Gender and Race: Intertwined and Inseparable
When it is about gender, it should also be about race
As the founder of the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference, I often reflect on the inseparable and intertwined relationship between race and gender. https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/Programs/FWCA.html
This weekend over 600 women of color in the academy, including graduate students, faculty, and administrators, will gather in a sacred and powerful space to connect, support, and be empowered. This conference, the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference, was founded 11 years ago because I knew that women of color in higher education daily sit in challenging spaces, spaces where we are often not validated, not affirmed, and experience macroaggressions. I no longer use the term microaggressions because many equate the “little” act with “little” harm. I no longer believe in “little” or “micro” acts. I believe in acts of racism, sexism, and other -isms, that have significant impact – macroaggressions.
When it is about gender, it should also be about race.
What I learned many years ago at the University of Iowa (my alma mater) was that the concept of intersectionality meant that my identity couldn’t be sparsed and dissected. I learned as a young freshman taking a Black poetry class and reading the works of Black women poets, that I showed up as both Black and female, but also with all my other identities – daughter, partner, friend. In those formative years at Iowa, I wrestled with race loyalty – loyal to Black causes, while acknowledging Black male patriarchy and sexism. I also wrestled with gender loyalty, committed to advocating for issues impacting women and girls, but struggling with the racism and invisibility in spaces dominated by White women, like the Women’s Center on campus. I felt conflicted using the word “feminist” or “feminism,” because I felt it meant alignment and loyalty with White women, at a cost to my racial identity. Searching for an identity home, I came across the word “womanist” or “womanism” from Alice Walker.
Her definition merits revisiting:
Alice Walker’s Definition of a “Womanist” from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983).
WOMANIST 1. From womanish. (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e., frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.) A black feminist or feminist of color. From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman. Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. Wanting to know more and in greater depth than is considered “good” for one. Interested in grown up doings. Acting grown up. Being grown up. Interchangeable with another black folk expression: “You trying to be grown.” Responsible. In charge. Serious.
2. Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength. Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually. Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female. Not a separatist, except periodically, for health. Traditionally a universalist, as in: “Mama, why are we brown, pink, and yellow, and our cousins are white, beige and black?” Ans. “Well, you know the colored race is just like a flower garden, with every color flower represented.” Traditionally capable, as in: “Mama, I’m walking to Canada and I’m taking you and a bunch of other slaves with me.” Reply: “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
3. Loves music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.
4. Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.
I remember reading this and thinking this is me! And then, I remember reading bell hooks, and feeling I could be both feminist and womanist. And I have often thought that perhaps I could add a number 5 to the definition of womanism: “passionately committed to advancing humanity, human dignity, and fundamental human rights through educational, social, and political activism.”
I’m the Vice President of Strategic Affairs and Diversity, and Professor of Education. At my core, I am a writer. And I write about issues of race, gender, and class.
And, I strongly believe, when we talk about gender we should also talk about race. If we don’t acknowledge race, it will, by its own power, rear its beautiful head, and say, “what about me?”
This weekend, the conference (FWCA) will have two amazing keynotes, Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez, and Tressie McMillan Cottom. In preparation for their keynotes, I read some of their recent works: Prisca’s “For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Heart”
and Tressie’s “Thick.”
I was underlining and highlighting so much. They both write about issues of beauty, self-worth, value, Black girlhood, Latina girlhood, patriarchy, White people, White fragility. And then, what stood out for me, was Prisca’s chapter on the “Politics of Respectabilty” and her first sentence, “I am exhausted.”
Tressie reminds us that we must not only “Know Your Whites,” but also know our Blacks. I love that Tressie focuses on the fact that Black is not monolithic. As a child of an immigrant father from Sierra Leone in West Africa, a mother whose grandmother was enslaved, and a woman who married a man from the Bahamas, I know what it means to be African-American, to be an unique part of the African Diaspora, understanding the impact of culture in different African and Caribbean countries, but also understanding the impact of class, and the impact of geographic location – the South, the North, the Midwest, the East Coast, and the West Coast. Tressie and Prisca know what it means to embody race and gender, to be a woman and girl, and to be Black and Latinx. They get it and they write to help us get it.
Another keynote is Dr. Katherine S. Cho. Grounded in her experiences as a scholar, educator, administrator, advocate, and activist, Dr. Cho’s research agenda centers on institutions— in their potential to change and transform to move closer towards social justice and in their reality of maintaining systems of oppression and manifesting harm. Her work spans across student activism; institutionalized racism; retention efforts; and flipping the narrative of “why aren’t students prepared for college” to “why aren’t colleges prepared for our students.” I’m looking forward to hearing her vision and inspirational message at FWCA.
When you talk about gender, you should also talk about race.
I recently joined an organization called Chief. A March 2023 Forbes article shares a bit about the controversy surrounding this organization.
Private women’s membership start-up, Chief, is currently in hot water for what some have called displays of exclusion, bias and white feminism. The woman-led start-up was founded in 2019 and was able to raise over $100 million dollars in funding, reaching unicorn status. In 2021, Chief was recognized as one of the 10 most innovative workplace companies by Fast Company. Self-described as “a powerful rolodex of senior executives from diverse backgrounds, industries, and organization,” Chief boasts a 20,000-member network. According to Chief’s website, at the end of 2022, 33% of their members belonged to an underrepresented ethnic or racial group. But some have claimed the group is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Several women have taken to LinkedIn to express their frustrations with the group. Several past, current, and prospective members from underrepresented racial groups agreed to be interviewed about their experiences for this article. Over a dozen current and prospective Chief members shared their experiences with exclusion and bias but did not want to be identified. A few current members shared that their group membership had not been what they thought it would be and they did not feel the support they thought they would when they joined the group. https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2023/03/18/private-womens-membership-group-chief-is-being-called-out-for-white-feminism/?sh=1241a19e669c
The Forbes editor, Janice Gassam Asare, writes:
“It is important to reflect on the timeless words of bell hooks who wrote in Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, “There could be no real sisterhood between white women and women of color if white women were not able to divest of white supremacy, if feminist movement were not fundamentally anti-racist.” Any group, community or organization that is tailored for women must be designed with the most underserved, underrepresented and marginalized individuals in mind. As hooks has written, it is possible for women to achieve self-actualization and success without dominating one another. It should be noted that any approach to women’s advancement that does not consider intersectionality will fail. This situation should be a learning lesson for everyone. Creating a community where every member is able to thrive requires you to prioritize the members that are on the margins; those from the most vulnerable populations. Failing to center their needs means that any group, community or organization will not be sustainable.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2023/03/18/private-womens-membership-group-chief-is-being-called-out-for-white-feminism/?sh=1241a19e669c
The co-founders, Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan, have been trying to address the concerns, and also have engaged their CDO. Although some have left the group, I’m committed to staying because we do need women of color and White women to be in community to lead change.
I joined Chief because I’m particularly interested in identifying women in corporations that have the ability to engage in collaborative partnerships with Virginia Tech around diversity, to elevate their company’s brand, and to work towards advancing shared goals and objectives. I think we can do much together through networking and relationships. I hope to find some amazing partners. Learn more about our Corporate Diversity Partner Program to support the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy Conference and the Black College Institute.
https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/corporate-and-alumni-relations.html
But, when we talk about gender, we should also talk about race.
Much has been already been written about the way race reared her beautiful head, even in ugly commentary about Black women players and coaches in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. My friend and colleague, Dr. Letisha Brown, faculty member at the University of Cincinnati, has written several powerful articles on race and gender in sports:
As a former tennis player on the professional circuit, I have always been interested in issues of race and gender in sports. I was often the only Black girl on the Avon circuit in the 1980s, occasionally seeing Katrina Adams, who became the youngest and first Black woman CEO of the United States Tennis Association, Michaela Washington, and Camille Benjamin. I was overjoyed to see Serena and Venus dominate women’s tennis for decades, and am thrilled to see new young Black talent in both men’s and women’s tennis. So, I’m passionate about sports, particularly women’s sports and the opportunity for girls to have place and space to compete. I loved seeing my daughter compete in basketball as the captain of her team in high school and run track. I am passionate about women’s sports.
I work at Virginia Tech, as the Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity, serving as the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Diversity Officer. I was privilege to travel with the women’s basketball team to the Bahamas for a Thanksgiving Tournament. It was awesome to see the comradery and friendships among the women and the way the coach, Kenny Brooks, a Black man led the team.
As a Black male head coach, he is the first in many spaces, but also the first Black male coach to win an ACC championship. https://andscape.com/features/virginia-techs-kenny-brooks-has-become-the-standard-for-black-male-coaches-in-womens-college-basketball/
His role is another example of the intersection of race and gender. The data, by race and gender, still reflects the disproportionate dominance of White men and women as coaches in the NCAA.
As the AP news noted,
“Women comprised less than half the head coaching positions and just over half of the assistant coaching spots for women’s college teams in the 2021-22 school year…Women held just 42% of head coaching positions of women’s teams in NCAA Division I —as well as 35.6% in Division II and 43.8% in Division III. For all three divisions combined, women filled 41.2% of head coaching positions and 50.3% of assistant coaching positions for women’s teams.The annual report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) gave schools a “C” for overall racial and gender hiring practices. But TIDES director and report author Richard Lapchick called the representation of women coaches in women’s sports “the most depressing statistic that we report every year.”
The lack of racial diversity is also notable, given the predominance of Black athletes in both basketball and football. And, the article noted that “White people hold 84.1% of the men’s head coaching positions in Division I, 85.2% in Division II and 89% in Division III. For women’s teams, it’s 80.6% white head coaches in Division I, 84.5% in Division II and 88.1% in Division III. … In all three divisions, white people made up 70.6% of the men’s basketball head coaches, 86.8% of the football head coaches”
https://apnews.com/article/diversity-ncaa-coaches-30958ab74d4b61efc0d54eee361dafef#:~:text=Women%20held%20just%2042%25%20of,and%2043.8%25%20in%20Division%20III.
The Hokies reached the Final Four. So did my alma mater, the University of Iowa. It was impossible not to notice and think about race. Dawn Staley, the coach of South Carolina and Angel Reese, one of the stars of the LSU, both Black women, called out issues of race. The Louisiana Tech team, led by a White coach, Kim Mulky, was largely African-American. Incidentally, there were a lot of comments about her outfits, almost more so than her amazing coaching (a gender issue). The Iowa team, led by a White coach, Lisa Bluder, was almost all White. Iowa is my alma mater, and it provided me an amazing education. Though part of me was rooting for them out of loyalty, I couldn’t help but notice the obviously lack of diversity.
A simple question could be: “Why should race matter? We are talking about women’s basketball, right?” Yes, and …the reality of race was evident in the post-game interview with Angel:
“I’m happy. All year, I was critiqued about who I was. The narrative – I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box you all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. You told me that all year,” Reese said.
Referencing the critique of her gesturing during the game with her hand and finger, she said,
‘”But when other people do it – you all don’t say nothing. So, this is for the girls that look like me. That’s going to speak up for what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you and that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me.”
https://www.insider.com/angel-reese-double-standards-celebrations-trash-talk-lsu-national-championship-2023-4
Angel was “representing.” As Black women and women of color, we know that it is always about more than us as individuals. It is about “representing” our community, fighting the stereotypes about us as Black people, as women, and as Black women. We are representing our communities and demanding respect for our lives and journeys.
Angel’s powerful voice also challenged the criticism of trash talking by women athletes: Angel said, ““If it was a boy y’all wouldn’t be saying nun at all,” her tweet read. “Let’s normalize women showing passion for the game instead of it being ‘embarrassing.’” https://justwomenssports.com/reads/angel-reese-lsu-arkansas-trash-talk/
Yes, this is about the difference between women and men. But it is also about the way a Black girl does it.
I do want to acknowledge Caitlin Clark’s (Iowa’s star athlete), in support of Angel:
“No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did,” Clark continued. “I’m just one that competes and she competed. I think everybody knew there was going to be a little bit of trash talk in the entire tournament. It’s not just me and Angel, I don’t think she should be criticized.” And Caitlin also said the White House visit should just be for LSU.
Leading DEI for almost 20 years, I am more than ever convinced of the importance of allyship and advocacy. As Tressie noted, “Black girls and black women are problems.” (p. 10, Thick). We are seen and treated as problems. To combat this reality, we need White women and White men to be allies, advocates, and activists. I’m very proud of our White Allies as Transformational Leaders Program at Virginia Tech.
https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2023/01/provost-allies-transformational-leaders.html
We need more coalitions and the responsibility for leading change cannot and should not rest on the shoulders of women of color.
Because, we know that when we talk about race, we should also talk about gender. That’s all I’m saying, right now!
But, this weekend, we will dance and celebrate. And the Dancing While Black co-visioning team with guest artist Wendi Moore-O’Neal, will continue Angela’s Pulse’s annual participation as key facilitators at the 11th annual Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference, leading community-building workshops with the FWCA community. The conference itself will feature sessions that will explore the topics of leadership, career advancement, personal well-being and scholar activism.
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