrated cultural ideas of womanhood (in a given time/place) that serve to upload and legitimize all axes of oppression in the matrix of domination simultaneously; always shifting; upholding specific forms of femininity and womanhood above others/valuing certain things (ex: ‘soft girl era’)

coalition building

bringing together different groups to achieve common goal; not always part of same group/allying w/same people; coming together to achieve universal goal (despite other disagreements)

identity politics

tool to frame political claims, promote political ideologies, or stimulate and orient social and political action—in the larger context of inequality or injustice—to assert that there are group distinctiveness; ex = Combahee River Collective; ‘groupness’ (democracy = majority rule; politics = how to allocate resources and protect society —> identity politics always how we understand politics)

solidarity

unity or agreement of feeling, action, esp among individuals w/a common interest; mutual support within a group; verb/action word

interlocking oppressions

systems that come together in historically and socially specific ways that are interrelated domains of power: structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal; no pure forms of oppression; Matrix of Domination

4 domains of matrix of domination

structural (residential, segregation), disciplinary (social rules or politics), hegemonic (system of ideas), and interpersonal (routinized daily practices); studies power dynamics and systems

4 components of race consciousness

 race identification, power discontent, system blame, and collective action orientation

intersectional consciousness

Awareness of intersecting systems of oppression that shape someone’s lived experiences; Value = anyone can be aware of–and critique–intersecting forms of inequity; Movements driven by intersectional consciousness recognize, represent, and give spaces for leadership and agency of intersectionality marginalized groups in collective action

intersectional praxis

Actions that movements and individuals take to change intersectional forms of oppression; requires recognizing and representing intersectionally marginalized social groups; Democratizes, legitimizes, and strengthens (more likely to last over time) social movements