Catherine Clinton states that the Black woman in slavery had to deal with many issues, not only was she Black, she was also female. This made her have two strikes against her. The slave woman was often required to do the same type of agricultural work as the slave man. Even though she was doing back breaking work on the field she still had other tasks to do during the day. She had to do many duties, such as domestic and child rearing chores that neither White or Black men were supposed to do. The Negro woman was also supposed to be the servant, cook, maid, and wet nurse for the White woman (Finkelman, Paul 12).
It is common knowledege about the relationship between the Slave Woman and her master. The slave master is the reason why there is a Black race. When slaves were first brought to America by Dutch traders, they were Africans. After the Africans came to America and became slaves the White masters raped the African women creating the Black race. This race of people was made to feel inferior. There were so many master raping their slave women that it became nothing unusual, since the Black race was ?inferior? to the White race it was okay for the the master to rape his slave woman. It became very common for members of the southern planter class who recorded their critiques of slavery not to attack the immorality of the owners. But they bemoaned the immorality of the slave. The slave woman was not only having sexual intercourse against her will, she was at fault that the master was raping her. The realtionship between the Black woman and the White man stirred up anger and resentment from White women (Finkelman, Paul 18-20).
The White southern woman scorned the Black woman?s physical attributes. The White woman ?s complaining about the ?unattractiveness? of the Black woman was a defense mechanism against the ? attraction? many White men acted upon with southern society. Joan Gundersen writes about how Black and White women shared the gender created community but they still were not equals. The White woman?s experience was totally different than that of the Black woman?s. The Black woman never had the opportunity to live a ?normal? life. Both races of women had the same gender restraints, but Black women had some different ones. The Negro woman had resrtiction on having children and wheter she was able to keep her child. Slave masters sold many of the slave children to other slave masters and when the masters were raping their slaves they produces many illegitmate children. So instead of taking responsibility for them they either killed the child, denied that it was hteire child, or sold them off. The white woman seldomly worked away from home, but the slave woman had been taken away from her family to work (Finkelman, Paul 129-143).
When the slave woman had to go work on another plantation she left her family behind. Even though slaves were moved from one plantation to the other some of them made strong bonds. The Black woman not only had to deal with the problems of White society they had to deal with the Black man. Slavery among men and women were quite different due to sexual oppression. Many Black men did not know how to treat the Black woman. The only examples they had on how to treat their women was by wathching the masters and how they treated their women. The master did not necessarily treat his woman better than how he treated his slave woman. Many times he was kinder to the slave woman than he was to his own woman (Finkelman, Paul 20).
After slavery the colored woman was still the lowest on the totem pole. No other woman in any other race has suffered the the mental abuse, degradation, and exploitation like the Black woman. In an effort to raise awareness to the suffering of the Black woman, Zora Neale Hurston wrote a widely acclaimed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, let it be known of the struugles that the Black woman had to go through because of the demands that society makes on her.
Hurston wrote because she wanted the world to see how the Black woman was mistreated after slavery time. The African ?American woman has had her dream deffered many times throught out her life. Just like Hurston?s main character, Janie in Their Eyese Were Watching God, her dream in a way had been deffered for breif moments. It was first deferred by her first husband Logan Killicks and then by her second husband Jody. But unlike so many black women, Janie saw these people as problems and just waited to the right momment to leave these misguided situations (Hemenway 98-100).
It is common knowledges that the image of the Colored woman is that she is supposed to do exactly what her White ?superiors? and what her husband tells her to do. Even though that was what the Black woman was supposed to do she wore the masks that talked about in her poem so that they did not really know what she was thinking and feeling inside. Just because the Black woman was treated badly and were supposed to think negatively of themselves many did not. They only let others see what they wanted to see.
As the years have progressed from slavery to post slavery to predepression times, society was under the notion that the African- American woman can be classified in these other catergories. They feel that she will either be a faithful obeidient domestic servant, the matriarch, the wellfare mother , or the jezebel (James, Stanlie and Busia, Abena 183).
The faithful and obedient domestic sevant was created to jsutify the economic exploitation of the Black woman during slavery. One of the more dangerous consequences may be the tendency for her to agree to do anything that her superior asks of her. She will say yes amd do anything without thinking of the consequences that go along with it the task at hand (James, Stanlie and Busia, Abena 184).
The matriarchs are considered to be overly aggressive, emasculatin, strong, independent, and unfeminine women. The matriarch image, allows the dominant group to blame African-American women for the success or failure, (usually the latter) of their children. The society blames these type of Black women for being to strong and not demure and caring. THEy are in a way scared of these women because these women stand their ground on ceratin issues (James, Staanlie and Busia, Abena 184).
The Black woman has also been depicted as a welfare mother. The welfare mother image is essentially a updated version of the breeder image that was created during slavery. Welfare mothers are viewed as being lazy and content to sit around and collect checks. Whites feel that these women are dangerous because they are fertile and that they produce too many economically non-productive children (James, Stanlie and Busia, Abena 185).
The last stereotype is the jezebel. THe Black woman who is known as a jezebel is basically being called a whore or a sexually aggressive woman. The Euro-American elite male tries to control the jezebels sexuality. They use this image of the jezebel to contrast the white womans virgin appeal. It made it seem that the Black woman waaanted the White man to sexually assualt her. This depiction was to undermine the African-American woman?s self-esteem(James, Stanlie and Busia, Abena 185).
Not only does White men and women put down The Black woman, Black men also put down the Black Woman. In Richard Wright?s Native Son, his main character is Bigger Thomas, and his mother, Mrs. Thomas reprsents the deterioration of the foundation of the Black community. Wright made Mrs. Thomas and the other Colored women in his book weak. There is not one single Black woman that is positive in his book( Kinnamon 35).
Mrs. Thomas was never strong; she worked a menial degrading job that was accepted by white people. She was ?always never a militant,? Harris states. As many Black women came to cultivate and shape the Black culture, Mrs Thomas never did that (Harris 63). What is inconceivable is why would Wright want to depict such a negative image of the Balck woman.
Richard Wright grew up with very strong spritual women in his life, but his book Native Son does not show any of the strong Black woman like his grandmotehr. He reflections of nagging, bitter, self-concisous, haggard women (Felgar, Robert 20).
The picture of the African ?American woman during the depression had not changed very much in the eyes of many. She was still the mule of the world. Noone wanted to give her the recognition that she deserved, she worked twice as hard as her Black male, White male and female counterparts.
During the Depression the Negro woman primarily did domestic work, because they were in doemstic work and that was the largest group of workers at that time, they played a dominat rile in the emergence and formation of the community and were central to its survival. The Depression drastically altered the employment situation for Black doemstics, Unlike natives and foreign born white domestics, the Black woman in response to the situation, had to resort to standing on street corners to find work(Gray, Brenda 4-5).
The greatest influx of Blacks to New York City came during and immediealely after WWI. The foremost reason for the move North was economical surivival, The Severe Depression of the South 1914-1915 had made wages plummet. The Black woman could not get factory work because as Roseschnidermen president of Women?s Trade Union league explained,? the colored girls came from agricultural environment and whites came from sweat shops and because of this the factory work requires too much grind for the color girl who was not willing to endure hard work.? This depiction of what a Colored girl will and will no do is defientely unfair. When it all comes down to it anyone will do just about anything to keep a roof over their heads and food on their table. This is an unfair image because it basically states that the Black woman is incapable of doing something very trivial. The Black woman rarely got clerical work or sales work, but if hse did get the job she had to double as a maid so as not to offend the white customers ( Gray, Brenda 21).
With all the problems of an oppressive society the Black woman still made sure she kept her appearace up. She still found time and money to go to the hairdressers. The Depression was bad for everyone especially for Black men and women. Many time the Negro woman had to go and get a job because the White man will not give the Black man a job. The Black woman became the economic stablizers in the community and the survial would not be possible without their well established input (Gray, Brenda 138).
People always talk about the negative side of some Black women and make that the norm for all of the Black women. If it was not for the Black woman this society would not have progressed they way it has. The slave woman started it off by creating the Balck race. The slave woman also took the burden of everyone else and carried it on her back. If it was not for the African_american woman being the lowest portion on the totem pole their would not have been a steeping stool for all the other races to climb on to get to the next level. This woman has been mistreated and overlooked to the point that a lot of others like her feel that this is how they are supposed to be treated. During the tiem from slavery through to the depression the images of the Black woman has not changed much, but the progress that the Black woman has made since then has made a steady trail toward the Black woman taking a stand and trying to erase these negavite depictions of her.
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