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Greater than the sum of her parts: A multi -axis analysis of Black women and political representation

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Greater than the sum of her parts: A multi -axis analysis of Black women and political representation

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Content GREATER THAN THE SUM OF HER PARTS:
A MULTI-AXIS ANALYSIS OF
BLACK WOMEN AND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
by
Melina Abdullah
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(POLITICAL SCIENCE)
May 2003
Copyright 2003 Melina Abdullah
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UMI Number: 3103853
Copyright 2003 by
Abdullah, Melina Rachal
All rights reserved.
®
UMI
UMI Microform 3103853
Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-1695
This dissertation, written by
M d i r n d l tyrl
/[hcjujjoM
under the direction o f h (L P ~ dissertation committee, and
approved by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Director o f Graduate and Professional
Programs, in partial fulfillment of the requirements fo r the
degree o f
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Director
Date Mav 1 6 . 2 0 0 3
Dissertation Committee
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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to the lives, spirits, struggles and victories of the
countless Black women who have come before me, who stand beside me and who
will come behind me who tirelessly work towards empowerment, justice and the
uplift of humanity. It is upon their shoulders that I stand and it is their legacy that
I commit myself to carrying forward.
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ACKNO WLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation has come to be because of all of those who encouraged me and
supported this work along the way.
I would like to thank my mother, Linda Fowler-Reimann-Blackston (Manzili), for
being the epitome of Black womanhood - for being a community other-mother to
more children than I can count, always being the voice to stand up against
injustice, teaching her students to be leaders and activists themselves and
dedicating herself to making the world “more beautiful and beneficial than when
she inherited.” Through her example she has taught me to do the same.
I thank my father, John Reimann, for bringing me out to picket lines as a child,
always being one who is willing to fight for the rights the oppressed and
encouraging those who are oppressed to stand up and fight for themselves.
To my brother, Jason Reimann, I respect and admire you more than you know.
Your intellect, compassion and commitment to justice give me faith in humanity
and remind me of what is possible.
To all of those who molded me, encouraged me and challenged me to become the
change I want to see: Oji Blackston, David Thompson, Grandpa and Grandma
Cox, Grandma Mac, Grandpa Alan, Uncle Zeffie, Uncle Cleon, and Nia Blackston,
I hope that my appreciation will be reflected through my works.
iii
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When I bought into the vision that the world imposed on me of what a young
Black woman from East Oakland was “supposed” to be, I thank my academic
family for believing in me when I did not have the courage to believe in myself:
Michael B. Preston, Alison Dundes Renteln, David Andrus, Jonathan Kotler,
Orlando Taylor, Russell Adams, Lila Ammons, Joseph McCormick, Mark Ridley-
Thomas, Howard University and the University of Southern California.
This dissertation could not have been possible without the participation of the
many Black women elected officials who participated in the survey and
interviews. I would especially like to acknowledge Supervisor Yvonne
Brathwaite-Burke and Congressmember Diane Watson for being so generous with
their time.
Finally, I thank my husband, Phaylen Abdullah, for being my foundation, for
grounding me, for his gift of unending support, for giving me laughter and joy, for
reminding me of my purpose and for always being my partner in struggle.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication -
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables vii
List of Figures/Charts viii
Abstract x
Chapter 1
Black Women, Black Liberation, Feminism, and Multi-Axis Frameworks
A Review of the Literature 1
Chapter 2
Research Methodology 33
Chapter 3
Culture, Socialization, and the Development of
Black Women’s Leadership 48
Chapter 4
Self-Defined Political Leadership Among Black Women:
Community Work as a Complement to Elected Office 95
Chapter 5
Inside Participation and Outside Agitation:
Self-Defined Leadership and Electoral Politics Among Black Women 155
Chapter 6
A Profile of Black Women Elected Officials in California:
Background, Ideology, Positionality and Recruitment 201
Chapter 7
Black Women and Political Representation:
Summary and Conclusion 277
Alphabetized Bibliography 303
Appendix A
Black Women in Elected Office - 2002 California Survey 315
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Appendix B
Interview Questionnaire
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 5-1
Black Women in the 107th United States Congress
Table 6-1
Elected Officials and Race/Gender Identity
Table 6-2
BWEO Effectiveness
Table 6-3
Representing Black Women
Table 6-4
Race/Gender Primacy
Table 6-5
Campaign Factors
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LIST OF FIGURES/CHARTS
Figure 3-1
Marginality and White Male Normalcy
Figure 3-2
Multi Axis Framework
Chart 6-1
Highest Education Level
Chart 6-2
Previous Occupation
Chart 6-3
Age
Chart 6-4
Marital Status
Chart 6-5
Annual Household Income
Chart 6-6
Income Levels Among Unmarried Respondents
Chart 6-7
Professional Salary Averages Among Unmarried Respondents
Chart 6-8
Organizational Memberships
Chart 6-9
Current Government Level
Chart 6-10
Political Ideology
Chart 6-11
Ideology and Associated Actions
Chart 6-12
Black Population of District
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Chart 6-13
Racial Campaign Strategy 242
Chart 6-14
Gender Campaign Strategy 245
Chart 6-15
Race/Gender Consciousness-Neutrality in Policymaking 257
Chart 6-16
Timing of Initial Decision to Run for Office 261
Chart 6-17
Factors in Decision to Run for Office 263
Chart 6-18
Political Staff Experience and Significance 266
Chart 7-1
Staff Composition 297
IX
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ABSTRACT
This study is grounded in multi-axis theory which asserts that women of color
stand at the intersection of several axes of being, each of which provides a unique
lens through which they view and engage in the world. Because positions of
disadvantage are the most critical in shaping positionality, Black women, develop
identities along the axes of race and gender. While Black women stand at the
intersection of race and gender, their identity cannot be wholly defined simply by
the sum total of race disadvantage and gender disadvantage; a third position of
disadvantage is birthed at the intersection which cannot be divided out and
attributed to either the race, axis or the gender axis alone. Thus, Black women, are
in the unique position of being full members of their gender group, their racial
group and the group of Black women.
Each axis provides group members with a unique lens through which the world is
viewed and experienced. A position of disadvantage along a particular axis also
offers an “ideological advantage” where one is likely to be more sensitive to
Oppressions that result from their own stigmatized status and more likely to engage
in struggles that seek to end those forms of oppression. Because Black women are
disadvantaged by race, gender and their intersectional status, they view the world
through three simultaneous lenses and are likely to engage in struggles for
empowerment on all three fronts. Thus, Black women representatives are uniquely
qualified to serve as authentic representatives for Blacks (regardless of gender),
women (regardless of race), and Black women
x
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This positionality and the ideological advantage that is derived from it have
encouraged Black women to adopt a more radical stance and concepts of
leadership that advance fundamental systematic change. Black women’s self
defined leadership requires the integration of theory and practice, is proactive as
opposed to simply reactive, employs a mode of “group-centered leadership,” and
Utilizes methods of both inside participation and outside agitation. This leadership
model is employed both by grassroots and elected leaders who often work in
tandem towards progressive goals.
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CHAPTER ONE-
B l a c k W o m e n , B l a c k L ib e r a t io n , F e m i n i s m , a n d M u l t i-A x i s F r a m e w o r k s
A R e v i e w o f t h e L it e r a t u r e
In order to develop an effective analysis of Black women and political
representation, one must first begin with a thorough review of the existing
literature. Although, to date, the research related to this specific question is
limited to a few journal articles.1 Several different axes of analysis exist which
converge to shed light on different parts of the multi-axis theory applied to the
present work. Literature of particular significance to the present research can be
grouped into three general categories: 1) Black leadership and representation, 2)
feminism, and 3) critical race feminism/Black feminism/womanism.
Literature on Black leadership and representation includes the works of John
White {Black Leadership in America 1990), Ronald Walters and Robert C. Smith
{African-American Leadership 1999), Carol Swain {Black Faces, Black Interests
1995) and others. This body does not address the specific place that Black women
hold and, in many instances, ignores the role of Black women. However, it
provides a general overview of Black leadership theory (including definitions of
leadership and questions o f symbolic/substantive representation).2 As a full
member of the Black whole, aspects of the leadership and representation of Black
1 Karin Stanford and Yvette Alex-Assensoh begin to address this question specifically in their co
authored essay (1997).
2 Walters and Smith argue that there is a lack of generally accepted leadership theory within the
Negro leadership and Black leadership bodies of literature (1999).
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women are included in the analysis of Black leadership more generally. Black
leadership, in essence, serves as one of the axes of the required multi-axis analysis.
Similarly, Black women are full members of the wider class o f women. Along the
axis of gender, Black women hold membership in the class of “women;” therefore,
included in the literature review is a review of works related to the women’s
movement and feminist efforts to develop effective leadership and representation
for women. I offer a general overview of feminist theory, including liberal,
socialist and radical feminism. The work of Valerie Bryson (Feminist Political
Theory 1994) is used in this overview. In addition, this section includes an
analysis of the question of essentialism, building upon the work of Diane Fuss
(Essentially Speaking 1989). This body of literature also includes contemporary
pieces on the political representation of women; most recently the work of Beth
Reingold (2000) is central to this analysis. Finally, critiques of traditional feminist
approaches are reviewed, including the works of bell hooks (1981,1990, 1994,
1995, 2000), who argues that Black women should claim their rightful place in the
feminist whole. Angela Davis (1983) and Filomena Chioma Steady (1981) take
this argument a step further, arguing that Black women, while an integral part of
the overall struggle for women’s equality, also occupy a unique space based on
shared history, culture, experiences and place in society. This section also serves
as a lead-in to the final body of literature reviewed, Black feminism/critical race
feminism/wo manism.
2
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The third body of literature included in the review includes works by scholars who
have applied this multi-axis perspective to address questions related to the
political, sociological and legal realities of women of color. This section includes
works by those who subscribe to Black feminism, critical race feminism and
womanism. Critical race feminism and the works of Adrien Katherine Wing
(1996), Kimberle Crenshaw (1989) and Paulette Caldwell (1991) address this
status and reality from a legal perspective.
Patricia Hill-Collins takes a more theoretical approach in her work Black Feminist
Thought (1991), questioning social science research methodology and examining
the sociological realities of Black women. Alice Walker (1982) and others use
similar theoretical approaches that enable Black women to define themselves
according to all o f the realities experience in their womanist approach.
Each of these schools argue that traditional methods of analysis have dictated that
groups define themselves according to a single-axis framework, identifying a
single “stigma” by which to define oppressed groups. This practice has meant that
Blacks define themselves according to race and women define themselves
according to gender. This way of looking at groups has forced Black women to
“choose” one defining characteristic - to be Black or to be a woman - to give
supremacy to one over another. With either choice, Black women lose by being
forced to deny a major defining characteristic of themselves. Moreover, even
3
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when Black women agree to give race priority over gender or gender priority over
race, they are granted only provisional entrance into the group which they have
chosen (either Blacks or women) and remain marginalized even within the
stigmatized group.
Black Leadership and Representation -
While there are several comprehensive works on Black leadership, the concept of
leadership among African-Americans is not well defined. Walters and Smith note
that “there is a lack of agreement regarding even the basic properties of
leadership” (Walters and Smith 1999, 7). Their work African American
Leadership argues that early African American leadership studies (Negro
leadership) is based on 3 key concepts: 1) the ideology of White supremacy and
system of White superordination and Black subordination in power relations, 2)
differing local patterns of White supremacy and dominance, and 3) class-based
internal factors within the Black community. Black leadership studies shifted the
focus away from “glamour personality-type” leaders to an almost complete
emphasis on Blacks elected representatives. Walters and Smith argue that this
narrow focus on Black elected officials is flawed in that such works implicitly
assume that those who are elected to office are leaders simply by virtue of their
holding office. Black leadership today is more integrated into dominant systems
of governance and influence, including not only Blacks who are elected and
4
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appointed government officials, but also persons in media, corporate and trade
union hierarchies, the elite universities and the philanthropic community. (34-35)
In sum, Walters and Smith argue that while there is a need to move beyond the
“Negro leadership” approach, which focuses on individual charismatic leadership,
moving from the accommodationist style through the 1930s to the protest style
through the 1960s and finally, the direct action style of the late 1960s and 1970s,
to focus completely on elected and appointed officials who happen to be Black in
race is not an effective study of leadership. The authors utilize Ebony magazine’s
annual listing of most influential African-Americans to illustrate the ways in which
the Black community are identifying leaders. While such a study is useful, and is
of some value, it must also be acknowledged that the identification of leaders on
the Ebony roster does not follow social scientific method. The roster is generally
compiled through nominations made by leaders included in previous years and/or
friends/contacts of editorial or publishing staff. The attempt made, however, to
highlight the range of leadership in the Black community is undoubtedly
worthwhile and warrants future research. Finally, Walters and Smith include in
their work a section on the role of African American women. While they do not
move forward to identify typologies of or approaches to leadership by African
American women, they identify the huge gaps in Black leadership studies in the
absence of attention paid to Black women and mark the area as one that is “ripe for
theoretical and empirical work.”
5
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African American Leadership serves primarily as a theoretical framework for
Black leadership studies. Walters and Smith identify and critique current and
previous works and raise a fundamental question in asking, what is Black
leadership. They answer this by rooting themselves in an admittedly essentialist
idea of “Black community.” Arguing that leadership for African-Americans takes
many forms; studies should not be limited to those individuals who gain
recognition solely through glamour-personality styles (as was the focus of Negro
leadership studies) nor can they be confined to biographical analyses of Black
elected and appointed officials (as with Black leadership studies). Instead,
approaches to African American leadership studies must include all forms of
leadership, including grassroots and community based activism and leadership in
the economic sphere. Perhaps the greatest value of the work is the provision of a
solid theoretical framework through which we can begin to define Black
leadership.
Despite his title, John White’s Black Leadership in America (1990) does not take
the approach outlined by Walters and Smith in his Black leadership study, which
Walters and Smith say focuses on studies of elected officials. White’s work,
which follows the Walters and Smith model of Black leadership studies in the
sense that it is largely more biographical than theoretical, is not confined to a study
of Black traditional political leadership. White identifies several key leaders in
6
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African-American history, none of whom have served in elected office and argues
that the history of Black leadership has largely been a conflict between nationalism
and integrationism. In his view, Black leadership can be summarized as a fight
between the accommodationist, who has been able to gamer the support and
approval of White society to speak for the Black community and the Black radical,
who’s extremity works to legitimate the claims of Black moderates. White
chronicles the leadership of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus
Garvey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson. While White
provides an outstanding summary of the legacies of the six highlighted leaders, it
is interesting to note that each of the leaders represents protest versus electoral
leadership. Where one might argue that progress for African-Americans has come
largely through a combination of protest and electoral methods, with earlier
movements (pre-1975) focusing on outside agitation which later gave rise to runs
for elected office by Black candidates, the omission of women from protest
movements is striking. The work of Black women leaders like Ida B. Wells, Ella
Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Angela Davis, Elaine Brown
and others is noticeably absent from White’s research.
Teresa Nance discusses the omission of contributions made by women during the
Civil Rights movement in her essay “Hearing the Missing Voice.” Nance argues
that in order to fully understand the political progress of African-Americans we
must recognize “the strategic organizational role of Black women in the Civil
7
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Rights movement” (Nance 1996, 544). Nance identifies three key roles played by
African American women during the Civil Rights era.
The first, the “Mama” role (not to be confused with “Mammy” since this is a role
the Black women chose to play, not one that was imposed upon them), is one that
was largely supportive, feeding and housing Civil Rights workers and volunteers.
“Mamas” also serve as the center of their communities, connecting broad concepts
of Civil Rights with the particularities of their local communities.
The second, and perhaps the role that would be most recognizable under traditional
concepts of leadership, is the “Activist.” Nance offers Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, a
professor at Alabama State College during the Civil Rights era, as one example.
Robinson led her students to be the first in leafleting communities advocating for
bus boycotts immediately following Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat.
However, the credit for the Montgomery bus boycotts has largely been given to
local male ministers. Nance argues that as “Activists,” women emphasize
grassroots organizing as opposed to the “kind of rhetorical artifacts (policy
statements, speeches, etc.) that would catapult their names or words into print”
(548). In addition to this difference in approach to activism between Black women
and Black men, Black men also worked to keep Black women out of visible
leadership roles, but continued to entrust them with huge amounts of responsibility
which went largely unrecognized.
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Finally, in the role of the “Friend,” Black women provided support to each other
and the Civil Rights movement in general by overlapping their roles as Civil
Rights workers, mothers and community organizers (Nance 1996, 544-549).
As outlined by Nance, Black women have contributed greatly to the political
progress of African-Americans. However, they have not received proper
recognition for three main reasons. The first is that many o f the ways in which
Black women have organized themselves and contributed to the movement are not
clearly recognized as leadership roles by traditional standards in that Black women
have taken on a “get the job done” approach as opposed to one which gains them
individual recognition and credit. Secondly, attempts have been made by Black
men to exclude Black women from highly visible roles that would bring them
individual recognition. Finally, there has been little effort on the part of
researchers to include the contributions made by Black women in their works.
As highlighted by White and Nance, research on Black leadership is not limited to
those who serve in elected office. In fact, White’s discussion of Black leadership
highlights only non-elected leaders. However, discussions of leadership tie in
directly with Black political representation. Many of the Black non-elected
leaders highlighted in White’s work (including W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther
King, and Jesse Jackson, Sr.) emphasized the importance of Black participation in
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electoral politics as being key in the quest for Black liberation. Raising the level
of Black voter participation and increasing the degree to which African Americans
are represented in the political sphere by getting Blacks elected to office have
always been central goals among Black leaders.
As African-Americans increase the level of Black political representation (rising
from 172 Black legislators nationwide in 1969 to 438 in 19913 [Hedge, Button and
Spear 1996, 82] and 36 members of the 107th Congress4 ), Black women and Black
women’s groups are one of the largest and most dependable bases for support and
advocacy. In her essay, ‘The Voting Patterns of Black Women,” Marjorie
Lansing’s research demonstrates that traditional political participation indicators,
such as socioeconomic status, fail to predict the rates of participation for Black
women. In her 1972 study, Black women voted at the same rates as Black men,
where White women voted in much lower numbers than their male counterparts.
She attributes the high political participation rate of Black women to their more
aggressive societal roles (as opposed to White women) (Lansing 1977, 379-389).
3 There are currently 36 African American members of Congress and 2 Congressional Delegates
(representing the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands; hold no voting power). All but one
are Democrats, members of the House and active in the Congressional Black Caucus. (J.C. Watts
is the exception, Republican Representative from Oklahoma.)
4 U.S. House o f Representatives Member Roster and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
There are currently 36 African American members of Congress and 2 Congressional Delegates
(representing the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands; hold no voting power). All but one
are Democrats, members of the House and active in the Congressional Black Caucus. (J.C. Watts
is the exception, Republican Representative from Oklahoma.)
10
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More recent studies show that Black women have begun to vote in even higher
numbers than Black men, where the voting numbers for White women have not
increased at the same rates.5 The consistency with which Black women turn out to
the ballot box remains essential for Black candidates to reach elected office. In his
autobiographical work No Free Ride, Kweisi Mfiime identifies Black female
homeowners, age 35 to 65, as the most consistent voters within the Black
community. He also notes that a key to the success of his campaigns (in addition
to his grassroots activism) was gaining the support of Black women’s
organizations, especially sororities (Mfume 1996,241).
While Mfume highlights the contributions made by Black women to Black
candidates, Black women are perceived largely as supporters or nurturers for
emerging elected officials rather than as candidates themselves. In 1996, Black
women constituted only 25% of all Black elected officials (Hedge, et. al. 1996,
84). This means that where Blacks on the whole are underrepresented, the degree
of the underrepresentation is more than doubled when applied to Black women
(who should constitute slightly more than 50% of all Black elected officials).
In Black Faces, Black Interests, Carol Swain does not at all address the limited
number of Black women who hold elected posts despite their high turnout
numbers at the ballot box. However, one can extend from her argument, that this
5 Study conducted by the National Council on Black Civic Participation - 2000 Presidential
Elections.
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has little or no impact on the extent to which they are substantively represented
politically. Through a series of case studies and regression analyses of the
legislative voting behaviors of members of Congress, Swain asserts that White
representatives can effectively represent Black constituents. She warns that by
emphasizing the race of the representative, we are placing descriptive
representation above substantive representation. In fact, some White
representatives are more effective in advancing the interests of Black constituents
because they have seniority and tend to hold leadership positions in Congress
(Swain 1995, 211). She goes on to state that White representatives can “learn” the
interests of their constituents through personal and staff interaction (213-215).
Swain measures only voting behavior. Such measurements discount the role that
Black legislators play in introducing and shaping bills before the vote is even
called for. Swain’s analysis also ignores the degree to which Black legislators
engage in agenda setting to advance the interests of their constituents.6
Lani Guinier(1995), Kweisi Mfume (1996) and others acknowledge the difficulty
that many Black representatives have in advancing the interests of their
constituents once in the legislature. However, this is largely because of the system
to which they were elected which requires a majority vote. With Black
6 For example, Congresswoman Maxine Waters has led investigation efforts into the role that the
CIA may have played in the drug trade impacting communities of color in Los Angeles. This may
be demonstrative o f the Black impact of the Black reality experienced by Black representatives like
Waters which allows them to see the world through a lens (of Blackness) that is similar to that of
their constituents. While not reflected in voting records, these efforts can be indicative o f Black
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representatives comprising a small minority, their options are often limited.
However, this does not mean that “powerful” White elected officials make better
representatives of Black constituents. Black representatives can provide
something that is beyond regression analysis measure, a Black perspective. While
White representatives can interact with and support the interests of Black
constituencies, they cannot be Black and thus, cannot see the world through the
unique lens of Blackness. Instead, they are confined to an outside (albeit often
sympathetic) perspective.
The value of such a perspective also carries over to Black womanhood. While
African American women share many of the racial experiences o f Black men and
many of the gender experiences of White women, neither group experiences both.
Furthermore, neither group experiences or can provide the unique perspective of
the indivisible compound of Black womanhood. Therefore, to provide this
perspective it is important that Black women are elected as political
representatives.
Feminism -
Within the world of feminism, Valerie Bryson (1992) highlights three general
schools. The first, liberal feminism, simply seeks access to an existing system.
Liberal feminist efforts focus on issues like the right to vote, equal pay for equal
representatives being more willing to take on radical issues that are part of this Black reality, but
other groups might be blind to since they view the world through a different lens.
13
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work and so on. The second school is Marxist feminism. This school argues that
the gender-based oppression of women really stems from a larger system of
capitalism that requires this oppression to support the bourgeoisie. Finally, many
radical feminists argue that it is essentially inherent that men seek to dominate
women. Women must therefore seek a total transformation o f the existing system,
perhaps by creating a system of sex separation.
Bell hooks, however, gives a much more core definition of feminism (the
definition that is used to drive this research). “Feminism is a movement to end
sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression” (hooks 2000, 3). For Black women,
involvement in the feminist movement has generally taken the form of
revolutionary feminism (rejecting reformist or liberal attempts at simple
inclusion). In Feminism is for Everybody (2000), From Margin to Center (2000),
Ain’ t IA Woman (1981), and Yearning (1990), bell hooks provides what is widely
held to be the most thoughtful analyses of how Black women participate in and are
impacted by the feminist movement. Hooks highlights both the similarities and
differences between Black and White women and how this “movement” is
impacted by and impacts them.
By defining feminism as a movement rather than a theory, hooks places feminism
in alignment with the activist tradition of Black womanhood. However, hooks
stops short of Black feminism, which calls for a distinct movement based on the
14
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overlapping stigmas experienced by Black women, instead advocating for greater
inclusion of women of color within the broader feminist framework. Hooks
acknowledges that White women have dominated the mainstream feminist
movement; arguing that this tendency to dominate should be addressed by White
women themselves. Black women should engage in the process by laying “claim”
to feminism as a movement that also belongs to them and in which they share
ownership. This work argues that while Black women should indeed be a part of
the broader feminist movement, there are clear and distinct realities experienced
by Black women that cannot fully be addressed through the feminist movement
alone. Therefore, a Black feminist framework is more appropriate in addressing
the totality of experiences of Black women.
Some within the feminist movement argue that women of color have been largely
ignored because of the efforts made by women (and men) to develop a monolithic
image of womanhood. As a result, women are essentialized where the “essential
woman” conforms to a White middle-class standard. In her work Essentially
Speaking (1989), Diana Fuss defines essentialism as the belief that entities possess
an essence that is true and invariable; for women it means that there are fixed
properties of women which serve as eternal, immutable essences. Essentialism is
placed in opposition to difference. Where essentialism argues that common traits
of women result from nature, constructionism argues that while women hold a
certain sameness, it results from common experiences. Fuss rejects both theories
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arguing that each denies the heterogeneity of women. There is no certain
sameness among women which results either from nature or experience.
Similarly, by creating “categories” of women (i.e.: Black women, poor women,
etc.) one simply states the “type” of woman with greater specificity, but in the end
only essentializes a smaller group. Despite natural or social similarities, Fuss
argues that nothing is predetermined. Therefore, one must view each woman
individually (Fuss 1989, 6).
Angela P. Harris builds upon this concept of essentialism by focusing on how it
impacts Black women especially in her essay “Race and Essentialism in Feminist
Legal Theory” (1995). Harris warns against essentialism, not because it denies
difference among individual women, but because the definition of the essential
woman is White and privileged, which makes Black women a “peculiar”
phenomenon. Harris continues by arguing that essentializing racial groups
similarly denies the experiences of Black women, painting the essential Black as a
male image (256-260). In sum, Harris argues that the problem with essentialism is
not so much in denying the heterogeneity o f individuals, but in denying the
existence and experiences of particular groups. Under an essentialist framework,
“women” becomes code for “White women” and “Black” becomes code for
“Black men.” In this process Black women become invisible.
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Where Harris argues an alternate view of anti-essentialism, one based on the
difference of groups within groups, other scholars studying Black women argue
that both essentialism and constructionism as applied to this smaller group
encourages collective uplift. Some degree of claim to commonalities based on
nature and experience is necessary to enable groups to function and obtain
political, social and economic power. In fact, Filomena Chioma Steady argues that
it is the commonalities held among Black women that ensure their survival and
advance. Steady argues, from more of a constructionist than essentialist
standpoint, for a cohesive community o f Black women based on the common
experiences of 1) an African heritage, 2) economic exploitation and
marginalization and 3) sexual exploitation and harassment. These common
experiences, Steady argues, compel Black women to work collectively as opposed
to individualistically (Steady 1992).
The common experiences of Black women are further highlighted by Angela
Davis in Women, Race and Class. Davis argues that Black women in America
have shared the common experience of economic, social and political oppression
and exploitation, with capitalism serving as the driving force. These shared
experiences enable Black women to see themselves in the struggle of others and
have caused Black women to view themselves as a collective. Where Fuss might
reject this notion of collective definition, Davis argues that it is what gives Black
women a base of power (Davis 1983).
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While the Fuss argument for antiessentialism along with a rejection of
constructionism allows for individual self-definition, this emphasis on
individualism can only come in the absence of group-based oppression. Individual
self-definition and an over emphasis on heterogeneity disallows groups from
effectively coalescing around common interests. For Black women especially, it is
extremely important that collective interests are advance before individual
interests.
In determining how to advance the political interests of women, there is also much
debate. While organizations like the White House Project, the National Women’s
Political Caucus and others seek to groom and run women candidates for office,
other scholars argue that women’s interests can be advanced just as well by male
representatives.
Beth Reingold discounts the value of the unique perspective that women
legislators can provide in her casual acknowledgement that they are more likely to
be involved in “women’s issues” (Reingold 2000). Similar to Swain’s claims
about Blacks and representation, Reingold argues that there is little substantive
difference between the ways in which men and women legislators represent their
constituents. While women legislators generally hold the perception that they
advance the interests of women to a greater degree than male legislators and are
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more representative of women constituents, there is little difference in legislative
behavior.
Reingold’s view measures the substantive representation of women through
legislative voting behavior. She uses this measure to argue discount the arguments
of institutionalized sexism within the legislative system, ideological differences
between men and women, and the notion that women representatives are more
responsive to women constituencies. According to Reingold, “the difference
[women legislators] make” is limited largely to serving as a symbolic
representative for women constituencies which works to legitimate the electoral
process (243-253). This argument overlooks ways in which the shaping of the
political agenda serves as a form of substantive representation. It is precisely the
attention that women legislators draw to “women’s issues” that makes them
different than male legislators. While there may be parallels in voting behavior,
the willingness to address such issues in the first place is largely because of the
added perspectives that women legislators bring.
Arguments like Reingold’s, which dismiss the importance of agenda-setting and
forms of political representation which lie outside of legislative voting behavior
are in direct opposition to the tradition of the feminist movement. The foundation
of mainstream feminism lies in the suffrage movement. Women’s rights activists
like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony argued that the vote was the
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only means by which women would ever truly be free. Marianne Githens and
Jewel Prestage expand upon this idea of political participation by asserting that
women are a marginalized group and that the vote itself is not enough. Women
must enter into politics themselves as candidates, using their tradition of activism
as a base. They go on to state that this pattern of marginalization is multiplied
when applied to Black women.
The marginality that white women experience is more acute for the black
woman in American politics. The black woman finds herself in an even
more value-conflicted situation. She is marginal because she is a black
entering a traditionally all-white preserve. The coupling of racism and
sexism leaves the black woman in politics rejected by males and by whites.
(Githens and Prestage 1977, 8)
Black Feminist Thought /Critical Race Feminism -
Patricia Hill Collins addresses the way that race and gender shapes Black women’s
reality from the inside out. In “The Social Construction of Black Feminist
Thought” she argues that the political and economic status of Black women
provides them with a distinctive set of experiences that bring a different view of
material reality than other groups. As a subordinate on two ends, in both race and
sex, Black women experience a far different reality than the dominant groups
(Hill-Collins 1990, 298-299). She further argues that the reality experienced by
Black women shapes their approach to knowledge and that this approach is
suppressed by the White male controlled knowledge-validation process. The
Black female experience, based in their racial group, their gender group, and the
wholistic experience of Black womanhood, which cannot be reduced to either race
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or sex, has encouraged a strong resistance to oppression among Black women
(305-307).
Where Hill-Collins continues to apply her theory to methodological approaches
within the social sciences, her assertion that because Black women experience a
different reality they have a different approach to knowledge can also be extended
practically to the way in which Black women approach leadership and politics. In
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge Consciousness and the Politics o f
Empowerment (1991), Patricia Hill-Collins argues that within the social sciences
there is a notable absence of research and discussion related to Black women and
that it is the obligation of Black women scholars to protest; otherwise, we become
willing collaborators in our own victimization (5). Black feminist thought begins
with the premise that all Black women share a common history of oppression and
with it comes a legacy o f struggle (which Hill-Collins discusses as the dialectic
between oppression and activism). While she is careful to note that there is
diversity within the group, she argues that because Black women experience the
world differently from others, group consciousness develops among them. There
is a connection between what one experiences and what one thinks. Therefore, the
experiences of Black womanhood lead to a unique “angle of vision” held by Black
women (25). These common experiences result from the system of oppression put
in place in order to protect White male domination. Under this system, a process
of dichotomization occurs where Black women are defined as the “other” as an
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ideological justification for their oppression.7 Hill-Collins further discusses how
this system o f oppression is accompanied by a tradition of activism among Black
women in both traditional and non-traditional forms. She also argues that widely
accepted social scientific methodological practices devalue Black women’s
experiences and the tradition of activism.
Hill-Collins provides an outstanding theoretical framework. She lays the
foundation that enables scholars to question traditional research methods. Black
Feminist Thought also raises the key points of self-definition and self-
determination. Black women define themselves, the world and politics differently
than other groups. That definition (thought) propels and requires actions that are
meant to advance the interests specific to Black women, but also apply to the
collective interests of disadvantaged groups more broadly.
While Hill-Collins’ work is a masterful piece which can effectively spark change
in the ways in which we think about Black womanhood and our position within the
social sciences, Black Feminist Thought is meant largely as a theoretical piece and
stops short of application. However, it provides strong implications related to
Black women and political representation which this work seeks to move forward.
7 This view of Black women as the quintessential other is reinforced by popular imagery which
portrays Black women as undesirable and generally categorized as the “Mammy,” the “Matriarch,”
the “Welfare Mother” or the “Jezebel” (Hill-Collins 1991, 68-85).
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Trina Grillo and Stephanie Wildman begin to apply Black feminism to questions
of social science method by arguing that this single-axis framework is reinforced
by social science methods that compare race to gender. In their essay “Obscuring
the Importance of Race,” (1995) Grillo and Wildman argue that there comes a
danger in comparing racism to sexism in that 1) it diminishes the role o f racism as
being central only to non-Whites, 2) essentialism makes race and sex mutually
exclusive categories, denying the experiences of women of color and 3) such a
comparison allows White women to claim to “understand” racism based on their
own experiences with sexism. Such analogies take away from the centrality of
particular oppressions by reducing them all to a certain sameness. “When socially
subordinated groups are lumped together, oppression begins to look like a uniform
problem and one might neglect the varying and complex contexts of the different
groups being addressed....To analogize gender and race, one must assume that
each is a distinct category” (565-568).
The unique position that women of color hold in the world is used as the basis for
the 1997 edited volume by Adrien Katherine Wing titled Critical Race Feminism.
Wing expands Black feminist thought to apply it to women of color more broadly
by looking at how the combined effects of race and gender shape their lives and
experiences. Where Hill-Collins’ approach is largely one of political theory and
methodology, Wing’s work comes from a public law perspective and is by and
large a build-out of critical race theory.
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Paulette Caldwell also comes from this public law perspective. Her essay serves
as one of the most illustrative works on the ways in which Black women
experience racism, sexism, and a third form of oppression that is unique to Black
women who stand at the intersection of the race and gender axes. “A Hair Piece:
Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender,”(1991) uses the 1981 case of
Rogers v. American Airlines to analyze discrimination on the basis of the
interactive relationship between race and gender. A point of irony highlighted by
Caldwell is that while the dominant forces of racism and sexism within the courts
have denied Black women the right to argue discrimination employing a multi-axis
framework (that they were discriminated against because they were Black
women), the courts have also refused to accept claims made by Black women in
class-action suits of discrimination on the basis of sex (because of the racial
difference between Black and White women) and on the basis of race (because of
the gender difference between Black women and Black men) (374-375).
Public law works push forward theory to practically apply it to ways in which
women of color’s place in society is legally interpreted. Paulette Caldwell’s piece
uses Rogers v. American Airlines to highlight Black women as a unique class. As
demonstrated through Caldwell’s case analysis, the discrimination experienced by
Black women, while sometimes based on race and at other times based on sex,
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oftentimes occurs in forms that are unique to Black women - forms which only
she can experience and cannot be reduced to either her race or gender alone.
In her work “Black Feminist Critique of Anti-Discrimination Law and Politics,”
(1989) Kimberle Crenshaw argues that Black women experience discrimination
differently than either Black men or White women. Where they are sometimes
discriminated against because of race and other times because of sex, still other
instances remain where discrimination is experienced simply as a Black woman,
not because of race or sex alone. Crenshaw argues that the dominant school,
which operates on a single-axis framework, practically allowing for only one form
of discrimination at a time, in a sense denies the fundamental experience of the
Black woman (139).
Where public law works by authors like Wing, Caldwell and Crenshaw provide
background and insight into how the legal system views Black women, and critical
race feminism is at the forefront of addressing the simultaneous stigmas
experienced by women of color, questions of what this means in terms o f political
representation and formal political power are largely beyond the scope of such
works.
Women Transforming Politics, (1997) the edited volume by Cathy Cohen,
Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C. Tronto, includes two essays that work to apply
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Black feminist thought to the question of political participation. In “Assimilating
or Coloring Participation?” Jane Junn utilizes data gathered through the 1990
Citizen Participation survey to measure levels of participation for women of color
vis-a-vis White women. Her findings are that White women are more politically
involved than women of color in most areas. Among women of color, however,
Black women held the lowest level of difference, actually exceeding the
participation levels of White women in several key areas (namely those areas that
do not require financial contributions, including: voter registration, work on
political campaigns, community activism, charity/church involvement and protest
politics) (Junn 1997, 392).
Yvette Alex-Assensoh and Karin Stanford, who utilize different measures of
participation, outline the patterns of Black female political participation and
highlight four key findings. First, Black women participate in politics at higher
levels than their female counterparts from any other racial group (based on action
versus financial measures). Second, Black women are generally more successful
in their bids for elective office than non-Black women. Third, Black women are
more partisan, are registered to vote in higher numbers, and are more politically
engaged than Black men. Fourth, Black women participate in voluntary
associations at higher rates than Black men (Alex-Assensoh and Stanford 1997,
399). Alex-Assensoh and Stanford argue that Black women’s higher political
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participation levels result from a gender “role-reversal” stemming from economic
necessity (400).
The works of Alex-Assensoh and Stanford and Junn mark a first step in the
attempt to apply a Black feminist framework to traditional political science
questions. However, neither looks at the question of representation in depth, and
to date, comprehensive research has not been done in this area from a Black
feminist perspective.8
Given the refusal of the mainstream to acknowledge the lives and experiences of
Black women, Black women themselves have been offered a choice to either force
themselves into traditional boxes or develop alternative self-definitions. Outlaw
culture (similar to the literary concept of the subaltern) argues that when groups
are marginalized from the mainstream rather than continuing efforts to assimilate
into the dominant culture, rejected groups often develop a sort of counter culture, a
clear, distinct and separate space to claim and call their own. In this space, the
group that is marginalized in the mainstream becomes the center and uses that
space to redefine themselves and others (hooks 1994). In political science, that
means re-evaluation of political concepts which include leadership and
representation.
8 Paule Cruz Takash has done parallel work from the perspective of “Chicana Feminism” in her
essay “Breaking Barriers to Representation, Chicana/Latina Elected Officials in California,” 1997.
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Outlaw culture serves as an “alternative to the prevailing representation of black
women in law, society and popular culture... .[It is a] network of shared interests,
values and practices through which subordinated groups elaborate an autonomous,
oppositional consciousness” (Evans 1995, 503). Monica J. Evans asserts that
outlaw culture exists as a matter of fact (reaction to condition) and choice
(proactive self-definition). It is a matter of fact in that because the dominant
discourse marginalizes the Black experience and views Black women, in
particular, as deviants. It is a matter of choice in that the Black community makes
a conscious decision to place itself in direct opposition to the dominant culture.
Outlaw culture provides a spiritual and mental retreat that is self-defined and self-
determined. In her analysis o f outlaw culture, Evans begins to uncover the internal
actions and reactions of oppressed communities. However, aside from casual
references to the Black women’s club movement, she applies the theory to the
Black community in general, giving little analysis of how outlaw culture has been
shaped by Black women in particular.
Chapter Summary -
Common to each of the highlighted works is the question o f how Black women
(and women o f color) define themselves. Social science research has traditionally
limited itself to a single-axis framework where each group defines itself according
to a single trait - usually the trait that carries the greatest degree of stigma.
However, for women of color, such a self definition requires that race be given
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supremacy over gender or gender supremacy over race. Neither of these
alternatives is acceptable, both denying a part of the self which gives Black
women a unique lens through which to view society and their place within it.
I argue that in order to understand why Black women in elected office have a
unique perspective as it relates to the question of representation, one must
understand the critical role that the intersection of race and gender plays. That is, a
multi-axis framework is more suitable to understand this unique position than the
utilization of a single-axis model. Multi-axis analysis argues not for a choice of
either race or gender interests, but a combined approach, giving Black women in
elected office the authority and legitimacy to represent both their gender and racial
groups as well as those who stand at the intersection.
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Chapter One - References
Alex-Assensoh, Yvette and Karin Stanford. 1997. “Gender Participation and the
Black Urban Underclass” In Women Transforming Politics. Edited by
Cathy Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C. Tronto. New York: New
York University Press.
Bell-Scott, Patricia. 1998. Flat Footed Truths: Telling Black Women’ s Lives; New
York: Henry Holt.
Bryson, Valerie. 1992. Feminist Political Theory. New York: Paragon House.
Caldwell, Paulette. 1991. “A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race
and Gender,” Duke Law Journal. 40:365-396.
Carney Smith, Jessey. 1994. Black Firsts. Detroit: Visible Ink Press.
Childs, John Brown. 1989. Leadership, Conflict and Cooperation in Afro-
American Social Thought. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Cohen, Cathy, Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C. Tronto, eds. 1997. Women
Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader. New York: New York
University Press.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1989. “Black Feminist Critique of Anti-Discrimination Law
and Politics,” University o f Chicago Legal Forum.
Davis, Angela. 1983. Women, Race and Class. New York: Vintage Books.
Evans, Monica J. 1995. “Stealing Away: Black Women, Outlaw Culture and the
Rhetoric of Rights.” In Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge', Edited by
Richard Delgado. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Fuss, Diana. 1989. Essentially Speaking: Feminism and the Nature of Difference.
New York: Routledge.
Githens, Marianne and Jewel Prestage. 1977. A Portrait of Marginality: The
Political Behavior of American Women. New York: David McKay.
Grillo, Trina and Stephanie Wildman. 1995. “Obscuring the Importance of Race:
The Implication of Making Comparisons Between Racism and Sexism (and
Other Issues),” In Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge. Edited by
Richard Delgado. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
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Guinier, Lani. 1994. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in
Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.
Harris, Angela P. 1995. “Race, Essentialism and Feminist Legal Theory.” In
Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge. Edited by Richard Delgado.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Hedge, David, James Button and Mary Spear. 1996. “Accounting for the Quality
of Black Legislative Life: The View from the States.” American Journal o f
Political Science, 40, Issue 1.
Hill-Collins, Patricia. 1991. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge Consciousness
and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
—. 1990. “The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought.” In Black Women
in America: Social Science Perspectives. Edited by Micheline Malson
Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, Jean F. O’Barr and Mary Wyer. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
hooks, bell. 1981. Ain 7 1A Woman?. Cambridge: South End Press.
—. 1990. Yearning: Race, Gender and Cultural Politics. Cambridge: South End
Press.
—. 1994. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. New York: Routledge.
—. 2000. Feminist Theory from Margin to Center (2n d Edition). Cambridge: South
End Press.
—. 2000. Feminism Is for Everybody. Cambridge: South End Press.
Junn, Jane. 1997. “Assimmilating or Coloring Participation? Gender, Race, and
Democratic Political Participation.” In Women Transforming Politics.
Edited by Cathy Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C. Tronto. New York:
New York University Press.
Kelly, Robin D.G. 1994. Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working
Class. New York: Free Press.
Lansing, Marjorie. 1977. “The Voting Patterns of American Black Women.” In A
Portrait o f Marginality: The Political Behavior ofAmerican Women.
Edited by Marianne Githens and Jewel Prestage. New York: David
McKay.
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Marable, Manning. 1998. Black Leadership: Four Great American Leaders and
the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Penguin Books.
McCain Gill, LaVerne. 1997. African American Women in Congress: Forming
and Transforming Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers.
Mfume, Kweisi. 1996. No Free Ride. New York: One World.
Nance, Teresa. 1996. “Hearing the Missing Voice.” Journal o f Black Studies, 26,
Issue 5.
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender and Legislative
Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.
Swain, Carol. 1995. Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation o f African-
Americans in Congress. Enlarged edition. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Thompson, Mary Lou. 1970. Voices o f the New Feminism. Boston: Beacon Press.
Walters, Ronald W. and Robert C. Smith. 1999. African American Leadership.
New York: State of New York University Press.
White, John. 1990. Black Leadership in America: From Booker T . Washington to
Jesse Jackson. New York: Longman.
Wing, Adrien Katherine. 1997. Critical Race Feminism: A Reader. New York:
New York University Press.
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CHAPTER TW O -
R e s e a r c h M e t h o d o l o g y
Definition of Terms -
For the purposes of research, racial and gender groups will be self-identified. The
terms African-American and Black may be used interchangeably. However, when
referring to people of African descent on the whole (continental and diasporic),
Black becomes the preferred term. In discussing gender issues, sex refers to the
biological traits that distinguish women from men (nature), where gender refers to
the differences in socialization between men and women (nurture).
Leadership, as a term, applies broadly to a range of traditional and non-traditional
behaviors that are used to bring about community empowerment. This work
asserts that the concept of leadership is subjective, varying widely among racial
groups and between genders. Therefore, the concept of leadership will be defined
more specifically by the ways in which groups, themselves, conceptualize it.
Concepts of leadership are essentially the mental images held of what leadership
is. Where some may conceptualize leadership as being visible advocates, others
might view leadership more broadly to include supportive roles, outside agitation
and artistic expression. Finally, where concepts of leadership refer to mental
images, m anifestations or approach es are related to the ways in which individuals
pursue leadership.
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Traditional approaches to leadership at its highest level include the pursuit of
elected office, with different levels of government indicating different degrees of
leadership. To a lesser degree, traditional approaches might also include
governmental appointments or high-posts within advocacy organizations. In sum,
traditional approaches place great emphasis on the visibility o f leaders. Non-
traditional manifestations of leadership place less emphasis on visibility to include
forms that groups, themselves, view as encouraging community or group
empowerment. Examples of non-traditional forms include political writings,
development of community-based programs, supportive roles, and forms of artistic
expression that encourage community responses.
Lani Guinier highlights the relationship between leadership and representation in
Tyranny o f the Majority (1994). Guinier argues that leadership requires that there
is a group that is being led. “Leaders” who are selected as group spokespeople by
individuals who lie outside of the group have conflicted interests, oftentimes
failing to represent the interests of the group that they claim to lead. This sort of
selected leader often holds the physical attributes of the group which he or she
claims to lead, but is motivated more by self-interest than collective interest and is
therefore, what Guinier calls an “inauthentic” leader. Authentic leadership, by
comparison, has, at its core, the collective interests o f the group. Authentic leaders
are organic, rising up from the group itself, rather than being appointed from the
outside.
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Finally, representation refers to the degree to which an individual reflects and
advocates for his or her constituents. In The Concept of Representation (1967),
Hannah Pitkin highlights four types of representation: 1) Formal, 2) Descriptive,
3) Symbolic, and 4) Substantive. Formal representation refers to authority, the
power to act. In the “descriptive” form, representation refers to an individual who
“mirrors” the constituency that he or she represents; he or she is a “member” of the
group (i.e.: to descriptively represent a Black constituency, the representative must
be Black). A symbolic representative refers to an individual who is accepted as a
“believable” representative of constituent interests by constituents and others (may
include descriptive representation as a contributing factor). Finally, substantive
representation refers to the degree to which a representative responds to (or takes
action to advance) the interests of his or her constituency.
These forms of representation are interactive and are not mutually exclusive. The
most desirable representative is often one who is reflected through all four forms.
Research Approach -
To date, the bulk of the research on the political representation of disadvantaged
groups (minorities, women, etc.) has focused on legislative voting records. Much
of this research argues that there is little substantive difference between the way in
which descriptive representatives represent the group and the way in which non-
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members represent the group. For example, Carol Swain argues that White
representatives can represent Black constituencies as effectively as Black
representatives, supporting this thesis through an analysis o f legislative voting
records (Swain 1995). Beth Reingold makes similar assertions with regard to the
political representation of women, using legislative voting records to highlight the
similar patterns of men and women representatives (Reingold: 2000).
I argue that legislative voting patterns are but a small part of the way in which
elected representatives represent their constituencies. Because of the finite manner
in which representatives can vote (aye or nay), voting records vary little within
political parties despite differences in the race or gender of representatives.
However, differences in representation become apparent when additional measures
are used; these measures center around the agenda-setting function of elected
officials.
This dissertation applies the multi-axis framework utilized most frequently in the
fields of public law and sociology to analyze questions of political representation.
At its core, this research seeks to identify and analyze ways in which Black women
who hold elected office represent their constituencies and their degree of
effectiveness as representatives.
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The theoretical framework asserts that Black women hold unique positions in
society, experiencing reality through race, through gender and through the overlap
of the two. It is argued that these unique experiences shape the way that Black
women political representatives represent their constituencies.
This theoretical framework also raises questions about the pathways by which
Black women choose to run for public office. In Who Runs for Congress? Thomas
Kazee highlights two general methods by which Congressional candidates decide
to run (Kazee 1994). The first path is that of “ambition,” meaning that forces
encouraging the run for elected office are primarily internal, from some sort of
inner drive. Ambition may result from either perceived personal benefit (through
public attention, financial reward, or other forms of recognition) or perceived
community benefit (the belief that the individual would serve as the best
representative and be of the greatest benefit to his or her constituency).
The second path to candidacy outlined is “recruitment.” This pathway involves
primarily external factors, meaning that an individual is actually recruited or asked
to run by another individual or group (Kazee 1994). In their study of women
candidates, the National Women’s Political Caucus highlights that women
candidates lean more toward this second pathway of “recruitment” than the first
pathway o f “ambition.” More than 75% of women candidates have waited to be
“asked to run” (National Women’s Political Caucus 2001). This dissertation
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highlights ways in which Black women in elected office have been recruited
and/or choose to run based on ambition.
Recruitment patterns will also be used to analyze ways in which individuals and
groups view Black women as authentic or inauthentic leaders of particular
constituencies.
Central Research Questions -
To test this theory and provide meaningful analysis, I employ five central research
questions.
1. How are Black women recruited into elected office?
a. Is there a clearly identifiable pattern of recruitment for Black
women in elected office?
b. What role does “ambition” play in determining whether or not to
run for office?
2. What comprises the base o f support for Black women in elected office?
a. What group(s)/demographic(s) provide the greatest level of
financial, campaign, political and other forms of support for Black
women in elected office?
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3. Who do Black women in elected office represent?
a. Are Black women in elected office more “authentic/substantive
representatives” for constituencies o f Black women?
b. Do Black women in elected office effectively represent their
constituencies as a whole?
4. What are the current trends in representation?
a. Is there a rise or decline in Black women in elected office over the
last 10 years?
b. Are young Black women being recruited to hold elected office?
c. How are trends related or unrelated to trends in Black
representation and the representation of women more broadly?
5. How do Black women represent their constituencies?
a. What actions do Black women in elected office perceive as the
most valuable and accurate measures in terms of their ability to
represent their constituencies?
b. To what degree do Black women utilize agenda setting as a form of
political representation?
Three hypotheses form the basis of this analysis.
Hypothesis One -
The first is that Black women, through the combined effects of race and gender
and their distinctive sociological and political position as Black women (that
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cannot be quantified in terms of race and gender separately), experience a different
set of realities than other groups.
Hypothesis Two -
As representatives, Black women represent their constituencies through both
legislative voting patterns, that have limited options (aye or nay votes), as well as
through agenda-setting, public education, the introduction of legislative items, and
the shaping of discussions surrounding proposed legislation.
Hypothesis Three -
Black women utilize non-traditional leadership forms, through protest politics and
activism, that encourage transition into more traditional leadership more often than
traditional “grooming” methods common to other groups.
Methodology -
To provide support for the first hypothesis that the combined effects of race and
gender shape the reality of Black women, a historical analysis o f the experiences
of Black women as a subordinate group is conducted. Where this analysis deals
primarily with the experiences o f African-American women, additional attention is
given to the shared history of Black women in Africa and throughout the diaspora.
Particular attention is given to the ways in which Black women have resisted
oppression. Gender roles within African and Black diasporic cultures is explored.
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This historical analysis establishes linkages between traditions of African-
American women and other Black women, especially in West Africa. In addition,
it illustrates that the experiences of Black women in America (including slavery,
de jure and de facto racial segregation, sex discrimination, political subordination
and economic disadvantage) have provided them with a frame of reference that
essentially builds a different reality for them than for other groups.
Recruitment and support patterns of Black women elected officials is analyzed
through data collected by questionnaires administered to Black women who hold
elected posts in California (at all levels of government). In addition to providing
data on recruitment and support patterns, survey responses highlight demographic
trends, allow respondents to outline their identify their political ideologies and
help to determine the degree to which Black women representatives participate in
non-traditional forms of political leadership. Questionnaires enable respondents to
list forms of representation fall beyond the scope of legislative voting patterns on
either final roll call votes or bill amendments.
This method has been identified rather than conducting an analysis of roll call
votes in order to gain a fuller understanding of the ways in which Black women
represent their constituents beyond legislative voting. Previous studies of
legislative voting records have shown little difference in patterns between Black
and White representatives and between male and female representatives. Both
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Carol Swain and Beth Reingold perform analyses of legislative representatives
final roll call votes (Swain 1995 and Reingold 2000). Kenny Whitby begins to
highlight some difference in representative voting patterns, including voting
records on bill amendments as well as final roll call votes (Whitby 1997).
However, this method still does not go far enough in highlighting differences,
overlooking the role that representatives play in setting the legislative agenda and
shaping discussions.
With the relatively small number of Black women serving in elected office in the
state (four on the federal level, none on the state level, and approximately 34 on
the local level), data collected does not readily lend itself to meaningful statistical
analysis. However, data is used to determine overall trends and percentages.
Survey results are supplemented by the interview section which allows for a more
qualitative analysis. Surveys with a small N have proven useful in this sort of
analysis in James Lai’s work on Asian elected officials (Lai 2000).
Case studies, including biographical analysis and personal interviews, provide
additional perspective to the survey research. In this dissertation I conduct
interviews with the two of the five Black women who have served as members of
Congress from California, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (the first Black woman from
California to be elected) and Diane Watson (the most recent Black women from
California to be elected). Burke, now the 2n d District Supervisor on the Los
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Angeles County Board of Supervisors (also an elected post), served as a Member
of the House of Representatives from 1972 through 1978. Probably one of the
most traditional in her pathway to elected office, Supervisor Burke holds a law
degree and began her career in elected office as a member of the California State
Legislature. Watson began her career as and educator and holds a doctorate in
education. In 1975 she became the first African American woman to be elected to
the Los Angeles Unified School District Board; three years later she would be
elected to the California State Senate. She has also served as Ambassador to
Micronesia and was elected to the House of Representatives in 2001.
In addition to the interviews conducted with Burke and Watson, biographical
overviews of Black women who served in the 107th Congress is also included.
From California, the remaining profiles, include, Barbara Lee, Juanita Millender-
McDonald and Maxine Waters. Congresswoman Lee, elected as Representative to
the 9th Congressional District (Oakland, California) in 1998, is a former staff
member of Congressman Ron Dellums (whom she succeeded in office) who also
served in the state legislature before her Congressional bid. While this dissertation
does not perform an analysis of legislative voting records, Lee’s record would
inarguably highlight her as one of the most “progressive” members of Congress.1
Juanita Millender-McDonald represents the 37th Congressional District, which
includes Compton, California. Millender-McDonald was elected in a special
1 Congressmember Lee is the only member of Congress to vote against HR 64, the House
resolution authorizing the use of force in the U.S.’s “war on terrorism” on September 14, 2001.
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election to replace Congressman Walter Tucker. Millender-McDonald served in
the California State Assembly prior to her run for Congress. She began her career
in politics at the local level after transitioning from educational administration (a
commonality o f many women in elected office, especially Black women).
Congresswoman Maxine Waters also began her career as an educator and later a
staff member for a local elected official. Waters also served in the state legislature
prior to her run for Congress. Waters probably holds the greatest degree of
community-based/grassroots experience of any of the five women in the case study
section.
Through this case study method, interview responses and biographical analyses are
used to identify the factors that encouraged each representative to pursue elected
office. Interviews also help to determine the degree to which participants feel that
agenda-setting and introduction/shaping o f discussions plays a role in representing
their constituencies.
The comparative case study approach, as opposed to a single case study, provides
an opportunity to expand findings beyond a single example and offer more far-
reaching analyses. There are clear similarities as well as distinct differences
among each of these case studies. The comparative case study method is useful in
extracting the common factors of Black women in elected office. Furthermore, the
comparative case study method allows us to filter out those factors that might be
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unique to a single case and draw conclusions based on multiple cases. This
method is also useful in highlighting differences and identifying a range of
pathways to federal level elected posts rather than restricting the analysis to a
single route.
Interviews provide an opportunity for representatives to offer their own
perspectives on their paths to elected office and ways in which they represent their
constituencies. I utilize this qualitative approach in order to move beyond the
finite options available to representatives through roll call voting, an analysis
which offers only limited outcome options and disallows the range and breadth of
response available through open-ended interview questions. While a comparative
analysis of roll call votes by representatives may highlight some limited
differences among representatives from different racial and gender backgrounds,2
a strictly quantitative analysis misses the agenda-setting and public education
functions which are perhaps of even greater significance and value for Black
women representatives.
Finally, data collection on current trends related to the number of Black women in
elected office and relative increase or decline, highlighting shifts from earlier
periods is included in the final section. This section’s findings is then compared
with that of the previous two sections. A comparative data analysis highlights the
most and least effective methods of recruitment for Black women candidates. This
2 As highlighted by Ken Whitby in The Color of Representation (1997).
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section is also used to offer possibilities for the future of Black women in elected
office.
Implications, Theory and Praxis -
The overarching goal of this research is to not only provide a model for the multi
axis analysis of Black women and political representation and outline patterns of
recruitment and support for Black women candidates, but also to serve as a
template which might be used to motivate and mobilize political leadership among
Black women. This dissertation serves as a source from which we might extract
common leadership variables among Black women, allowing practical application
in the form of leadership training and candidate recruitment.
I draw from the Black feminist tradition highlighted by Patricia Hill-Collins in
Black Feminist Thought which requires that research be useful beyond the ivory
tower and that the researcher be connected to and passionate about her subject
matter (Hill-Collins 1991). Based on this tradition, this dissertation serves as only
the first of many steps in encouraging leadership among Black women.
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Chapter Two - References
Guinier, Lani. 1995. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in
Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.
Hill-Collins, Patricia. 1991. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge Consciousness
and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Kazee, Thomas A. 1994. Who Runs for Congress? Ambition, Context and
Candidate Emergence. Washington: Congressional Quarterly.
National Women’s Political Caucus. 2001. Candidate’ s Training Manual.
Pitkin, Hannah. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: The University of
California Press.
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender and Legislative
Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.
Swain, Carol. 1995. Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African-
Americans in Congress. Enlarged edition. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Whitby, Kenny J. 1997. The Color of Representation: Congressional Behavior
and Black Interests. Ann Arbor: University o f Michigan Press.
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CHAPTER THREE -
C u l t u r e, S o c ia l iz a t io n , a n d t h e D e v e l o p m e n t o f
B l a c k W o m e n ’s L e a d e r s h ip
Introduction -
A leader has generally been defined as an individual who has been able to gain the
following o f a relatively large group of constituents in some organized form, with
electoral politics exemplifying the highest form of leadership. Leaders in the
traditional sense have assumed very visible roles. However, when one reevaluates
what actually defines leadership, it is realized that leadership itself is a subjective
term.1 Leadership is defined differently by different groups. With the traditional
model reflecting a White male conceptualization, one must ask how other groups
view leadership and whether or not different concepts affect how leadership is
manifested. This chapter analyzes the ways in which Black women conceptualize
leadership, the similarities to and the differences from the traditional model and
how these concepts impact the manifestation of leadership.
Like the concept of leadership, political participation is also a subjective term.
The traditional approach to political participation generally emphasizes electoral
politics, with more liberal definitions extending to also include protest politics. In
merging the traditional view of leadership and the traditional view of political
participation, we arrive at a model of political leadership where political leaders
11 am of the view that everything is subjective. Subjectivity is based on the experiences and place
of individuals and groups within society which shape perspectives. The main thrust of my research
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are generally thought of as individuals who assume highly visible roles and serve a
relatively large constituency. According to this model, political leaders are
thought of mainly as elected officials, but also, in some cases, as the designated
heads of major political organizations. This means that political leadership
definitions are generally limited to 1) the ability to run for and win elective offices,
2) the successful attainment of political appointments, or 3) visible roles in
recognized political organizations. However, political participation among Black
women often takes on non-traditional forms that lie outside of either electoral
politics or traditional protest movements.
Discussions of governmental politics and traditional political movements are
offered throughout this chapter; however, I also highlight many of the non-
traditional forms through which leadership is manifested, including participation in
community programs, informal or small group protest politics, political writings,
artistic renderings, and community other-motherhood as forms of political
expression. I begin with an examination of the historical conditions and cultural
context that gave rise to self-defined leadership among Black women, including
African carryovers (or Africanisms), conditions of slavery, and race-based and
sex-based oppression. Finally, the chapter outlines ways in which these leadership
forms develop among Black women in particular.
focuses upon ways in which these perspectives, or our own subjectivities, impact political
representation.
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In his work Race Rebels, historian Robin Kelley highlights several non-traditional
forms of political expression and examples o f political leadership among Black
women who served as artists, writers, and organizers of small group resistance
movements as they worked towards the empowerment of African-Americans
(Kelley 1994). Although such forms of political expression apply broadly to
Blacks and other people of color, such non-traditional and creative forms might be
utilized to an even greater degree among Black women. The importance of
grassroots community organizing among Black women is also highlighted in
Nancy Naples’ Grassroots Warriors (Naples 1998). Patricia Bell-Scott’s Flat-
Footed Truths (1998) illustrates how literature has been used by Black women,
especially, to provide an outlet for political expression, protest and development.
While Black female leadership as manifested through electoral politics has arisen
only in recent decades, leadership in broader terms has long been a part of Black
womanhood in America, in Africa and across the Black diaspora. In order to
effectively study Black women as elected representatives, one must also
understand the ways in which non-traditional leadership forms develop and how
these forms impact approaches to political representation.2
Where the core of political leadership among White males (who represent the
group that is most different from Black women) remains participation in
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government and, at its highest level, electoral politics, Black women in this genre
of leadership are drastically underrepresented. Black men are similarly
underrepresented in elected posts, although to a lesser degree than their female
counterparts.3 Still, leadership among Black men has remained visible through
high-level posts in formal political movements and organizations. In fact, the
concept of Black leadership has been so masculinized in many circles that some of
the most comprehensive works on Black leadership, including John White’s Black
Leadership in America, include case studies documenting solely the contributions
of Black male leaders (White 1990). White women have also had a greater degree
of success in obtaining positions as elected and appointed officials than Black
women. In addition, like Black men, White women have been visible as leaders of
advocacy organizations, particularly those groups seeking to address issues related
to gender equality.4
2 Included in non-traditional leadership forms are the role of motherhood and other-motherhood,
participation in protest politics and the development and maintenance of alternate cultural bases
which, in effect, possess separate forms of governance.
3 For example of the 535 Members of Congress (both Senate and House), only 39 are African
American, 12 women and 27 men (Congressional Black Caucus 2002). This means that while
African Americans constitute 12% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau 2000), they make
up only 7% o f the U.S. Congress. Thus, for African-Americans to be proportionately represented
in Congress, there is a required 64% increase in the number o f Black Members (bringing the total
number of Black Members to 64). For Black women, there is an even greater degree of
underrepresentation. If Black women constitute slightly more than 6% of the U.S. population (just
more than 50% o f the total Black U.S. population), then to be proportionately represented in
Congress, the number of Black women Members should total 32, a 167% increase over the current
number (vis-a-vis a required 18% increase among Black male Members to be proportionately
representative).
4 Of the 10 leading national organizations designed to address the conditions of women (excluding
those organizations dedicated to the specific conditions o f women of color), only one is led by an
African American women, the League of Women Voters. Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins was
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Given the strikingly low number of Black women who serve in highly-visible
posts in both the women’s movement and organizations that work towards racial
equality, along with the virtual absence of large scale movements that focus on the
particularities of the inequalities that challenge Black women,5 at first glance, it
would seem that there is a severe deficiency in leadership among Black women.
In gaining a greater understanding of the role that Black women have played in
providing essential support to the women’s movement and to movements which
focus on Black advancement, by reaffirming the importance of Black women’s
clubs and organizations in the advance of equality and justice, and through a
rediscovery of alternative forms of political expression and small group
mobilization, it becomes apparent that a commitment to political leadership is
central to Black womanhood.
Despite this clear commitment to political leadership and the immeasurable
contributions made by Black women. Some hold the view that Black women
cannot adequately represent the “whole” of Blacks or the “whole” of women; it is
as if somehow a Black woman’s gender takes away from her Blackness and her
race takes away from her womanhood. Others devalue approaches to and
definitions of political leadership that run counter to the traditional model, limiting
elected as the first woman of color to lead the League of Women Voters in 1998 (League of
Women Voters).
5 Efforts to address the specific conditions and challenges faced by Black women specifically are
limited largely to remaining organizations from the Black women’s club movement era, including
that National Council or Negro Women and Black sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta
Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and Sigma Gamma Rho.
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analyses o f political leadership to participation in electoral politics and recognized
political organizations. In contrast, I argue that 1) Black women serve as full and
adequate representatives of both their racial group and their gender group and hold
the unique position of being able to also represent those who stand at the
intersection of racialized and gendered “otherness.” 2) The social, economic and
political position of Black women encourages the utilization of both traditional and
non-traditional political leadership forms.
Although Black women have been consistently active in organizations and
movements led by both African American men6 and White women7 which address
inequalities based on race or inequalities based on gender, there have been few
attempts to organize around overlapping forms of oppression. Because neither
race-based movements nor gender-based movements embody the totality o f the
experiences of Black women and because of the relative inflexibility of either
race-centered organizations to give attention to gender or gender-focused
movements to address race, Black women, in general, while participatory, have not
claimed ownership of either type of organization. In addition, there has been little
in the way of an organized Black women’s movement that extends beyond the
community and local level, although bell hooks (2000), Barbara Christian (1996)
6 Including serving as integral parts of the abolitionist, anti-lynching, civil rights, Black power,
economic justice, and environmental justice movements.
7 Beginning with the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and continuing through the women’s club
movement and women’s liberation movement.
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and others have been diligent in highlighting the need for Black women to claim
their own space.
Multi-Axis Framework and Black Women*s Leadership -
In exploring ways political leadership is manifested among Black women, we must
first begin by developing a model that is self-defined, placing the realities of Black
womanhood at the center. We begin by determining the ways in which race and
gender impact one’s perception of leadership and how mental images of leadership
shape political participation. These self-defined concepts are then incorporated
into a fluid and ever-evolving model that incorporates all of the various subjective
realities that define Black womanhood. Working from a multi-axis framework
means beginning with the premise that the combination of race and gender shapes
the way that Black women conceptualize leadership.
Like Affocentricity, feminism and other movements which seek to re-center the
frame of vision, the multi-axis framework seeks to move Black women away from
the “margins” by debunking the myth of White, middle-class, able-bodied,
heterosexual, Christian, male normalcy and objectivity. The supposed normalcy
and objectivity of the most privileged within society casts those who sit at the
opposite end of any axis as marginal - a perpetual “other.” Thus, Blacks become
the “other” because they sit at the opposite end from the White norm along the axis
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of race. Women lie along the margins because they sit counter to the male norm
along the gender axis.
MARGINALITY AND WHITE MALE NORMALCY
Fig u r e 3-1
Black
Indigenous
Latino
Asian
White ^
Middle/Upper Class
Able-Bodied P h y s A u n ty
' Straight
Christian
Man
Class
Working Class/ Poor
Disabled
Jay/Lesbian < ^ j
>Muslim
Jewish
Buddhist
“Other”
Religion
V
Woman
Movements that seek to re-center our approach erase the circle of normalcy and
objectivity, acknowledging that each group experiences a subjective, as opposed to
objective, reality and that each reality is to be valued and celebrated. In order to
do this, Afrocentrism redraws the circle of perspective around Blackness along the
race axis; feminism draws the circle around womanhood along the gender axis. In
this way, each of these approaches seeks to move a previous “other” from “margin
to center” (hooks 1984). While such an approach is empowering in the sense that
it enables previously marginalized groups to occupy the center, it does so along
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only a single axis, assuming other positions of privilege. Therefore, where
Afrocentrism places Blackness at the center, all other advantaged statuses remain -
meaning that a single-axis approach to Afrocentricism simply replaces straight,
White, male, middle to upper-class, able-bodied Christians with straight, Black,
male, middle to upper-class, able-bodied Christians. Similarly, single-axis
feminism merely replaces men with women and retains all other positions of
privilege.
In contrast, a multi-axis framework moves beyond the “re-centering” approach
utilized most commonly in Afrocentric and White feminist analyses by allowing
for the incorporation of several axes of marginality simultaneously. Under this
model, subjectivity is embraced and the “center” is fluid, incorporating multiple
identities and acknowledging the simultaneity of the full range of social, economic
and political positions.
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MULTI-AXIS FRAMEWORK
Fig u r e 3 -2
Phys Ability
BLACK
WOMAN
Sexuality Religion
Black Women’s Leadership:
Organic Grassroots Movements or the Individual Charismatic Leader -
Case studies of Black women’s leadership suggest that for Black women leaders,
there is little emphasis on individual recognition and visibility and greater
emphasis on overall group achievement; leadership, by this definition, is often
manifested through non-traditional forms as exemplified by “community other-
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mothers,”8 group advocates,9 and the extension of personal experiences to
collective interests (Naples 1998).1 0
Grassroots leadership and leadership in non-traditional forms among Black women
is linked to participation in traditional electoral politics as well. Black women
who seek elected office generally do so because their experiences or concepts of
leadership encourage participation in the formal political system.
With the discipline o f political science focusing on theories related to power and
its allocation in societies, analyses of leadership and research on individual leaders
have been given a great deal of attention. However, within the existing body of
work, leadership has most commonly been addressed in terms of its traditional
leadership forms in governmental politics. Additional attention has been given to
leadership as demonstrated through major political movements which are used to
bring about change within the formal political system. While both applications
are, no doubt, extremely important, additional forms of leadership, including those
8 Community other-motherhood is discussed by Kimberle Crenshaw. Where she highlights the role
the sense of communal mothering offered Black women to neighbors and children who are not
linked to them biologically. Examples of such involvements are abundant, perhaps most clearly
manifested through works such as the ones of “Sweet” Alice Harris and Mothers of Watts in Los
Angeles, California.
9 A prime example of community advocacy is reflected in the works of Karen Bass, with
Community Coalition in South Los Angeles.
1 0 In her forthcoming work, In Shadowed Spaces, Andrea Simpson highlights the role that Black
women have played in the environmental justice movement. Her case study o f Doris Bradshaw’s
work in Memphis Tennessee highlights how activism and involvement moves from the realm o f the
individual to the personal. Where her interest in the movement was bom out of the personal loss of
her grandmother who died o f cancer o f the bladder (a cancer which develops solely because of
environmental conditions), this prompted her leadership in developing an organization and leading
a movement which addressed the environmental concerns of the entire community.
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outlined in earlier examples, have also played major roles in societal power
relations. In addition to serving as a valuable leadership form in and of itself, non-
traditional political leadership also provides a bridge by which marginalized
groups can move into the realm o f traditional politics.
Concepts of leadership among Black women, which include a familial sense of
community and the celebration of creative expression, along with the historic
exclusion from traditional forms o f political participation and limited access to
power, encourage African-American women to embrace non-traditional forms of
political participation. Moreover, the de-emphasis on the visibility of individual
leaders further encourages an acceptance of and appreciation for non-traditional
leadership forms among Black women.
Africanisms in African-American Gender Roles -
Building from the foundation laid by Angela Davis (1983) and Filomena Chioma
Steady (1981), I assert that self-defined concepts and manifestations of leadership
among Black women have evolved based on the combined effects of 1) the
carryover of pre-colonial African traditions and gender roles and 2) the shared
historical conditions and experiences of oppression in the United States. In
addition, I argue that these concepts and manifestations inevitably move Black
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women towards an embrace of multi-axis theory (also referred to as Black
feminism, womanism, intersectionality, and critical race feminism).1 1
As presented by Filomena Chioma Steady in “The Black Woman Cross
Culturally,” Black women in Africa and throughout the diaspora draw from 1) a
common African heritage emphasizing non-hierarchical gender roles and 2) a
shared history of economic exploitation and marginalization, negative imagery,
self-reliance as a necessary ideology, and creation of survival imperatives which
have encouraged concepts of power and leadership that differ from Western
standards (Steady 1991). This argument, which is further supported by Angela
Davis in Women, Race and Class (Davis 1981), asserts that the combination of
Africanisms1 2 in African-American gender roles and shared oppressions by Black
men and Black women, encourage Black women to be self-defining in their
approaches to leadership and assert themselves as leaders more readily according
to these definitions.
In “African Womanism: An Afrocentric Theory,” Nah Dove places emphasis on
ways in which contemporary African-American gender relations stem from
111 prefer to use the term multi-axis for the following reasons: 1) it is an illustrative term, 2) the
term “feminism” often carries negative connotations among women of color - generally thought of
as a White, middle-class women’s movement, 3) it is flexible, allowing us to incorporate other axes
of marginality into the analysis, such as class, sexual orientation, religion, etc. as appropriate, and
4) the theoretical framework stands alone as opposed to being a reactionary concept that is simply a
“critique” of an existing theoretical approach.
121 use the term Africanisms to refer the continuing carryovers of traditional African culture,
traditions, values, beliefs, and practices among African Americans and throughout the African
diaspora.
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continental African cultural practices. Dove argues from an Afrocentric
perspective that gender roles for all African people, continental and diasporic, are
largely defined by cultural traditions that are based on a system of non-hierarchical
matriarchy (Dove 1998). Non-hierarchical matriarchy as outlined by Dove places
the woman in a position of assertive power while maintaining equitable value for
both genders. Therefore, the concept emphasizes men and women as
complementary as opposed to competitive. Power for the woman does not exist at
the expense of the man. It is this matriarchal tradition that has encouraged and
continues to encourage the tradition of activism among Black women. This
tradition takes form most often through the role of the communal mother (which
can be likened to the concept of community other-motherhood).
Dove outlines her principles of Afrocentricity by drawing from a variety of
disciplines, including religion, anthropology, biology, economics, and psychology.
However, it is in the last section of her work that she provides specific examples of
the shared culture of leadership and activism among Black women across
geographical boundaries, from antiquity to recent history, including the Candaces
in Cush (Ethiopia), the Maroons, led by the mother-resistor, Nanny, in Jamaica,
Queen Nzinga in Angola, Dona Beatrice in the Congo, Yaa Asantewa in Ghana,
and Harriet Tubman in the United States. Where she provides little elaboration on
the contributions o f these women leaders, their introduction provides some support
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to Dove’s assertion of a cultural tradition of non-hierarchical matriarchal
leadership and activism among Black women.
There is much room for additional support, examples and elaboration in Dove’s
work. She routinely moves beyond from the “re-centering” approach to
Afrocentricity, which seeks to “draw the circle” around Blackness through which
Black people are moved out of the margins, to one which reflects on the “greatness
of Africa” and often ignores injustices or oppressions which may have occurred
and continue to occur on the continent under the leadership o f indigenous
Africans. In her discussion of ways in which the African cultural tradition of
matriarchy fell to the oppressive state of European patriarchy, she introduces the
role of religion, arguing that prior to the imposition of European, male-centered
religion in Africa and the Middle East, Africans practiced religious forms which
worshipped female deities, reinforcing the systems of matriarchy that were in
place. However, Alice Walker’s work Warrior Marks (1993) along with other
studies on female genital mutilation highlight incidents that occur in areas and
among people who continue to practice native religions as well as male-centered,
monotheistic ones.
This further highlights another shortcoming of Dove’s work. Dove makes
countless points, in many different areas, drawing from a range o f academic
disciplines. However, few o f the arguments are supported frilly or analyzed
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thoroughly. In addition, while a great deal of the literature used to support her
theory of Alfocentric womanism is produced by recognized scholars with
outstanding methodological practices, including Cheikh Anta Diop, Filomena
Chioma Steady, bell hooks, Molefi Asante, Craig Hilliard, and others, some
supports are weak, especially those that seek to make biological arguments.
Drawing from the work of Frances Cress Welsing, for example, does little to
bolster the claim that White people have engaged in the oppression and
domination of people of color because they are somehow biologically fearful of
genetic annihilation (Dove 1998).
Nonetheless, the preference for matriarchal social structure throughout Africa is
confirmed by Larry Williams and Charles S. Finch in their essay in Ivan Van
Sertima’s edited volume Black Women in Antiquity (1995), Williams and Finch are
careful to note that this social structure rarely extended to formal political power.
For example, although bloodlines in pharaohnic Egypt were determined by the
mother (with throne succession based on the mother’s status as queen as opposed
to the father’s status as pharaoh), ascension to national rulership was limited to
i ->
male leaders with few exceptions (Williams and Finch 1995). Anthropologist
Robert Edgerton further addresses the question of formal political power for
women in African societies in his work Warrior Women (2000), confirming what
Williams and Finch assert - women in positions of formal national political
1 3 A few very significant exceptions include Makeda - the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia, Queen-
Mother Tiye in Kemet, and the Warrior-Pharoah Hatshepsut in Egypt.
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leadership were a rarity in pre-colonial Africa; yet this does not mean that they
assumed an inferior status since their influence as non-traditional leaders of
societies significantly shaped the political, economic, and social structures.
Where Edgerton contributes to this body of research is in his discussion of the
non-hierarchical valuation of duties, a concept implied, but not explicitly discussed
in the Williams and Finch essay. Although women served as the official rulers of
very few societies in pre-colonial Africa, they assumed roles that were more or
less equal in stature, with many of these positions exclusive to women leaders.
Robert Edgerton (2000) illustrates this point through his case study of the warrior
women in Dahomey, West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, where women
comprised the most elite body of warriors. In Dahomey society, women held
nearly all o f the same rights as men: the right to choose their own mate, the right
to divorce (a right that men did not possess), the right to own property, and the
right to engage in politics - both as political advisors and as office-holders.
Edgerton is careful to note, however, that these public rights did not mean that
there were not private feelings of superiority among Dahomey men. Still, the
overall emphasis was on the balanced gender roles of men and women, with each
being of equal value (providing additional support to Dove’s theory of non-
hierarchical matriarchy).
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With French colonization in 1894 also came a shift in gender roles. European
colonizers brought with them their concepts of the “woman’s place,” as being
restricted to their roles as mothers and housewives. Edgerton argues that
Dahomey men were complicit in this subjugation of women because there is no
record of them fighting for the right for women to retain their rights as societal
equals. I would, however, question whether or not the silence of Dahomey men
regarding the diminished status of Dahomey women came from a pre-existing
desire to oppress or whether it is simply an example of how colonialism thrives by
encouraging hierarchical systems where one group feels empowered through the
oppression of the other. This carefully engineered intragroup conflict helps to
ensure that attention is shifted away from the oppression suffered by the whole at
the hands of colonialist interests.
Edgerton goes on to offer several additional examples of pre-colonial African
societies that maintained equitable gender roles, including: the Mbuti Pygmies in
Zaire, the !Kung in the Kalahari Desert, The Kom of Cameroon, the Lovedu in
southern Africa, the Zulu in South Africa, and the Igbo in Nigeria. The Igbo and
Dahomey examples are especially noteworthy for this research since members of
both groups comprise a significant number of the Africans who were captured and
enslaved under the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Like the Dahomey, Igbo women
held positions of political and economic power that were more or less equal to
those of men, both formally and informally. Edgerton argues that in West African
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societies gender equity was the general rule. This does not mean that there are no
exceptions; he highlights female circumcision and instances of domestic abuse as
major examples of gender inequity. However, his core argument is that “when
Western colonial powers came to govern non-Western peoples, the status of
indigenous women has almost always declined” (Edgerton 2000, 129) Thus,
hierarchical gender roles are introduced to cultures where such roles were
previously non-hierarchical and in societies where there was limited inequity,
differences were magnified and oppressions were exacerbated.
Norma Burgess further argues that African-American gender roles are not solely
defined by current societal and political conditions, but draw from African roots.
Where all African cultures may not have been matriarchal, as argued by Dove,
Burgess supports Edgerton’s idea that most were much more equitable in the
distribution of power than Eurocentric gender roles would dictate. The division of
labor in pre-colonial Africa was non-hierarchical and participation in the
workforce was seen as part of a community responsibility and not tied directly to
economic necessity.
Burgess also emphasizes that African gender roles shifted with the birth of
European colonialism on the continent. (Burgess: 1994, 397) With the system of
colonialism requiring domination, it also disallows equity. In a culture where
gender roles are largely equitable, a hierarchy of roles must be encouraged by the
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colonizer, creating a division of interests between genders and the rise of hostilities
between them. This disunification allows an outside power to oppress the whole
more readily. Thus, European colonialism in Africa was dependent upon the death
of non-hierarchical matriarchy and the birth of hierarchical gender roles that
encourage competition versus cooperation.
Dove’s essay does a good job of linking the research presented by Williams and
Finch, Edgerton and Burgess to contemporary Black communities by highlighting
the role that the “intergenerational transfer of values and beliefs” play in the
development of African American gender roles, especially in the conceptualization
and manifestation of leadership among Black women. Further support for her core
argument is provided through illustrations offered by scholars like Robin D. G.
Kelley (1994), Joyce Ladner (1971), Filomena Chioma Steady (1981), and Ivan
Van Sertima (1995).
What occurred in Africa, as well as in the United States, although under a very
different set of circumstances, was an ongoing push-pull between the traditional
cultural gender roles of African women and roles that were being imposed from
the outside. Upon arrival in the United States, many o f the cultural practices of
West Africa continued, including the continuance of gender roles that encouraged
a community work ethic, shared leadership between men and women, extended
non-bio logical definition of family and motherhood, and traditions of activism.
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While what manifested in the United States is not an exact replication of the
gender roles employed in West Africa because of changes in circumstance and
oppressive conditions, core Africanisms1 4 continued and continue to be practiced.
As argued most eloquently by Angela Davis, sexism among Blacks is largely an
attempt to mimic the gender roles of Whites rather than returning to and relying on
the traditional gender roles of Blacks (1984).
Leadership concepts among Black women are rooted largely in these African
carry-overs, with traditions of shared struggle and responsibility further
developing under the system o f chattel slavery and segregation.
Historical Conditions and the Ranking o f Oppressions in the United States: The
Problem with the Hierarchical Approach to Comparative Discrimination -
In From Protest to Politics Katherine Tate contends that the Voting Rights Act of
1965 marked the beginning o f a new era in Black political empowerment, moving
the preferred methods of Black political empowerment from the sit-ins, marches,
rallies, etc. of the Civil Rights era (protest) to participation in electoral activities,
including voting, and running Black candidate for office (politics) (Tate 1993).
While I believe that protest remains a necessary and useful method to bring about
change and question whether the complete shift from methods which I term
“outside agitation” or what Tate calls “protest” to my concept of “inside
141 use the term Africanisms to refer the continuing carryovers of traditional African culture,
traditions, values, beliefs, and practices among African Americans and throughout the African
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participation,” Tate’s “politics” is progress, there is a great deal of truth in the idea
that oppressed people have used the methods available to them for empowerment.
For Black women, this provides insight into the reasons behind the continued
legacy o f non-traditional leadership.
In her work “From Three Fifths to Zero: Implications of the Constitution for
African-American Women, 1780-1870,” Mamie Locke maintains that the position
of Black women along the periphery o f society, encouraged their participation in
resistance movements of the Reconstruction era. As the “lowest common
denominator” (Locke 1990, 378) in the American social and political hierarchy,
Black women were victims o f both racist and sexist exploitation. In slavery, the
Black woman endured both racial and sexual dehumanization, where the “social
death” discussed by Orlando Patterson in Slavery and Social Death was very much
a part of her reality (Patterson 1982). However, she also experienced additional
sexual dehumanization where her ability to reproduce was seen as an asset for her
owner, not part of her person as a human being. Locke argues that sexual
oppression and torture through rape, abuse, and the stripping o f even the most
basic personal freedoms was justified among Whites despite their own gender
roles. A process of “defeminization” of Black women enabled Whites to justify
the exploitation; Black women were not “protected,”1 5 thus, there is an interesting
paradox. While it is her womanhood that gives her value as “property” based on
diaspora.
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her ability to reproduce, the acknowledgement of womanhood (or feminization as
described by Locke) would require that Black women become “human.” This
paradox is highlighted as the enduring reality of the lives of Black women at the
time.
Locke goes on to discuss the role that Black women played in movements toward
empowerment of other oppressed groups. There, the paradox continues; White
women denied Black women full entrance into the suffrage movement, preferring
to form coalitions with Black men. During the same period, many abolitionists
asked Black women to set aside gender and focus solely on racial empowerment.
“Even though African American women were victims of both racism and sexism,
they were being put into a position of having to choose which oppression was
more debilitating” (Locke 1990, 383). In sum, the Reconstruction era focused
attention on Black men and White women, ignoring the unique positionality of
Black women. Black women were left forced to choose between African
American patriarchy and White female racism. Locke concludes that
Constitutionally, Black women actually declined in status with the passage of the
13th Amendment by being separated out from the Black collective. Newly won
freedoms applied to Black men, excluding Black women who were figuratively
moved from “three-fifths” to “zero,” illustrating Locke’s position that Black
1 5 Societal gender roles among Whites most commonly depicted White women as valuable and
fragile objects (but objects nonetheless).
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women are always defined according to their lowest common denominator (Locke
1990, 384).
Locke’s discussion of societal definitions o f Black women are important to this
work and discussions on intersections of race and gender more generally.
However, her article seems to put into practice the very thing that she begins to
argue against. Rather than fully acknowledging the sex-based oppression of White
women, she seems to downplay their objectification in order to highlight race-
based oppression. According to Locke, “White women remained on their
pedestals, cherished positions to be revered and envied. African American women
had once again been omitted from the cornerstone of American democracy, the
Constitution of the United States” (Locke 1990, 385). However, her research
seems to counter this claim as she notes that women - of any race - did not acquire
the right to vote until after the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Furthermore, the “pedestal” upon which White women were placed, worked to
perpetuate their oppression. While the pedestal brought with it privilege, it was at
the cost of her right to develop, live and express herself as a complete person,
independent of her husband. In her work “Northern Black Female Workers:
Jacksonian Era,” Sharon Harley discusses the position of White women of the
time, “they were considered to be inferior, socially and legally and were called
minors, if single, and if married, were under the control of their husbands” (Harley
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1997, 5) While there is no doubt that the position of White women of the era was
significantly better than that of Black women, their position is still less than
enviable. White women were not dehumanized completely, as were Blacks;
however, at the very least, they were clearly objectified - thought to be a sort of
“accessory” to the lives of White men.
This dependence on the hierarchical approach to comparative discrimination is
also utilized by Orlando Patterson in his discussion of Black gender roles.
However, his ranking of oppressions actually compares the experiences o f Black
women to those of Black men. Where Locke underscores the particularity o f the
oppressions faced by Black women because of their place at the intersection of
race and gender, Patterson actually questions whether the “double oppression”
argument has any validity at all and argues that her gender, works in the Black
woman’s favor, giving her a position that is above that of Black men (Patterson
1992).
As a historian specializing in research on slavery, Patterson’s works have been
largely “gender neutral” until more recently. The system o f chattel slavery in the
United States not only served as a means of physical bondage and forced labor, but
also perhaps more significantly functioned as an attempt to bring about the social
death of Africans in America. In his work Slavery and Social Death, Orlando
Patterson highlights the American form of slavery as different from slavery in any
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other part of the world because of the total dehumanization of African American
slaves (Patterson 1982). This White denial of Black humanity within the
American chattel slave system effectively prohibited traditional leadership from
developing among African Americans during this period.
Patterson’s work Slavery and Social Death contributes greatly to our
understanding of American slavery and the depths to which African Americans
were seen as “socially dead” entities by way o f natal alienation.1 6 However, this
work offers a non-gendered view of slavery, with very limited discussion of
gender roles and the role of Black women specifically under slavery. Patterson
follows up this work, however, with a 1993 essay titled “Blacklash.” The essay
begins by offering an analysis o f African-American gender relations as illustrated
through the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas case, then quickly moves to its central
question o f contemporary African-American gender roles and their historical root.
Patterson argues that the success of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s
marked the beginning of African-American humanity in the eyes of White
America, for it was the first time that large segments of the White population
began to recognize Blacks as whole and complete citizens.1 7 Prior to that, the
1 6 Natal alienation for Patterson is central to the concept of social death, highlighting the forced
disconnect between African American slaves at birth from all rights to relationship, life as a human
being and humanity itself.
1 7 While this idea also requires challenge and outstanding critiques are offered by Derrick Bell
(1995) and bell hooks (1995), I choose to focus only on the arguments made that are directly
related to the core of this research.
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legacy o f slavery endured, with its defining quality being natal alienation or the
relegation of Blacks to the status of perpetual outsider (Patterson 1993, 4). As
such, the central challenge for both Black men and Black women was their claim
to humanity. Therefore, gender-based differences were set aside to allow for the
advancement of the whole. The concept of gender unity among African
Americans as a result of extreme racial oppression is also discussed by Angela
Davis (1983) and Filomena Chioma Steady (1981). However, where Patterson
moves away from the arguments made in his earlier work is in his critique of what
evolved out of the process of humanization. Patterson argues that while Black
1 K
men and women were unified in their struggle to end slavery, later claims to
Black feminism have severely harmed gender relations among Blacks. In addition,
many claims of Black feminism, including the framework of the “double burden”
or “intersectionality,”1 9 are largely unfounded. Patterson highlights statistics that
include murder and incarceration rates among Black men to argue that Black men
are actually more oppressed than Black women (Patterson 1993, 7).
As a leading scholar who has contributed greatly to the body of knowledge across
disciplines, it is surprising that Patterson’s more recent works take on this position.
In his critique of Black feminism and his claim that Black feminists have obscured
the African American understanding of gender relations, Orlando Patterson seems
1 8 For Patterson, slavery extends far beyond 1865 and includes all periods of large scale social
death for Blacks. The period of slavery is marked by the success of the Civil Rights movement.
Where an exact event or date is not given, one might infer that it could be marked by the 1965
passage of the Voting Rights Act.
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to either ignore or misunderstand the central goals of Black feminist thought.
Black feminism is not simply an attempt to analyze or engage in discussions about
Black male/female relations (although the practice of Black feminism undoubtedly
impacts African American gender relations). At its core, Black feminism is really
about reconstructing power and place, or as bell hooks notes, moving Black
womanhood “from margin to center” (hooks 1984). Through Black feminism, all
things are framed in the perspective of Black womanhood as opposed to her
relegation to otherness2 0 in racist and/or patriarchal models. Thus, Black feminism
has never been seen centrally as an attempt to engage in analysis and discussion of
Black female/male gender relations.
To support his claim against Black feminism and refute the notion of
intersectionality, Patterson engages in a comparative discussion of the differences
in oppression experienced by Black men and women. Moving in reverse
chronological order, from contemporary conditions to historical ones, Patterson
begins by acknowledging the “feminization o f poverty,” then quickly asserting that
this reality is by no fault of Black men. He then argues that Black men, on the
other hand, face countless disadvantages and oppressions not experienced by
Black women. “[I]f African-American women continue to suffer the double or
triple burden we so often hear about, how do we reconcile this with the relatively
1 9 Or my preferred term, coined by Kimberle Crenshaw, the multi-axis framework/approach.
2 0 The role of the “other” as discussed in many works that focus on discrimination and
marginalization, asserts that the established center from which concepts are analyzed are based on
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better position on these important indicators when compared with that of African-
American men” (Patterson 1993, 10). He goes on to say that, “it was always the
case that, whereas the burdens of poor African-American men have always been
oppressive, dispiriting, demoralizing, and soul-killing, those of women have
always been, at least partially, generative, empowering, and humanizing” (11).
He attempts to support this claim with a discussion of historical African-American
gender roles and conditions. Under the system of chattel slavery, Patterson argues
that Black women actually benefited from their ability to reproduce because it
preserved their right to motherhood. In contrast, claims to fatherhood were denied
Black men. In African tradition, motherhood is a sacred right. “The slaveholder’s
emphasis on childbearing unwittingly reinforced the link with Africa.” Claims
that Black women slaves endured a process of defeminization are also dismissed.
While her work in the fields does not fit White models of femininity, he argues
that “agricultural field work” is part of traditional West African gender roles, and
“reinforced a preexisting pattern of work and gender roles.” This is placed in
contrast to the realities endured by African American men “who experienced a
sharp and utterly devastating break with preexisting work and gender roles” (11-
12).
the attributes of the privileged - White, male, middle-class, able-bodied, heterosexual Christians.
Those not matching this criteria are relegated to the status of the “other.”
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Where Robin Kelley (1994), Angela Davis (1983), and Deborah Gray White
(1999) confirm and I accept the idea that childbearing for some Black women
under slavery has been used as an act of defiance, a reminder of her own humanity,
it is unconscionable to argue, as Patterson does, that the relegation of Black
women’s bodies to the status of reproductive tools means that she is less oppressed
no matter how she redefines the experience in her own psyche. Furthermore,
childbearing in itself did not afford Black women slaves rights to motherhood in
its complete sense. Her children remained the property of the slave owner, just as
she was property.
It is quite surprising that Patterson’s work has taken such a turn. In fact, Derrick
Bell’s critique of “Blacklash” titled “The Black Sedition Papers,” sarcastically
questions whether or not Patterson has been co-opted by the U.S. government to
help quash any potential progressive movement within the Black community in an
effort to “understand why [Patterson] would write a paper that so distorts black
history and contemporary black distress” (Bell 1995). Bell counters Patterson’s
claims of the greater oppression of Black men by making three central arguments.
First, Bell argues that the desexualization of Black women does not equate to
power for them, but is a form of sexual oppression. Second, while Black women
have made some advances in education, job placements in academia are extremely
limited. Finally, Black women are oppressed on both ends of the economic
spectrum - as workers (paid unequally) and as consumers (paying higher prices for
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similar goods and services). Bell concludes by pointing out the fundamental flaw
in Patterson’s ranking of oppressions.
The debate.. .should not focus on whether black men or black women have
been affected more by the dominant white society and the steadily
deteriorating labor-market. Rather, our efforts should be focused on why
black men are disappearing from the workforce, from the family, and,
increasingly, from life itself. This tragedy has affected black women
deeply. They, after all, are the mothers, wives, and sisters of America’s
“Disappeared.” It is only when we observe the black man and woman in
unison, rather than individually, that one fully understands the plight of
African-Americans... [I]t is not the African American female, through her
economic independence, who emasculates the black male...Shifting the
root cause from a hostile society to black women is both inaccurate in fact
and counter-productive to the self-help goal Patterson espouses (Bell, 1995,
112).
Patterson’s dismissal of the defeminization argument is also disturbing. Locke’s
discussion of defeminization is closely linked with the overall process of
dehumanization of Black women. The degendering of Black women allowed for
her objectification, whereby justifying her position as an agricultural and
reproductive tool, property of her White owners. Furthermore, the
counterbalancing of Black male and Black female oppressions carries even greater
problems. While there is no denying that Black men and Black women have had
and continue to have very different experiences, the hierarchical approach to
comparative discrimination, especially when the oppressions of one are
downplayed and dismissed, works counter to efforts toward progress.
Rather than placing Black men and Black women in contrast with one another,
Rosalyn-Terborg-Penn’s work outlines ways in which African-Americans engaged
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in the common struggle for racial empowerment across gender in the nineteenth
century. Terborg-Penn asserts that Black women have always seen themselves as
wholly a part of the Black empowerment movement and served in leadership
positions in all but a few abolitionist and African-American empowerment
organizations of the time. Furthermore, with few exceptions, Black men in
leadership positions also included Black women in organizations and movements,
clearly avoiding the trap of ranking oppressions that Orlando Patterson seems to
have fallen into. With this general sentiment of inclusion, the key difference
among Black male leaders of the time seemed to be whether to simply include
Black women in the general struggle for Black empowerment or whether to also
acknowledge and address the particularity of Black women’s conditions (Terborg-
Penn 1997, 28).
Balancing Race and Gender: Coalescing Around Common Interests -
Terborg-Penn highlights the significant contributions made to the women’s
suffrage movement and to the empowerment of Black women specifically by the
leading Black men of the time, including: Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass,
Robert Purvis, James Forten, and others. While some, like Douglass, linked
themselves most closely with the suffragists, led mainly by White women, others,
like Delany, concerned themselves primarily with the conditions and
empowerment of African-American women. What is perhaps most striking is not
the attitudes of individual male leaders toward Black women at all, but the
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positions adopted by many Black institutions, particularly historically Black
colleges and universities. At a time when White women were largely denied
education beyond the primary level, historically Black colleges, highlighted
through Terborg-Penn’s example with Howard University, not only allowed Black
women entrance, but encouraged the pursuit of the highest degrees. In the late
nineteenth century, Howard encouraged Black women’s enrollment in both their
medical and law schools (Terborg-Penn 1997, 38).
“Black Male Perspectives on the Nineteenth Century Woman” does an outstanding
job in outlining key differences in Black and White gender roles. Case studies of
Black male leadership and their involvements in the suffrage movement and
willingness to include Black women as participants and leaders help to shed light
on ways in which the tradition of leadership styles particular to Black women
evolved. However, with almost a complete absence of criticism of Black men and
their attitudes toward women, one questions whether or not Terborg-Penn might
be slightly romanticizing Black gender roles of the time. In addition, while she
highlights the contributions of Black male leadership to the mostly White
suffragist movement, she downplays the role of reciprocity and the powerful
coalition which developed between abolitionist and suffragist efforts up until the
debate around the Fifteenth Amendment arose. Furthermore, clearly paternalistic
attitudes toward Black women by Black men in their desire to “protect” them also
go without sufficient analysis or critique. The core of her essay seems to argue
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that because Black men were not nearly as patriarchal or oppressive as White men
and some attempts to include and address the status of women were made, there is
a virtual absence of sexism. Finally, what is most striking, is not in the text of this
essay at all, but in the title of the essay that precedes it in the same edited volume,
titled “Discrimination Against Afro-American Women in the Woman’s
Movement” by the same author. While the existence of such discrimination is
undeniable, the thrust of the essay was on White women’s exclusion of Black
women. This work is followed by an essay which basically argues that Black men
were largely inclusive o f Black women. These contrasting approaches could
easily be interpreted as the author making a not-so-subtle decision to choose the
axis o f race over the axis of gender, rather than approaching the struggle of
African American women from a truly multi-axis perspective.
In Women, Race and Class, (1983) Angela Davis outlines the role that Black
women have played in the struggle for African-American liberation. The horrors
of chattel slavery in the United States prompted various forms of rebellion
undertaken by Blacks of both genders. In a sense, the common experience o f such
extreme forms of oppression endured by Black men and Black women encouraged
a shared commitment to resistance. While she is careful to note that there are
some differences in the forms of oppression experienced by Black women and
Black men,2 1 both were viewed primarily as “profitable labor units” and therefore,
2 1 For example, the sexual abuse and rape were realities that were largely limited to Black women
and not experienced by Black men (Davis 1983, 6).
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developed gender roles that were less extreme than those developed among Whites
(Davis 1983, 5). As a result, Black women have historically seen their own
freedom from oppression as being intrinsically aligned with the freedom of Black
men.
Davis fiirther maintains that it is this class-based economic reality of Black women
in America, beginning with slavery and extending to the present, that has shaped
their tradition of leadership. Under the system o f slavery, in fact, Black women
were seen as an even more profitable labor unit than Black men because o f their
ability to bear children. The development of Western gender roles was not only
shunned within the Black community, but also reinforced by Whites in order to
J ' )
perpetuate the process of dehumanization. Black women were, in a sense,
“masculinized” by White slave owners in order to justify their treatment.
Black female leadership continued after slavery throughout the period of Jim
Crow. Black women were especially active in the organizing and engaging in
protest related to the anti-lynching campaigns which carried through to the Civil
Rights era of the 1950s and 1960s where Black women served as primary
organizers, agitators and advocates for equality in nearly all o f the major political
protest groups.
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After slavery, Black women continued to be a part of the working class. Unlike
White women, Black women have always worked outside o f the home - largely
out of economic necessity, but as highlighted by Dove, perhaps also influenced by
the Afrocentric tradition of communal work. In contrast, White women were
largely disconnected from the workforce and were not seen as producers. This
helped to perpetuate the notion of female inferiority among Whites. With Black
women serving as a continual part of the public sphere of work, the “separate
sphere” theory introduced in feminist literature, does not apply. Within the Black
community, from slavery and beyond, Black women and Black men have shared
in their roles as producers (Davis 1983, 12).
This shared experience also translated into differences within the private sphere
between Blacks and Whites. Davis asserts that while there was a division of
household labor, this division was non-hierarchical, an argument that is consistent
with Dove’s overview of continental African gender roles. Essentially, a “negative
equality” among Black men and Black women resulted from equal experiences of
oppression and transformed itself into positive equality within the social relations
of home life (Patterson 1982,18).
2 2 If Black women were viewed as “women,” it would imply a degree of humanity and have the
potential to undermine the system o f chattel slavery, where slaves were viewed is inhuman and
“socially dead” entities. See Orlando Patterson’s Slavery and Social Death.
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Black Women’s Leadership and Community Empowerment
in the United States -
In analyzing Black women and political representation through a multi-axis
framework, it is required that we first recognize the particular place held by Black
women in the United States. This means that we begin by outlining paths through
which leadership among Black women has evolved, also providing self-definitions
of the concepts and manifestations of leadership.
Black women played and continue to play pivotal roles in movements toward
Black empowerment, as exemplified through the works of women like Septima
Clark, Ella Baker, Constance Baker Motley, Elaine Brown, Angela Davis, and
Assata Shakur (Baker-Motley 1999, Brown 1992, Hardy 1993, Motley 1999,
Olson 2001). Similarly, Black women made significant contributions to the
broader feminist movement, with the earliest documented example being the
extraordinary work of Sojourner Truth (Terborg-Penn 1997). While each of these
movements include countless examples of Black women’s leadership, because the
“ownership” of the movements tended belong to either Black men or White
women,2 3 Black women, for the most part, remained along the peripheries of each
of these movements, often unrecognized and even resented for their contributions
and their place at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression (hooks 1984,
Hull et. al. 1982).
2 3 As highlighted in All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave,
movements toward Black empowerment tended to focus on Black maleness and the women’s
movement was, in a sense, shorthand for White womanhood.
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There are two movements, however, which are key in highlighting the particular
position of Black women and effectively illustrate self-defined Black women’s
leadership: 1) the anti-lynching movement, and 2) the Black women’s club
movement. Through these examples, we begin to more clearly understand ways in
which Black women’s leadership manifests itself and its similarities to and
differences from other leadership forms. Of particular interest is the incorporation
of the principles outlined by Davis and Dove of commitment to collective
empowerment and the tradition of activism.
Paula Giddings highlights ways in which leadership was conceptualized by and
manifested among Black women under the system of slavery and within the
immediate post-slavery period in her work When and Where I Enter (Giddings
1984). Black women were central to resistance movements and revolts during
slavery, with many suffering unthinkable physical torture, including being burned
at the stake, as a result of their participation and leadership.
Participation in resistance movements and slave revolts stems from the history,
experiences, and social position of Black women. Giddings argues that Black
women were essentially placed in a state of limbo. Where White women were
placed on pedestals, sitting high above the sexual desires of men, Black women
became simultaneously hyper-sexualized and de-sexualized - hyper-sexualized as
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mistresses for White male slave owners, and de-sexualized through the process of
dehumanization which occurred under the system of chattel slavery. This duality
deeply impacted Black women’s relationships within the Black community as
well. A sort of emotional distance and harshness developed between mothers and
children. This was especially true of slave women who had been raped by White
masters who developed this harshness as a sort of protection mechanism to quench
mothers’ fears of their daughters vulnerabilities. Alternatively, another form of
resistance among Black women in slavery was the refusal to bear children
(Giddings 1984, 45).
The core argument presented by Giddings is that the degradation and oppression of
Black women comes from outside the Black community - largely from the
oppressions exerted by White society. However, the responsibility for Black
collective uplift falls on the shoulders of Blacks. Black women, in particular,
cannot “blush at vulgarity” because we cannot afford to employ practices
associated with White femininity into our own lives. Instead, we fight for freedom
because we must. Our approach to group empowerment must be one that is
community oriented and emphasizes the Black collective as well as the whole of
women; however, the responsibility for Black women’s empowerment particularly
falls on the shoulders of Black women specifically (50-53).
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Giddings goes on to offer further support to Angela Davis’ and Filomena Steady’s
arguments on the move away from traditional African gender roles by arguing that
in the post-bellum period, Black men sought to assert their masculinity by making
Black women objects. Under this new gender perspective, assertive Black women
were viewed as a threat to Black manhood. This drive among Black men to assert
themselves over Black women may be rooted in matrifocal relationships in slave
society and the strong desire to be a “man” by likening themselves to White men
and exert dominance over Black women (59-63).
Despite the beginning of the shift in gender roles away from the traditional model
of non-hierarchical matriarchy within the Black community - especially among
Black men, there were some who foresaw this mimicking of White gender roles as
a step backward for African-Americans. Sojourner Truth warned that newly
offered rights (such as citizenship and voting) must not be extended to Black men
to the exclusion of Black women. By limiting these rights, we are simply
replacing one form of oppression with another. Black male domination over Black
women still leaves Black women oppressed and disempowers the Black
community as a whole. The struggle for Black empowerment must include
freedom for both genders, with each being fully invested and engaged in the fight.
Black men and women must see their “brothers and sisters problems as [their]
problems and work to solve them together” (Karenga 1966).
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The Anti-Lynching Movement
A key example of Black women’s emphasis on collective empowerment lies in the
anti-lynching movement. In her work “Black Women Journalists in the South,
1880-1905,” Gloria Wade-Gayles highlights both the position that Black women
held in society, which stood in direct contrast with the White woman’s “pedestal,”
and how journalism was used by Black women as a method of social and political
empowerment for Black people generally and Black women specifically. In her
comparative study of the lives of the fourteen leading Black women journalists of
the period, Wade-Gayles highlights ways in which journalism was used as part of
an overall strategy of political activism.
Journalism was a particularly valuable tool for Black women because of two key
factors: 1) exposure and access to writing opportunities, and 2) the relatively high
political and social impact of written words and the minimal risk. Many Black
women gained exposure to and experience in journalistic writing for church
publications. While some continued to write solely for church publications, others
used their experiences to transition into journalism careers for more widely
circulated publications, mainly southern Black newspapers and journals (Wade-
Gayles 1981).
Two of these Black women journalists particularly stand out, Mary Church Terrell
and Ida B. Wells, both leaders and activists in the anti-lynching movement. As
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outlined by Paula Giddings in When and Where I Enter (1984), despite the
personal investment of each in the anti-lynching movement as well as their
contributions to journalism, Terrell and Wells arrived at their respective positions
through very different paths. Where Terrell was bom to an economically
privileged family, Wells endured financial hardships throughout her life. Each
was drawn to the anti-lynching movement for different reasons. Terrell took up
the cause in response to the death of a friend who was a lynching victim in
Memphis. Wells, on the other hand, was a bom activist and fought lynchings in
the South because she believed that that is what she was “supposed” to do
(Giddings 1984).
The Black Women’s Club Movement
In her essay “Early Community Work of Black Club Women,” (1974) Gerda
Lemer highlights the significant role that Black women’s clubs played in bringing
about social change. While Black women’s clubs were initially modeled largely
after the White women’s clubs, they quickly became much more concerned with
social activism than the social status of members. Lemer highlights the Black
women’s club movement as the epitome of self-help efforts. However, one of the
most striking points about the movement as related to this research is what Lemer
highlights as the initial founding o f Black women’s clubs. As highlighted by
Giddings, through the efforts of women like Ida B. Wells and Mary Church
Terrell, increased attention was being paid to the rise in Black lynchings. While
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the vast majority of lynching victims were Black men, anti-lynching efforts were
the primary catalyst for the initiation of the Black women’s club movement in the
19th century. This further supports Angela Davis assertion that in slavery and even
in the immediate post-slavery period, Black men and Black women saw their
interests as being intrinsically linked. For Black women, the lynching of Black
men was the same as if they, themselves, were being lynched. Interestingly, while
the Black women’s club movement undoubtedly took a leading role in anti-
lynching efforts, many Black men were willing to follow under the leadership of
the Black women leaders of such movements. This acceptance of Black women as
leaders, not only for Black women, but for Black people collectively, further
highlights the enduring nature of Africanisms in African American gender roles.
Chapter Summary -
This chapter argues that leadership among Black women is defined differently than
leadership for other groups, adopting a more collective vis-a-vis individualistic
framework. Leadership for Black women focuses on community upliftment
through diligent work, whether the identity of the leader goes recognized or
unrecognized. Given this definition, manifestations of leadership are often
reflected in non-traditional forms, including grassroots organizing, community
other-motherhood, arts and music, and supportive efforts.
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As highlighted throughout this chapter, the tradition of leadership among African-
American women has evolved through the combined effects of 1) Africanisms or
carry-overs of continental African traditions in African American life and 2) the
historical, political, and social realities of racist and sexist oppressions experienced
by Black women in America. Therefore, the tradition of Black women’s
leadership emphasizes non-hierarchical gender roles, ongoing activism, and the
building of coalitions with individuals and groups who share common interests.
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Chapter 3 - References
Baker-Motley, Constance. 1998. Equal Justice Under the Law. New York: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux.
Bell, Derrick. 1995. “The Black Sedition Papers.” Transition 0 no. 66.
Bell-Scott, Patricia. 1998. Flat-Footed Truths: Telling Black Women’ s Lives. New
York: Henry Holt.
Brown, Elaine. 1992. A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’ s Story. New York:
Pantheon Books.
Burgess, Norma. 1994. “Gender Roles Revisited: The Development of the
‘Woman’s Place’ among African-American Women in the United States.”
Journal o f Black Studies 24 no. 4..
Christian, Barbara T. 1996. “Camouflaging Race and Gender.” Representations.
55 (Summer): 120-128.
Congressional Black Caucus. 2002. Membership Roster.
Davis, Angela. 1983. Women Race and Class. New York: Vintage Books.
Dove, Nah. 1998. “African Womanism: An Afrocentric Theory.” Journal of Black
Studies 28 no. 5 (May).
Edgerton, Robert B. 2000. Warrior Women: The Amazons of the Dahomey and the
Nature o f War. Boulder: Westview Press.
Giddings, Paula. 1984. When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on
Race and Sex in America. New York: William Morrow.
Gray-White, Deborah. 1999. Ain’ t I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation
South. Boston: Norton Publishers.
Harley, Sharon. 1997.”Northem Black Female Workers: Jacksonian Era.” In The
Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images. Edited by Sharon Harley
and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Boston: South End
Press.
—. 1994. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. New York: Routledge.
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—. 1995. “Feminist Transformation.” Transition 0 no. 66.
Hull, Gloria T., Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith, eds. 1982. All the Women
Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black
Women’ s Studies. New York: The Feminist Press.
Karenga, Maulana. 1966. The Nguzo Saba.
Kelley, Robin D.G. 1994. Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working
Class. New York: Free Press.
Ladner, Joyce. 1971. Tomorrow’ s Tomorrow: The Black Woman. New York:
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League of Women Voters. 2002. www.lwv.org
Lemer, Gerda, ed. 1972. Black Women in White America: A Documentary History.
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—. 1974. “Early Community Work of Black Club Women.” Journal o f Negro
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Locke, Mamie. 1990. “From Three-Fifths to Zero: Implications of the Constitution
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Naples, Nancy. 1998 Grassroots Warriors: Activist Mothering, Community Work,
and the War on Poverty (Perspectives on Gender). New York: Routledge.
Olson, Lynne. 2001. Freedom’ s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines o f the Civil
Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970. New York: Scribner.
Patterson, Orlando. 1982. Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study.
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Perkins, Margo V. 2000. Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the
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Simpson, Andrea Y. 1998. The Ties that Bind: Identity and Political Attitudes in
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Steady, Filomena Chioma. 1981. The Black Woman Cross-Culturally. Cambridge:
Schenkman.
Sterling, Dorothy, ed. 1988. Black Foremothers: Three Lives. 2n d ed. New York:
The Feminist Press.
Tate, Katherine. 1993. From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in
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Terborg-Penn, Sharon. 1997. “Black Male Perspectives on the Nineteenth Century
Woman.” In The Afro-American woman: Struggles and Images. Edited by
Sharon Harley and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
Terborg-Penn, Sharon. 1997. “Discrimination Against Afro-American Women in
the Woman’s Movement.” In The Afro-American woman: Struggles and
Images. Edited by Sharon Harley and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Baltimore:
Black Classic Press.
United States Census Bureau. 2000. Census Report.
Van Sertima, Ivan. 1995. Black Women in Antiquity. 8th ed.. New York:
Transaction Publishers.
Wade-Gayles, Gloria. 1981. “Black Women Journalists in the South, 1880-1905:
An Approach to the Study of Black Women’s History.” Callaloo 0 no.
11/13 (February-October): 138-152.
Walker, Alice, Pratibha Parmar, and Vicki Austin-Smith, eds. 1996.. Warrior
Marks: Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women. San
Francisco: Harvest Books.
White, John. 1990. Black Leadership in America: From Booker T . Washington to
Jesse Jackson. 2n d ed.. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Williams, Larry and Charles S. Finch. 1995 “The Great Queens of Ethiopia.” In
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CHAPTER FOUR -
S e l f -D e f in e d P o l it ic a l L e a d e r s h ip A m o n g B l a c k W o m e n :
C o m m u n it y W o r k a s a C o m p l e m e n t to E l e c t e d O f f ic e
Black women have been consistent in their commitment to community work; still,
under traditional models, these efforts might be viewed as something other than
political leadership. Where traditional models of political leadership draw clear
distinctions between the leader and his1 followers, self-defined leadership among
Black women encourages movements and activities that are collectively owned,
essentially erasing the line between the leader and the led. Contrary to Robert
Smith’s assertion that “we have no leaders” (Smith 1996) this model says that “we
are all leaders.” Given this perspective, manifestations of leadership move beyond
serving in elected office or even heading recognized organizations.2 Through the
Black feminist perspective, community work, in itself, serves as a valuable form of
political leadership that also impacts other genres.
Traditional Models of Political Leadership
The Interactionist Model -
According to traditional models of political leadership, at the very top of the
leadership hierarchy sits the publicly elected official, with the office of the
1 Gendered pronoun is used intentionally to highlight the male bias of the
“traditional” model.
2 Although these forms are also included in Black feminist models of leadership
given that the approach to such positions maintains the collective interest of the
community and a “get the work done” attitude as central themes.
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Presidency serving as the highest example. This is not to say that works on
political leadership completely exclude non-elected posts; however, by and large,
works focus on leadership by elected or appointed public officials or recognizable
heads of organizations that revolve around this formal political sphere.
While diversity of form is acknowledged in examinations o f political leadership,
that diversity is restricted. In their work Political Leadership in Democratic
Societies, Anthony Mughan and Samuel C. Patterson highlight this closed view.
Political leadership can be differentiated from leadership in a wide range of
social activities, including business, entertainment, fashion, sport, morality,
education, religion, and crime. Moreover, political leadership itself
assumes a diversity o f forms because the demands of individuals in
positions of leadership vary with the cultural, social, economic and
political circumstances in which they operate (Mughan and Patterson 1992,
1-2).
Where Mughan and Patterson are careful to note that political leadership comes in
a range of forms, they begin by introducing a range of instances where political
leadership does not apply. Their illustration of diversity is the difference between
the head of a political party and one who holds a position of authority in a small
interest group (2). Under their view, these are two sharply different roles. In
contrast, employing the theme of inclusiveness central to the multi-axis framework
used here, political leadership for Black women not only includes all of the forms
excluded by Mughan and Patterson, but adds to the list. For Black women,
politics is power and all genres are in some way related, thus can be defined as
political if one so chooses.
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Mughan and Patterson continue by outlining models of leadership introduced in
political science, beginning with early models that emphasize the role of the ruler.
For Plato, the emphasis was the rule o f reason, where the most fitting ruler was the
philosopher-king. Machiavelli stresses efficiency in protecting property and life as
being the central role of the leader. Finally, Max Weber states that there are three
leadership types: 1) rational-legal, which emphasizes norms and regulations, 2)
traditional, which highlights the role o f enduring tradition, and 3) charismatic,
where the personal qualities of the leader become the most important element.
Mughan and Patterson argue, however, that each of these are inapplicable to
democratic society because they are each based on the individual - the ruler,
without relation to his constituency.
For Mughan and Patterson, central to political leadership in democratic societies is
the relationship between the leader and the follower. Political leadership requires
a consensus. This means that followers must give their consent to be led in order
for a leader to develop. This consensus serves as a sort of constraint upon the
leader since he must maintain that consent by working in a way that is in the
interest of his followers who periodically renew their consent to be led. This
“interactionist” model o f leadership includes three core components: 1) the leader,
2) the followers, and 3) the fimctional relationship between the leader and
followers (8). Mughan and Patterson go on to explicitly define political
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leadership. “[LJeadership is a relationship between one or more persons who
exercise influence and one or more persons who submit to that
influence...[LJeadership is an asymmetrical relationship and the degree of
asymmetry can change from situation to situation, even if the partners to that
relationship do not” (8).
This interactionist approach to political leadership is a necessary move forward in
examining the critical role that leaders play in the advance of democratic society.
Mughan and Patterson point to a key theme of democratic societies - that the
stability of that society is dependent upon both authority and legitimacy. The
interactionist approach emphasizes what previous models neglected - the role of
legitimacy. For leadership to be legitimate, it requires consent. Thus, the
relationship aspect, or the ongoing interaction amongst players, is central to
political leadership. Where my approach varies from Mughan and Patterson is in
the distinction between leader and follower and the asymmetrical nature of their
relationship. I submit that for Black women, the preferred model is one where the
interaction amongst group members is much more symmetrical, with a common
claim to leadership made by all.
Burns’ Exchange Relationship Model -
James MacGregor Bums’ further elaborates on this asymmetrical relationship
introduced by Mughan and Patterson. Bums describes leadership as an
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engagement, or the willing exchange of influence and persuasion where the leader
serves as the influencer/persuader and the led serve as the influenced/persuaded.
Under this exchange relationship, each party has his own motives and is a willing
participant in the exchange, meaning that the leader understands his role as the
intended holder of a certain sort of power and the recipient willingly falls under
the influence of that power. “Power wielders [leaders] draw from their power
bases resources relevant to their own motives and the motives of others upon
whom they exercise power” (Bums 1992, 23).
There exist several dimensions to the specific type of power held by leaders
according to Bums, they include: 1) distribution, which relates to the
concentration and dispersion of power, 2) scope, the degree to which power is
concentrated of generalized, and 3) size and arena, addressing the specific place
where leadership is exerted and received and number of followers involved. The
distribution dimension, it would seem, would imply that there is a degree of power
sharing between the leader and his followers. However, in the context of Bums’
piece, this refers more so to the degree to which power is concentrated in the hands
of a single or a multiple of leaders. This relates to scope in the sense that scope
identifies whether or not the power of the leader is limited to a specific area (i.e.
religious leader) or if that power applies more broadly, carrying across several
contexts. Size and arena also relates in that it seeks to identify that context of
leadership and measure the size of the following.
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Bums is careful to note that while the relationship is initiated by the leader,
followers must be complicit in this exchange; leaders move based on the followers
motives. However, he also points out that leaders may manipulate the motives of
the followers in such a way that the suit his own purposes.
Leadership over human beings is exercised when persons with certain
motives and purposes mobilize, in competition or conflict with others,
institutional, political, psychological, and other resources so as to arouse,
engage, and satisfy the motives of followers. This is done to realize the
goals mutually held by both leaders and followers (Bums 1992, 24).
Thus, while there are some shared motives held by both the leader and followers,
the leader may draw out particular motives to suit his own purposes and agenda.
The follower engages in the relationship based on the resources that the leader
brings to the table. Therefore, this model implies that followers submit to the
leader who brings the greatest amount of resources.
While each of the highlighted dimensions clearly has value in measures of
leadership among Black women and the idea of shared motives is common across
forms, the core difference between Burns’ model and the self-defined and self
manifested forms among Black women is that where Bums highlights the leader as
the “power wielder” and outlines a relationship where that power is exerted upon
the followers, for Black women, the power is instead shared among the collective.
Furthermore, Black women’s leadership often arises in more of a grassroots
context, where instead of the leader initiating the relationship between herself and
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the collective, she arises as a leader through a more organic process. Thus, the
“resources” highlighted by Bums that encourage the acceptance of her leadership
are measured more by her commitment to the movement, her ability to interact
with the group, her understanding of the collective stmggle, her talents as an
organizer, and, most importantly, the degree to which she shares power equally
among all participants, viewing all members as leaders.
Tucker’s Relational Model -
Robert Tucker asserts that there are four sorts of relationships in which leaders
engage: 1) the relationship between the leader and the led, 2) relationships
between leaders, 3) the relationship between a leader and the followers o f another
individual, and 4) the relationship between the leader and unorganized people. For
Tucker, all o f these relationships occur in a “municipality, province, nation-state,
or an international organization” (Tucker 1992, 32). Conversely, more non-
traditional models recognize that intergroup relations occurring within the context
of leadership take place wherever political leadership is or has the potential to be.
This means that such interactions exist within any group that seeks to maintain or
change the power system.
Tucker goes on to outline three functions of leadership: 1) diagnostic, where the
leader defines the situation, 2) prescriptive, the development of a course of action,
and 3) mobilizing, through which the leader seeks to gain support for his plan of
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action. These functions differ within the Black community, especially among
Black women, because in contrast to the Tucker model where decisions are made
by the individual who carries the title of “leader,” the predominant model within
the Black community requires that each of these functions be carried out through a
collective decision-making process; without this collective approach, decisions
often lack any degree of legitimacy. Were the leader to engage in this process and
then submit it to “followers” for their consent, the collective would undoubtedly
feel imposed upon, ultimately rejecting the action and perhaps the leader herself.
Authentic leadership for Black women requires a collective process for all three
functions.
Traditional Leadership Models and Black Women -
The definitions of political leadership introduced by Mughan and Patterson, Bums,
and Tucker incorporate elements that remain true for Black women’s leadership.
For example, leadership among Black women, and even within the Black
community more broadly, hinges on the concept of relationship and interaction.
However, the key difference between these traditional models and the one utilized
in this research and among Black women is that where the traditional model
includes a component of asymmetry as a requirement for leadership, Black
women’s leadership derives its legitimacy from symmetrical relationships among
movement members. This means that core functions are engaged in collectively
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and the line between the leader and the led is eliminated. This approach
encourages collective ownership, responsibility, and reward.
The collectivity of engagement and symbiotic relationship among group members
protects Black women’s movements from elitist tendencies that are more likely to
develop in traditional leadership models. With the concentration of power in the
hands of a very few as proposed by the traditional model, there comes a question
of authenticity. To what degree does a leader who is distinguishable from the
remainder of the group an accurate representative of the group’s interest? Bums
acknowledges that the leader within his model operates according to his own
motives which are also supported by his followers, but not collectively held by all.
While the overall reality is that power is concentrated in the hands of a few, the
acceptance and perpetuation of the idea that only those who already have power
are leaders denies the right for oppressed voices to be heard. In fact, Arend
Liphart in his discussion of what he terms “consociational democracy” argues that
this form of leadership is enabled through some outside threat which creates a
perceived need for charismatic, individual leadership. What occurs, however, is in
actuality mle by the elite cloaked in democracy in an effort to pacify the masses
and protect elitist interests (Lijphart, 1992). Thus, this form of political leadership
serves to manipulate the collective to buy in to the status quo whereby protecting
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elitist interests through a perception of political and economic system-wide
legitimacy among the masses and encouraged by “the leader.”
Leadership Models Within the Black Community
Within the Black community, however, the definitions and approaches to
leadership are somewhat different. Works on Black political leadership (which is
generally short-hand for Black male leadership, unless otherwise specified3 )
generally accept the Bums’ interactionist approach to a degree, but offer their own
revisions which, for the most part, lift the collective for the position of “followers”
to “supporters.” In other words, while there remains a single leader who maintains
the range of interactions outlined in the traditional model, that leader is backed by
a movement which is supported heavily by the Black collective. In addition where
the traditional model is confined primarily to studies of leaders who hold either
elected or appointed political offices, Black leadership models extend to also
include charismatic leaders who are at the helm o f churches and recognized
organizations (White 1993 and Marable 1998).
This extended definition of political leadership where the title of “leader” is not
exclusive to individuals who hold positions in government can be analyzed
utilizing several theories, with three that stand our as being particularly relevant to
3 For example, John White’s work Black Leadership in America outlines the
leadership styles and contributions of who he sees as the six greatest Black leaders
in United States history (White 1990).
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this research, including 1) Tate’s “Protest to Politics” model, 2) Starks and
Preston’s reform model, and 3) Pohlmann’s transformation model.
From Protest to Politics -
The first model, articulated most clearly by Katherine Tate in From Protest to
Politics (1994), argues that Black leadership has been defined in broader terms in
years gone by largely because of limited access. Because of the enduring reality of
both de jure and de facto discrimination, Blacks in America were fundamentally
denied access to formal political methods (i.e.: voting, running for office, etc.) and
were therefore forced to resort to engagement in protest politics, which often
included church and community organizational leadership.
Spurred by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, however, African-Americans began to
gain access to formal systems through which they could voice their policy
preferences. Engagement in this formal realm of politics, including voting and the
running of Black candidates for public office, led to the virtual abandonment of
“protest,” or outside agitation methods that were previously utilized because they
were the only methods effectively available.
Where most studies on Black political participation acknowledge this shift, Tate’s
work stands out in her assertion that the absolute transition “from protest to
politics” represents the most viable means for Black collective empowerment.
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Furthermore, she argues that this shift is, in all likelihood, a permanent one and
doubts that we will ever see a resurgence o f a Black protest movement. With this
shift there remains a sort of common identity within the Black community,
enabling most Blacks (not just the Black middle class4 ) to value the role that Black
elected officials play in the collective uplift of the Black community. Tate’s
approach coincides with Walters and Smith’s model of Black leadership (Walters
and Smith 1999) by putting forth the idea that the contemporary search for Black
leadership comes in the form of Black elected officials, with the vast majority
within the Black community preferring this form of leadership (leadership through
the functions of elected officials and traditional political processes) over grassroots
leadership (collective movements or “protest”) (Tate 1994).
The Interaction Between “Protest” and “ Politics” -
John Brown Childs argues that Black leadership is based on neither the holding o f
a formal political office or the charisma of the individual (while either or both of
these qualities may be traits of a leader); instead leadership is based upon how well
the “leader” serves as a catalyst for change.
In a point that is perhaps best articulated by Robert Starks and Michael Preston in
their work “Harold Washington and the Politics of Reform in Chicago, 1982-
4 Although Tate does point out that the greatest benefit offered through the election
of Blacks to elected office came to the Black middle class and questions whether
such methods bring about largely substantive or symbolic representation - a
question which is not fully addressed in her work.
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1987,” we see an illustration of this perspective. While their case study of
Washington in Chicago deals largely in the realm of electoral politics, Starks and
Preston highlight the crucial role that protest plays in encouraging reform5 along.
They argue that people initially demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the existing
power system through protest - which can lead to political action under the
electoral system. However, the display of such dissatisfaction or desire for power
shifts does not initially come in the form of formal political participation. In other
words dissatisfaction with the system does not come through actions taken by the
system’s own agents (including elected officials). Instead, initial expressions of
dissatisfaction develop among the grassroots and manifest as an adversarial form,
one that challenges the system that the people find themselves dissatisfied with.
The central premise behind this process is that “people don’t voluntarily give up
power, it must be taken from them” (Starks and Preston 1990). In other words,
mass action carried out outside of the system serves to force action within the
system. The power structure itself is designed to be self-perpetuating and is
unlikely to engage in the process of reform on its own accord.
5 Note that the Starks and Preston study is one on political reform, one approach to
political leadership. Later in this section, I highlight the works of James Jennings
and Marcus Pohlmann to question the role that reform politics plays in Black
empowerment. As argued by both Jennings and Pohlmann, Black empowerment
might be best served through movements which seek to bring about fundamental
transformation of the power structure itself. This position is further highlighted in
the section following section on Black women’s leadership, where Davis, Brown,
Shakur, hooks, Perkins and Lorde highlight the necessity for fundamental
transformation not only in the broader White dominated system, but within the
Black community as well. Still, the Chicago case study proves valuable in
illustrating the critical role that protest politics plays in bringing about even limited
progress through political reform.
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African-Americans largely view the traditional political system as being controlled
mainly by those who currently have power. Thus, they understand the importance
of making their voice heard through alternative or non-traditional methods first,
before engaging in actions within the traditional system. The election o f Harold
Washington in Chicago did not begin with the campaign, but long before, through
the countless protests that Black Chicagoans engaged in to voice their
dissatisfaction with the Chicago political machine.
In analyzing the underlying theoretical framework for the Chicago case study, we
uncover the second approach to Black leadership studies, an approach that seeks to
combine inside participation (as offered by Washington’s position in the formal
political sphere as Mayor of Chicago) and outside agitation (demonstrated by the
movement of a nameless, but powerful group that put Harold Washington in
office).
Building upon the concept introduced by Liphart, this approach argues that models
which confine their definition of political leadership to those who hold elected or
appointed governmental positions essentially recognize only those who work
within the system that the current power wielders have allowed for. “By definition
a public official thinks the system can work” (Cole 1976,23).
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While there is no question that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 served as a
necessary and valuable advance for African-Americans, the mass movement that
led to the Act’s passage must also be recognized to highlight the critical role that
protest and non-traditional politics plays in making substantive as opposed to
solely symbolic changes.
As demonstrated through the Chicago example, the combined methods of protest
and politics can bring about fundamental shifts in power allocation. This differs
from Tate’s assertion that once the right to inside participation is won that outside
agitation should be abandoned.
In even greater contrast to Tate’s position that African-Americans have shifted
almost completely away from protest and that the shift is a desirable one, James
Jennings argues that this reformist perspective6 essentially accepts the status quo
power structure. By limiting methods to “politics” or inside participation, we are
simply seeking access to the existing structure for additional groups, doing little to
bring about fundamental change or a more even distribution of power and
resources. While this approach may succeed in gaining limited access to the
system, it does not effectively address ways in which the system itself is structured
to protect particular elitist interests. Those who restrict their actions to electoral
politics, argues Jennings, largely serve in this reformist capacity (Jennings 1992).
6 Reformism is also often referred to as accommodationism or the managerial
approach (White 1990).
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In contrast to the reformist approach is the activist model. This approach to
politics seeks substantive, structural change, moving well beyond the limits
imposed by reformism. Where reformist models utilize outside methods to push
forward an agenda that seeks to expand the level of access to resources to
particular communities, reform does not allow for fundamental transformation.
For fundamental transformation to occur alternate methods must be utilized.
Methods of encouraging transformative change are not restricted to electoral
politics and, in feet, engagements occur largely outside of this sphere. As the
approach implies, the activist model employs grassroots activism as its primary
method. In viewing political participation through this lens, we actually see a rise
in Black leadership over the past decade with grassroots activists facilitating the
mobilization of communities through independent political frameworks. Jennings
is careful to note that this grassroots mobilization is not devoid of engagement
within the traditional political sphere. For example, with grassroots political
movements are often accompanied by a rise in voter registration along with an
increase in the number of community groups (Jennings 1992).
Participation in community groups provides a practical addition and/or alternative
to simple electoral politics. Such groups are often viewed as not being o f the
system and, therefore, viewed with less skepticism and distrust. Participation in
these grassroots movements also encourages participation in more traditional
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political forms, especially electoral politics. African-Americans who view voting
and runs for political office largely as symbolic methods of engagement might be
more likely to engage in traditional politics when those efforts are additionally
supported by activism or “outside agitation.” Essentially, Jennings points out the
necessity of both methods, a combination of inside participation and outside
agitation, as essential for the advancement of African-Americans. While electoral
politics must not be de-emphasized and Black leadership as offered by Black
elected officials is valued, it is also important that African-Americans not abandon
other means of political participation. The rise o f independent Black organizations
and protest movements complements electoral politics and allows for more
substantive change in the political system.
Politics and Capitalist Interests -
Marcus Pohlmann takes the elitist critique offered by Jennings a step further to
argue from a Marxist perspective that, in actuality, the political system serves
simply to protect the economic, political, and social interests of the capitalist class
(Pohlmann 1999). While there have been some reformist successes, Pohlmann
argues that this perceived progress actually serves to stabilize an inherently
oppressive system. Political and business elites are from the same upper class
strata and, as C. Wright Mills highlights more fully, the “rings of power” overlap.
Elites vacation together and belong to the same clubs and organizations; they are
educated together, attending the same boarding schools, prep schools and Ivy
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Leagues; they intermarry and produce new generations of elite children. While
money is a prerequisite for entrance into the class, this process of socialization
serves to ensure that elites recognize their collective interests and work together to
ensure that those interests are served. An allowance for reform is made to
manipulate the public into viewing elitist interests (the maintenance of the existing
system) as their own (Mills 1959).
Pohlmann draws from this elitist approach to reject the pluralist notion that all
groups have an opportunity to compete for policy preferences. He then moves
beyond elitist theory to argue that elite interests are fundamentally the interests of
the capitalist class. Thus, where elitism asserts that the political, economic and
military spheres overlap and reinforce one another, Marxism argues that real
power rests solely with the economic elite. The political system is used to
reinforce the economic system and those who benefit from that economic system -
the capitalist class. The existing political system essentially serves to maintain
capitalist class dominance over the working class and underclass.
In this class structure, race plays a significant role. By and large, Blacks are cast
into the realm o f the working class and underclass. Where this should mean that
African-Americans would serve as a primary core of resistance, drawing from
elitist theory, Pohlmann notes that capitalist interests manipulate Blacks to view
the cause of their condition as one that is internal vis-a-vis external.
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African Americans may have come to believe white myths about their own
lack of ambition; or women may have accepted the patriarchal notion that
men are better equipped to hold positions of power. Thus, liberationists
will seek to raise the consciousness of both their own members and those in
the dominating group in order to gamer more respect from the larger
society and to increase their own members’ group identity and pride, as
well as their self-esteem (Pohlmann 1999, 27).
Leadership Models and Mainstream Women’s Movements
“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression,” bell
hooks argues in her work Feminism is for Everybody (hooks 2000, 1). While
feminism, by this definition, may be for everybody, feminism as manifested by
mainstream women’s movements has been much less than universally inclusive.
Like all leadership models, those within mainstream women’s movements are (or
should be) linked with the principles, ideals, and theories espoused by the
movement. Because there are several brands of feminism, there are also different
models of leadership that accompany each. Yet, what appears consistent
regardless o f brand is that mainstream feminism, in both the first and second
waves, worked to exclude Black women or relegate them to “mascot” status -
where they were to be seen as proof of inclusion, but not heard as equal members.7
Leadership, therefore, remained the right of White women organizers, with
7 It should be noted that this does not mean that Black women or women of color
more broadly remained silent. Many served as founding members of mainstream
feminist organizations, although some remained active, many left as a result of
their marginalization to form independent movements for Black women/women of
color. Others never joined mainstream feminist movements at all, but were giving
birth to independent Black women’s organizations simultaneously (Anderson-
Bricker 1999, Roth 1999).
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minimal sharing of power - for entire segments of women were not considered a
part of the group.
Liberal Feminism and Leadership Models -
The early feminist movement in the United States was generally seen as
developing from the antislavery movement. Abolitionism marked the beginning of
large-scale politicization of middle-class White women.8 “Every prominent
fighter for women’s rights was first an abolitionist; and the two movements were
closely allied for fifty years” (Cowley 1970, 6). The rise of the women’s rights
movements, or first wave feminism, came out of women’s exclusion from
abolitionist organizations by White men. From these independent women’s
abolitionist organizations evolved women’s suffrage movements9 - with efforts
toward Black suffrage and women’s suffrage seen as complementary not
competitive. What is perhaps most interesting in the development of the women’s
movement is that many Black male leaders became members of these women’s
organizations. In fact, James McCrummel, a Black man, served as Chair of the
Women’s Anti-Slavery Society and several other men leaders, including Frederick
8 Of course, women of color as well as working class White women had always
been politicized because their oppressed condition required constant evaluation of
power relations. For middle and upper class White women, there was the luxury
of being able to ignore inequality as they were the members of the more privileged
class of an unequal system.
9 While universal suffrage had been an agenda item for many years as part of
abolitionism and through women’s conventions like the Seneca Falls Convention
in 1848, women’s suffrage organizations did not emerge formally until after the
Civil War (Riegel 1962).
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Douglass and Martin Delaney, were also strong advocates of women’s rights
(Cowley 1970, Quarles 1940).
While the Women’s Anti-Slavery Movement and women’s suffrage organizations
allowed, and even encouraged shared participation and leadership with Black
men,1 0 Black women were largely excluded. Cowley discusses the eventual “split
in the ranks” where the conflict of the vote effectively dissolved the Black
male/White female alliance in later years, yet she barely makes mention o f the
exclusion of women like Sojourner Truth who were denied involvement in White
women’s movements. The famous speech “Ain’t I A Woman” delivered by
Sojourner Truth serves as only one of many examples (Truth 1851). In response to
their exclusion from White women’s clubs, Black women organized to initiate the
Black women’s club movement which would lead to the eventual development of
independent Black feminism (Painter 1994).
Perhaps the exclusion of Black women from White women’s feminist
organizations also stemmed from fundamental differences in approaches to gaining
equality and visions for change. Where White women were seeking inclusion
within the existing power structure, Black women envisioned equality through the
1 0 This alliance broke-down in 1868 with the debate over the passage o f the 15th
Amendment. White women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others who
had previously espoused the coalition of Black men and White women in their
common quest for universal suffrage, quickly abandoned the cause of universal
suffrage arguing that
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complete transformation of the economic, political and social systems. In her
discussion of women’s entry, or more specifically White women’s entry, into the
public sphere, Valerie Bryson highlights the emphasis on reform. This tradition,
she argues, evolved out of the liberal principles adhered to by many women
emphasizing the need for women to prove themselves as being rational and
autonomous human beings in order to gain entry and reap the benefits of societies
shaped by men (Bryson 1994). The goal here is incorporation rather than the
transformation, limiting the membership rights of White women’s movements to
those who fit particular standards (i.e. race, class, etc.) rather than working to build
a system that encompasses the ideals, experiences, needs and challenges of a
broader base.
The suffrage movement serves as one example where women vigorously worked
to prove their virtue which would make them “worthy” of the right to vote rather
than demanding an inclusive political system. In fact, White women’s suffrage
was even argued as a strategy to maintain the system of White dominance where
White women’s vote would be added to White men’s votes to protect the existing
system of racial privilege (Bryson 1994, 91). It was thought that by highlighting
ways in which White women’s votes could be used to sure-up the monopoly on
power held by White men power-holders might be more apt to grant White women
the ballot.
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This adherence to liberal ideals and the practice of exclusivity suggests that first
wave feminism sought to mimic the leadership models of White men by
empowering only a select “elite” class who would have the power to speak for the
group. This model of liberal feminism which sought to incorporate women into
the existing power structure failed to seek out universal equality which would
require fundamental and systematic reallocations of power. Yet, this model
remained popular through the second wave.
Liberal feminism’s emphasis on inclusion within the existing power system
continued in the second feminist wave of the 1960s and 70s. Even women who
spoke of revolution, simultaneously pushed for liberal inclusion. For example,
Betty Friedan argues that women should not simply seek inclusion. “Tokenism is
worse than nothing. Tokenism is pretending that something is happening to divert
effort from the things that could really make something happen” (Friedan 1970,
41). At the same time she argues for male acknowledgement and approval. “To be
taken seriously, women have to share in the decisions of government” (35). To be
taken seriously by whom? It would seem that for a movement to be truly feminist,
to abide by principles of equality among men and women, women would not seek
out or require permission from men to continue their work. Yet it appears that
Friedan and liberal feminist clearly sought male buy-in.
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In efforts toward incorporation, liberal feminism sets forth a clear definition of the
“woman” that is to be incorporated and that definition is strictly limited to the
White female norm. As illustrated through the suffrage movement, race
discussions are often seen as somehow detracting from or competing against
gender-based movements. Liberal feminist models generally dismiss other forms
of discrimination (race-based and class-based) in order to work towards the
incorporation of the White female norm, making the assumption that White
definitions of womanhood cross racial and class lines (hooks 1999, 102). As a
result, in their efforts to incorporate, liberal feminists are really seeking White
female inclusion as opposed to the general sharing of power.
In terms of developed leadership models, liberal feminism would then encourage
restrictive distribution of power, enabling only members of the “norm group”
(White women) to serve as “leader” of the group or movement. Liberal feminist
efforts towards simple incorporation into the existing power structure prohibit
analyses o f fundamental and systematic inequities of the system itself and require
the limitation of action strategies to those of reform. Because incorporation into
an inherently unequal system is restricted to limited benefits given to a select few
of the “outside” group’s elite (tokenism), competition among “outsiders” is
encouraged. This means that “outsiders” must compete for incorporation as there
are only a limited number of spaces made available along the margins. As a result,
the liberal approach encourages groups to view each other in terms of competition,
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not cooperation. Liberal reformist measures do not ask for fundamental changes in
the system or call for the widening of the circle to give room for universal
incorporation. Instead, they simply ask that their group, or token members within
their group, not be the ones who are kept outside. For white liberal feminists, this
means that Black women are viewed through the lens of suspicion. Since they do
not fit the White middle-class norm of womanhood, their allegiance is questioned
and they are pushed back to the peripheries - even within the feminist movement.
Thus the leadership model favored becomes hierarchical masked in the cloak of
collectivism where the efforts of the entire group work to bring benefits for only a
few of the top tier members who reap the benefits of inclusion. While there is a
call for collective activism, power remains in the hands of an elite few who serve
as symbolic tokens of inclusion for the whole.
Radical Feminism, Revolution and Leadership -
While liberal feminism served as the dominant form in the United States1 1 among
White women, radical feminism also evolved which sought out fundamental
changes in the existing power structure. Radical feminism differs from the liberal
form in that rather than seeking incorporation into the existing power structure,
radical feminism seeks to fundamentally change the system. Bryson outlines
1 1 Although women like Christabel Pankhurst and the English suffragettes openly
rejected socially prescribed “femininity” and regularly engaged in radical protests
including storming Parliament, breaking store windows and initiating hunger
strikes, this brand of feminism was largely confined to Europe, with a more “lady
like” approach more prevalent in the United States.
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radical feminism as consisting of four vital characteristics. First, it is based on
women’s own experiences - developed by and for women with no need for
compromise or adherence to male standards. Second, radical feminism sees
women’s oppression as the most fundamental and universal form of domination in
the world. According to radical feminism, the system of patriarchal oppression
crosses virtually all cultural boundaries. Third, radical feminism sees women’s
interests as opposite to those of men’s. “Women as a group have interests opposed
to those of men; these interests unite them in a common sisterhood that transcends
the division of class or race and means that women should struggle together to
achieve their own liberation” (Bryson 1994, 181). Finally, male domination
includes both the public and private spheres, impacting family and sexuality as
well as politics and the economy; all of these realms work together and serve as
instruments of male domination.
While this radical brand of feminism works to clearly define society in terms of
oppressor and oppressed, it limits these roles to gender. Therefore, according to
radical feminism, all other axes of oppression are secondary to gender-based
oppression. Bryson’s work does an outstanding job of highlighting the position in
which this places Black women, arguing that while Black women were at the
forefront of radical feminism in the early years, they became “invisible” because
the movement saw itself as one that stood in contrast with Black liberation
struggles. Because Black women stand at the crossroads of Blackness and
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womanhood, they were rendered virtually invisible. Furthermore, radical
feminism, in its push toward women’s collective action, failed to acknowledge the
reality of oppression amongst women, particularly racism within the feminist
movement, instead viewing society solely in terms of men’s oppression of women
(Bryson 1994, 183).
Bryson’s central argument is that the struggle of women in America has been one
against systems of colonialism and imperialism. Racism, like sexism, is used to
divide the working class and create a marginalized labor force. While subscribing
to socialist feminism, she acknowledges that Black women’s struggles cannot be
seen totally in economic terms because of the extent of racist socialization and the
history of race-based oppression. Extending lfom Bryson’s central argument, we
can assert that Black feminism requires a radical form because of the status of
Black women at the “bottom” of the social, political and economic ladder. Liberal
feminist efforts towards inclusion into the existing system are both undesirable and
unrealistic. Therefore while Black feminism requires radicalism, for radical
feminism to work it must take on a multi-axis approach, challenging the range of
oppressions experienced by all women - including racism.
Roxanne Dunbar argues that radical feminism views society as a social caste
system where women, by virtue of their sex, are placed on the bottom rung of the
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social, political and economic ladder. To lift herself up from this condition
requires not mere incorporation, or even reform, but revolution.
We live under an international caste system, at the top of which is the
western white male ruling class, and at the very bottom is the female o f the
non-white colonized world. There is not simple order of “oppressions”
within the caste system. Within each society, the female is dominated by
the male. The female is classed with the very old and very young of both
sexes (women, children and old men). White dominates black and brown.
The caste system, in all its various forms, is always based on identifiable
physical characteristics - sex, color, age (Dunbar 1970, 48).
For Dunbar, this caste system encompasses the social categories assigned from
birth - they are the axes of oppression in a multi-axis framework. Caste endures
regardless of class, age, or marital status and connotes the idea of innate
inferiority. Therefore, to uplift oneself from a caste system, she cannot simply
fight to become a part of another caste - for her caste is unchangeable. Instead,
she must work to overthrow the entire system.
Dunbar, like Bryson, advocates for radical feminism, but stops short o f developing
specific frameworks through which this revolution would manifest. Concepts of
leadership under radical feminism, or as Dunbar terms it - revolutionary feminism,
require collective as opposed to individual action. A revolution of one, or even a
few, is not a revolution. Bell hooks argues that it is this brand of feminism that is
favored by Black women. Black women define feminism as requiring
revolutionary efforts (hooks 2000, 3). However, what remains unclear is the form
through which revolutionary feminism develops as a movement.
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While radical feminism goes much further than the liberal form in its leadership
prescriptions, it does not go far enough in that little in the way of tangible
guidelines for leadership are established. As a result, many women’s liberation
organizations relied on traditional leadership models by default. Such models
favor hierarchical structures, traditional methods of political involvement and
reaction as opposed to proactive engagement. These leadership styles also largely
utilize systems of majority rule as opposed to collective decision-making,
marginalizing non-majority women (women of color, working class women,
etc.).1 2 This system of marginalization works in two ways: 1) to discourage and
exclude women of color, and 2) to silence women of color who dare to maintain
and retain memberships in mainstream organizations. “Individual Black women
who were active in the [women’s] movement from its inception for the most part
stayed in their place” (hooks 2000, 56).
Black Women’s Leadership Definitions
In contrast to traditional models, or even leadership models developed and
employed by Black men or White women, Black women’s definitions of
leadership tend to be based largely on community work and collective uplift.
Traditional models of leadership that require a recognizable position of power are
12 • •
See Lani Gumier’s Tyranny o f the Majority for in-depth discussions of the anti
democratic way in which majority tyranny has been used to give disproportionate
power to the majority rendering the minority voiceless. Instead, Guinier advocates
for a “take turns” approach where everyone gets some of what they want some of
the time whereby encouraging higher levels of buy-in and increased systematic
legitimacy (Guinier 1995).
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generally rejected by Black feminism in favor of an approach which places greater
value on non-traditional forms o f political action as well as traditional ones. Jewel
Prestage highlights this difference in traditional models and models of self-defined
leadership among Black women in her essay “In Quest of the African American
Political Woman.”
The complete history of African American women’s participation in
American politics must recognize not only their involvement in traditional
political actions such as registering, voting and holding office, but also
those non-traditional activities in which they engaged long before gaining
the ballot (Prestage 1995,169).
Prestage brings to light the interdependency between traditional and non-
traditional methods of political engagement. She contends that Black women in
America are always political because of their position to which they are relegated
in society. Therefore, their activities work to alter their disadvantaged status
(Prestage 1995).
This politicized condition and activist tradition is consistent with Black feminism.
Patricia Hill-Collins, Kimberle Crenshaw, Barbara Christian, and bell hooks link
this politicized condition, position of disadvantage, and collective call to action
with Black feminist thought in their discussions which work to link theory to
practice. In Further to Fly (2000), Sheila Radford-Hill goes further to define
Black feminism as more than a theory, but an actual catalyst for action. She
argues that Black feminism requires “theorizing that aggressively connects to the
realities of women’s experiences, needs, aspirations and
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responsibilities... [Ajuthentic feminism is applied feminism.” This model is
empowering to the totality o f the group in that it works to “renew Black women’s
activism and reclaim their traditional roles as builders of community” (Radciliff-
Hill 2000, xvi-xvii)
This activist model defines Black feminist leadership where Black feminism is
intrinsically linked to action has numerous illustrations throughout history, through
movements for Black empowerment, women’s movements, Black women’s
independent organizations, and informal collective actions.
This collective activist approach to political leadership among Black women is
evidenced through numerous examples in societies in Africa1 3 as well as in
America. For the most part, Black women have employed a communal definition
of leadership which links theory with action and approaches that favor proactive
methods as opposed to reactive ones. This stems from an African tradition where
community work is often used to address the common concerns of the group rather
than the singular desires of an individual and evolved based on the traditional
system’s refusal to meet the needs o f the Black community. As a result o f this
rejection, alternative forms of leadership became even more valued. Thus, for
Black women, leadership emphasizes a communal vis-a-vis individual model;
under this model, Black men and women are united in their struggle.
1 2
Examples are outlined in the previous chapter, beginning with leaders like
Hatshepsut in Egypt and moving forward to the examples o f Dahomey warriors.
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Black Women’s Leadership in Movements for Black Empowerment -
From their position at the intersection of race and gender, Black women serve as
full members of both their race group and gender group, as well as carving out a
unique space of their own. Within the racialized society of the United States,
Black women share in the struggles o f Black men. Similarly, the pervasiveness of
sexism oppresses Black women on the basis of her gender just as White women
are subjugated by theirs. In addition to the racist and sexist oppressions that Black
women share with Black men and White women, Black women also face
conditions that are unique to them. Jewel Prestage points out that with each
condition of oppression there is also thought and action taken on by Black women
to change their own realities.
Examples of proactive collective action for Black women took many forms, with
each seeking to bring about visions of freedom and equality. Historical and
contemporary resistance to imposed conditions includes community organizing,
retaliatory physical violence, abortion, escapes, revolts, and the purchasing and
freeing of Blacks who were enslaved by free Black women (Prestage 1995).
During Reconstruction, when voting was limited to Black men, Black women like
Frances, Louisa and Lottee Rollins, Charlotte Ray, and Mary Ann Shadd Cary
became suffragists. They moved to the North where there was the perception of
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greater freedom for Black people, especially Black women. Finally, they formed
Black women’s clubs which evolved into a movement in the Post-Reconstruction
period (Prestage 1995).
In the Post Reconstruction era, Black women witnessed the massive lynchings of
Black men and were sometimes victims o f lynchings themselves, and they fell
under the increasing stringency of Jim Crow laws. To press forward with their
vision for freedom, women like Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells were the
lead organizers of anti-lynching movements, Black women participated in the
founding of the NAACP, they developed their own schools,1 4 they initiated
sororities, there was a growth in Black women’s clubs, and they led a massive
voter registration drive following the passage of the 19th Amendment.
During the Civil Rights period, Black women like Thomasina Norford and
Constance Baker Motley participated in pivotal litigations; they also developed
Black grassroots organizations, and engaged in protest politics (Prestage 1995).1 5
Toni-Michelle Travis (1979) demonstrates how a self-defined leadership model
was utilized by Black women in the Civil Rights era through her analysis of Rosa
Parks. One of the most well-known actions of the period, Rosa Parks’ refusal to
1 4 Foremother for independent schools included Mary McCleod Bethune and
Charlotte Hawkins Brown.
1 5 It is estimated by Prestage that 48% of sit-in participants and freedom riders
were women (Prestage 1995, 175).
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give up her seat spawned the Montgomery Bus Boycott which many argue as
being the peak for the Civil Rights Movement.
Travis argues that Ms. Parks actions are often misinterpreted as being the simple
reaction of a Black woman who was “too tired” to move from her seat. In reality,
Travis argues, this was a well-thought out action by a woman who had long been
involved with civil rights struggles. Parks’ action was different from all other
actions up to that point because it was a demonstration of racial consciousness as
opposed to being dependent upon imposed conditions and simply reacting to them
(Travis 1979, 28).
Ella Baker counters the Black male view of leadership by arguing that when
movements are based largely upon the charisma o f a single leader, they are not
authentic or sustainable and of all those women who practiced and continue to
practice Black women’s self-defined leadership, Ella Baker provides what is
perhaps the clearest illustration. In her work Ella Baker: Freedom Bound, Joanne
Grant offers a summary of Baker’s leadership during the Harlem Renaissance,
within the Civil Rights movement and as a part of the Black Power movement
through her roles in several organizations, including the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC). Through her role in each organization, Baker demonstrated a continued
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commitment to a grassroots form of leadership which exemplifies Black women’s
self-defined leadership. She was clear in her push for proactive action. “She was
not against; she was for. She was for the participation of people in whatever
affected their lives” (Grant 1998, 2).
This concept of leadership was larger than Baker alone. As noted by Grant, there
were clear gender-based divisions during within the Civil Rights movement among
Black leaders. Where Baker, along with other Black women leaders like Septima
Clark, Anne Braden, Fannie Lou Hamer and Rosa Parks advocated for “group
centered leadership,” many of their Black male counterparts emphasized “leader
centered groups” (Grant 1998, 2). Black women leaders, many of whom were
founding members of the leading Civil Rights organizations emphasized group
action and largely moved away from individual-oriented recognition. In contrast,
within the Black male leadership, there was often debate over who would be
credited, who would speak in what order, and who would receive the greatest
amount of public and media attention. This became a serious point o f contention
between Black men and Black women of the Civil Rights era and one of several
factors which led Baker to move out of the NAACP and the SCLC.
Much of the Black male leadership, including Martin Luther King, reveled in
being the leader whom a movement was to follow. In contrast, Baker saw herself
primarily as a facilitator and resource for the movement as a collective body.
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Thus, where King’s emphasis was on the strategies that he and his advisors
developed for the empowerment of the wider Black community, Baker worked to
facilitate a broader base of leadership within the community and encourage
grassroots leadership to develop their own strategies of empowerment.
Grant does an outstanding job of summarizing Baker’s central role in the
development of grassroots leadership during the Civil Rights era. However, her
work stops short of meaningful political analysis and serves as more of a historical
overview with some clear biases in favor or Baker’s approach with little critique.1 6
Furthermore, she stops short of providing thorough analyses of even those with
whom Baker may have had disagreements, offering little insight into the gender
dynamics of the movement or conflicts which might lie beneath the surface. For
example, where C.T. Vivian asserted that Baker’s difficulties in the SCLC can be
attributed to her “not being a minister” and Andrew Young argued that “her
problems” were rooted in her likeness to a “domineering mother,” Grant offers no
analysis of this very clearly gendered criticism (Grant 1998, 122). Vivian argues
that there is a certain “language” that ministers use that Baker was unfamiliar with
(despite being raised by a minister herself) and Young argues that her
assertiveness made her difficult to work with. Each of these criticisms carry with
them gendered connotations clearly derived from classic stereotypes o f Black
womanhood. Neither the account offered by Young or the “deficiencies” raised by
1 6 Grant was mentored by Ella Baker and her allegiance to Baker is quite apparent
in refusal to offer even the slightest criticism o f Baker.
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Vivian speak to Baker’s skills or abilities; instead it seems that her gender and her
failure to accept her designated position as a Black woman seems to serve as the
only basis for criticism. It becomes clear that the sentiments expressed by both
Vivian and Young illustrate the frustrations felt by Black male leaders in sharing
leadership with a Black woman like Ella Baker who refused to fade into the
background without offering her own ideas for the direction of the movement.
Because women like Baker had clear ideologies and opinions that they assertively
expressed, but did not seek out recognition or credit, they have been largely
written out of political history. While those who have worked alongside Black
women leaders within the movements generally acknowledge the centrality of
Black women’s contributions, little is written and therefore, even less is passed on
to future generations. According to Grant the anonymity of Black women leaders
is by design as women like Baker saw “headlines” as distractions and detrimental
to collective uplift efforts. Perhaps it is this difference in approaches to the
concept of leadership itself which works to alienate, exile and silence Black
women leaders within movements toward Black empowerment.
Despite their absence in political writings or newspaper archives, however, Black
women were central to the movements. “If it were not for [B]lack women, there
would have been no Montgomery Bus Boycott, few voting rights campaigns, far
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less marvelous educational impact - in short, the civil rights movement as we
know it would not have occurred” (Cleaver 1997, 35).
Kathleen Cleaver, former Communications Secretary for the Black Panther Party,
argues that it was precisely because of their emphasis on grassroots movements or
as termed by Baker “group-centered leadership,” that Black women are not
highlighted in Black history or historical accounts of the Civil Rights movement.
Grassroots forms of leadership move away from placing the “leader” at the center
instead dispersing the responsibilities of leadership more broadly to the entirety of
the movement membership.
While such a concept might prove difficult to recount by mainstream standards
that seek to credit individuals for movements, this approach encourages each
individual to view him or herself as a leader or as a potential leader. In fact, it is
the group-centered leadership approach and the significant presence of women
within the student movements of the 1960s1 7 that Cleaver credits with sparking her
own commitment to leadership. “It never once entered my head that women could
not be civil rights leaders or organizers” (Cleaver 1997, 36).
1 7 The rise of student movements in the 1960s was modeled largely on Baker’s
concept of group-centered leadership. In fact, it was Baker who facilitated the
initial meetings and formation of SNCC and supported the development of other
student movements around the country.
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Black Women’s Leadership and Women’s Liberation
A key element in the leadership offered by Black women in both movements
toward Black empowerment and those that work for women’s liberation is the
commitment to constantly reevaluating theories and processes. At the core is their
commitment to revolutionary politics - approaches that move beyond reform,
instead seeking fundamental transformation. Incorporated into this sort of
radicalism is the subscription to grassroots leadership - a form which grows
organically from the group that is seeking empowerment and seeks to build
coalitions with groups who share similar societal, political and economic
conditions. As highlighted in the above section the tension that many Black
women leaders of the Civil Rights era faced was based on their commitment to
such ideals and principles.
Black women’s leadership within the feminist movement is rooted in this same
calling for radical change grounded in grassroots leadership and commitment to
inclusiveness. For Black women, feminism had to be redefined. Black feminist
leaders commenced development of and participation in the second feminist wave
with the formation of theories and approaches that sought to redefine feminism.
Central to the development of new feminist theories is the idea that feminism must
incorporate the realities of all women rather than accepting a White, middle-class
definition of womanhood.
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Bell hooks criticizes White, middle-class feminist leaders for equating the
“common oppression of women” with their particular realities. “Any movement to
resist the cooptation of feminist struggles must begin by introducing a different
feminist perspective - a new theory - one that is not informed by the ideology of
liberal individualism” (hooks 1984, 8). For hooks, leadership meant the
development of new theoretical models that more accurately incorporated the lived
experiences, conditions and challenges faced by all women.
While hooks maintains that Black women do not need a “theory” to realize that
they are oppressed, she also argues that while White women required such a theory
to come to their feminist awakening; Black women are painfully aware of their
oppression even if they are not engaged in organized resistance or are unable to
fully articulate their condition.
With the development of feminist organizations in the 1970s, Black women joined
the movement - were an integral part of its inception, but many never returned to
the organizations which they helped to birth after the first meeting because of the
racism of White women leaders within the movement (hooks 1984, 12).
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When I participated in feminist groups, I found that white women adopted
a condescending attitude towards me and other non-white participants. The
condescension they directed at black women was one of the means they
employed to remind us that the women’s movement was “theirs” that we
were able to participate because they allowed it, even encouraged it; after
all, we were needed to legitimate the process. They did not see us as
equals. They did not treat us as equals. And though they expected us to
provide first-hand accounts of the black experience, they felt it was their
role to decide if these experiences were authentic (hooks 1984, 11).
It is generally thought that Black feminism evolved as some off-shoot of
mainstream White feminism. However, works by both first and second wave
Black feminists disprove this and, in fact, may suggest the opposite. If we accept
bell hooks’ definition of feminism - that it is simply a movement to end sexism,
sexist oppression and exploitation - it might be said that Black women initiated
such a movement while still under slavery (Roth 1999). The purpose of this
section, however, is not to engage in a debate about who “founded feminism,” but
rather to establish Black women’s contributions to movements dedicated to
women’s liberation.
Benita Roth argues that White women saw themselves as the leaders of the
movement and thought discussions of race or class to be distractions - marginal
conversations relevant to only a few women who did not reflect “womanhood” as
a whole (Roth 1999). Alice Walker provides an even clearer illustration in her
recollection of a conversation held with a White feminist who questioned Black
women’s obligations to the Black community and the conflict that this presents for
Black women’s feminist efforts. At the end of the conversation, Walker was
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forced to remind the woman that “Black people come in both sexes” (Walker
1982, 39).
How, then, did Black women respond to such treatment? For many Black women,
they simply endured it, all the while asserting their right to be acknowledged as
full members of the class of women. Black women like Pauli Murray, of the
National Organization for Women, were founding members of leading women’s
organizations. Others - who would remain a face in the mass - helped to shape
feminist theory, organize women as a political collective, lobby for favorable
policy preferences and push for radical change. Some organized in informal ways
- holding house meetings, women’s forums, reading circles and neighborhood
collectives. Women like Alice Walker, bell hooks, Audre Lourde, Barbara Smith,
Barbara Christian, and June Jordan developed feminist thought that was inclusive
rather than exclusive - ultimately forming the body of work which contemporary
scholars draw from as their foundation. Then, there were the movements that
Black women gave birth to apart from White women.. .the National Black
Feminist Organization, the Third World Women’s Alliance and the Combahee
River Collective, among others.
“ Sisters Doing It For Themselves ” —
Whatever grew from the position of Black women, one thing that remained
constant is the type of leadership that was encouraged and developed. There are
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four core elements to the leadership practices of Black women 1) they are
proactive in nature (as opposed to being simply reactive), 2) they emphasize
collective as opposed to individual action, 3) they require a linkage between theory
and practice (a call to action), and 4) they utilize both traditional and non-
traditional methods.
Each of these elements carries with it several implications. This section will work
to highlight ways in which contemporary Black women’s activism employs these
principles along with additional implications for each. This is not meant to be an
exhaustive list of Black women’s organizations. Named organizations and
collectives are simply used to illustrate ways in which the four key principles of
Black women’s leadership are employed.
The problem with most feminist and race-based movements has been the desire to
achieve the status of the oppressor (hooks 1984, Davis 1983). In essence, such
movements were largely reformist rather than revolutionary. Those that did make
efforts toward fundamental transformation often limited their analyses of power
systems and activities to those that sought to empower a single, narrowly defined
group as opposed to working to end oppressions in all its forms. Essentially, they
worked to lift only a select group out of their condition of oppression — seeking
incorporation into the existing system or pushing to replace the current oppressor
with the group that they sought to empower (White women in the case of
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mainstream feminism or Black men in the case of Black liberation movements).
Therefore, both movements frequently worked to perpetuate some form of
oppression.
In Black liberation movements, it meant that Black women were often relegated to
“support” positions, where they were assigned the “grunt” work (cleaning meeting
areas, preparing food, copying materials, answering telephones, etc.) but were
resented and often silenced when they engaged in more visible forms of leadership
or asserted opinions that ran counter to the views of Black men (who were viewed
as the “real” leaders).
Similarly, feminist movements either excluded Black women, limiting their
definition of womanhood to the realities of White, middle-class women, or
silenced Black women, by making them dehumanized mascots that they could
point to and say “we got one!” while imposing their stereotyped, disconnected
views of what Black womanhood was.
Racist stereotypes of the strong, superhuman black woman are operative
myths in the minds of many white women, allowing them to ignore the
extent to which black women are likely to be victimized in this society and
the role white women play in the maintenance and perpetuation of that
victimization... .By projecting onto black women a mythical power and
strength, white women both promote a false image of themselves as
powerless, passive victims and deflect attention away from their
aggressiveness, their power...their willingness to dominate and control
others (hooks 1984, 13-14).
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Within either movement, race and gender were placed in opposition with one
another rather than viewing antiracism, antisexism and anticlassism as
complementary movements. Under a multi-axis model, where all forms of
oppression are rejected, Black women do not have to choose a race over gender, or
vice-versa, but engage in struggles for equality as whole and complete human
beings.
Through their experiences within White women’s brands of feminism and male-
dominated movements toward Black empowerment, a unique form of Black
women’s leadership was refined which would be employed in its complete form
through autonomous Black women’s organizations, informal Black women’s
collectives, and other movements founded on principles of multi-axis theory. Out
of the organizing that Black women engaged in within Black empowerment
movements and feminist movements Black women’s organizations and collectives
were formed.
M. Bahati Kuumba asserts that this results from the “backfiring” of attempts to
suppress Black women’s efforts within movements dominated by Black men
(1999). I extend that the same results come from suppression within feminist
organizations dominated by White women. Essentially, by the refusal of Black
men to acknowledge the gendered realities of Black women and the refusal of
White women to acknowledge their racial realities, Black women became more
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aware of their position at the intersection and resentful of organizations that
neglected to address their being in totality. What resulted was the development of
auxiliaries of existing organizations that attempted to incorporate the multiple
oppressions faced by Black women into theory and practice and eventually the
development of autonomous Black women’s organizations.
As highlighted by Kuumba (1999), Black women preferred to incorporate their
realities into the goals of existing organizations. However, through the
development of marginalized auxiliaries where Black women bore all of the
burden of organizing and maintained constant levels of responsibility within the
larger body, Black women became overburdened and often suffered burnout which
led to their eventual withdrawal from both the auxiliary and the broader
organization.1 8 In contrast, when Black women organize as autonomous groups
and/or collectives issues that are of particular importance are often more
effectively addressed and there is often a greater degree of sustainability (White
1999).
While it might appear that autonomous Black women’s organizations seek only to
work towards the liberation and empowerment of Black women, by analyzing the
missions and goals of such organizations as the Combahee River Collective, the
1 8 Kuumba’s case study offers the development of the All African Women’s
Revolutionary Union which developed out of the All African People’s
Revolutionary Party as an example of this process.
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National Black Feminist Organization, and the Third World Women’s Alliance it
becomes clear that while such organizations seek to bring Black women “from
margin to center,” they also view Black women as a part of a broader Black
collective and as a part of the greater “sisterhood” of women.
Central to the organizing of Black women’s collectives is the first principle of
Black women’s leadership - proactivity. In her essay “Necessity Was the Midwife
of Our Politics,” Deborah Grayson (1999) illustrates ways in which Black women
health activists organized to address health issues that were of particular concern
to Black women. As Black women became increasingly aware of their own
conditions and of the disparities that they faced as women of color in a health
system dominated by a White, male, middle-class bias, they organized themselves
to form collectives and organizations that would serve as sources of information
and bases of healthcare advocacy. While the movement was bom out of necessity,
organizers also ascribed to the idea of proactive leadership, advocating for the
healthcare needs of Black women not out of a reaction to some singular and easily
identifiable catastrophe, but out of a long-term commitment to the overall
improvement of Black women’s health. This proactive approach requires the
constant reevaluation and evolution of organizational goals and programs. It is “in
the history of health activism in particular [that] Black women have taken the
narrow spaces of opportunity available to them and expanded them” (Grayson
1999, 135). For health activists this has meant beginning by addressing a single
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healthcare issue, then broadening the focus to take additional variables into
account. “[S]ingle issue protests are about more than just the single issue and are
often linked to broader historical issues of power inequities” (White 1999, 192).
For instance, Sister Care, an organization initially developed by Black women
leaders to serve the growing number of women of color who have become HIV
positive, has come to identify additional health and non-health related challenges
that are linked with their core mission, including drug abuse, joblessness, self
esteem and support systems (White 1999).
Sister Care and the broader Black women’s healthcare activist movement also
incorporate the second identified principle of Black women’s leadership by taking
a collective as opposed to an individual approach to leadership. Inheriting the
tradition of Lugenia Hope1 9 and Ella Baker where leadership is shared amongst the
whole of the group, with each member contributing in some way to the overall
mission of the movement, Black women’s health activists and contemporary Black
women’s movements more generally utilize this same broad-based approach. For
Black women health activists, Grayson notes that while particular organizations
may be founded by a small group of women or even be based upon the initial
“calling” of a single woman, they quickly grow to become collectively led
movements, with authority lying with this collective body rather than a single
individual or small group of individuals.
1 9 The work of Lugenia Hope and the Neighborhood Union in Atlanta is discussed
in greater detail in the previous chapter.
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In fact, it might be this commitment to collective leadership and centering of
authority with the group versus the individual that has prevented Black women’s
leadership from being as easily recognized by broader society. In order to function
in this manner, organizations generally remain more localized (although most form
alliances with other organizations and collectives that share similar goals) and their
memberships are smaller in number in order to allow for consensus based
decision-making. Hence, not only are Black women’s organizations generally less
hierarchical (the form most apparent in traditional leadership models), but they
tend to have smaller memberships and present themselves on local rather than
national levels (differing in this way from Black male-dominated leadership
models).
Aaronette White asserts that this “micro-mobilization” among Black women’s
collectives is actually what defines grassroots movements (White 1999). In her
participant observation of Black women’s organizing in Ohio around the issue of
rape education, White highlights ways win which Black women members of an
informal collective worked together to share responsibility for theorizing,
recruiting members, developing plans of action and putting those plans into action.
Community work is required by the Black community for an individual to gain
legitimacy as a leader. With each of these organizations there was a clear linkage
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between theory and practice, the third principle of self-defined Black women’s
leadership. While some movements, as with White’s Black women’s collective,
began by seeking to address some fundamental question related to the experiences
of Black women, they did not stop with the development of theory. White’s group
sought to address ways in which Black community responses to rape privileged
Black men who were accused of rape and condemned Black women who were
rape victims. The collective participated in data collection and published results,
but then moved beyond that to use those results to bring about change (White
1999). This marks but one instance through which theory is tied to practice within
Black women’s leadership. Scholar-activists form the core of Black
feminist/womanist study, with women like Alice Walker serving not only as
producers of theory and scholarship, but employing her theories to empower Black
women as evidenced through her work to end female genital mutilation. I assert
that the vast majority of Black feminist/womanists fit this model. Furthermore,
not only does theory drive activism, but activism also drives theory. Women like
Angela Davis, Elaine Brown and Kathleen Cleaver began as entrenched members
of liberation movements. While remaining committed to engaging in activism,
these activist traditions also served the development of theory and scholarship,
with each publishing works which analyzes their own activism as well as the
political, social and economic conditions of Black women and society at-large.
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This relationship between theory and practice is evident also in the scholarship
itself. Where much work in traditional disciplines can be classified as “high
theory,” Black feminist/womanist works are generally much more tangible -
serving as a sort of activism in and of themselves. So the formation of theory
itself, serves as a sort of non-traditional form of activism amongst Black women
and ties to the fourth element of Black women’s leadership - the utilization of both
traditional and non-traditional methods. All the Women Are White, All the Blacks
Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (1982) serves as a collection of works where
this idea of scholarship as activism is extremely apparent. Contributors to the
collection, including Alice Walker, Barbara Smith, Michelle Wallace, Patricia Bell
Scott and many others who form the foundation of Black feminist theory, work to
not only encourage readers to think, but to engage readers in a sort of reevaluation
of power structures - presenting works as a sort of “call to action.” Walker, for
example, in “One Child of One’s Own” challenges the idea of canonized works of
mainstream academic disciplines and questions who this practice, in turn,
excludes, calling for a broader inclusion (Walker 1982). Michelle Wallace in “A
Black Feminist’s Search for Sisterhood” calls on Black men to confront their own
sexism and White women to confront their own racism (Wallace 1982). Barbara
Smith issues her calling to the discipline of Women’s Studies arguing that the field
itself must work to encompass the realities of all women which requires not only a
broader inclusion of materials, but a reevaluation of processes that serve to exclude
women of color (Smith 1982).
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In addition to Black women’s autonomous organizations there are those
organizations that work to address issues that impact broader society and include
people who are not Black women in their membership, but have been founded by
Black women and are based upon the ideals that Black women’s self-defined
leadership mandates. Such organizations as Community Coalition in Los Angeles,
founded by Karen Bass, also incorporate non-traditional leadership forms as well
as the other elements of Black women’s leadership. In 1999, Community
Coalition, a membership organization comprised of community members largely
from South Los Angeles, worked to organize and mobilize high school students2 0
to protest the conditions of inner-city schools and the disparities between public
schools attended by Black and Latino students and those with a majority White
student population. Rather than following traditional methods of leadership where
power rests with a single leader and methods are limited to electoral participation
and lobbying, Bass worked within the community, encouraging students to
recognize their own oppression, form a coalition, and participate in outside
agitation which eventually led to the allocation of $2.4 billion in additional
2 0 High school students from South Central Los Angeles serve as what is perhaps
Community Coalition’s most active and visible project - South Central Youth
Empowered through Action. The mission of the project is to “recruit and train
high school students to become the next generation of leaders.” (Community
Coalition. 2002.) This sort of organizing where groups are empowered to address
their own oppressions and leadership is shared inherit the organizing principles
utilized by Ella Baker, Lugenia Hope and early African-American women’s
leaders.
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funding for schools in impoverished neighborhoods with the passage of
Proposition BB (Community Coalition 2002).
Chapter Summary
What is illustrated in this section is the way in which self-defined leadership
among Black women differs from leadership as defined by other groups. For
Black women, leadership is defined in a group context, while individuals may be
recognized for their contributions, each member of a movement holds some claim
to leadership, sharing responsibility for recruitment, theory development, group
mobilization and action. Thus, Black women leaders are defined not so much by
the titles that they hold or the public recognition received, but the actual
contribution that is made to the collective. This is not to say that other groups do
not place value on community contributions; however, Black women depend upon
this community work definition of leadership more than other groups on the
whole.
As outlined in the section on traditional leadership models, the White male model
tend to emphasize elected officials and those who hold formal political power.
This model emphasizes the division and relationship between the leader and the
follower. The traditional approach to leadership is different from Black women’s
self-defined leadership in that amongst Black women, the “line” between the
leader and the followers is virtually non-existent. Leaders develop through
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grassroots movements that allow for the full membership to share in both authority
and responsibility. This form of leadership is not restricted to the holding of
formal political power and tends to be concentrated in both organizations and
collectives that exist primarily on the local level, but also work to form coalitions
with other groups that share common visions for empowerment, enabling
movements to carry national and international agendas forward.
While Black women are full members of both their racial and gender groups,
Black leadership models tend to emphasize those forms developed by Black male
leaders. Such models differ from traditional models in that they recognize
organizational leadership as central; however, there remains a division between
leaders and followers. Black male-centered leadership models generally highlight
charismatic leadership practiced by clearly visible leaders who hold formal titles
within largely national movements. Where Black women have contributed greatly
to such organizations and movements, they have also worked to redefine
organizations in order to encourage a sharing of authority and responsibility,
serving as facilitators of movements that are grounded in grassroots mobilization
and action rather than holding the bulk of the decision-making power for
themselves.
Among mainstream feminist movements, those that are dominated by White,
middle-class women, leadership models largely privilege a White, middle class
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norm of womanhood, reserving both the authority and responsibility of leadership
for women who fall into this norm standard. Furthermore, mainstream feminist
organizations have carried this norm standard of womanhood into issues and
experiences that are addressed by the movement, whereby restricting involvements
mainly to liberal incorporation efforts rather than radical pushes for fundamental
transformation. Such models work to include women in the existing power
structure and in order to do that, place primacy on sexism above other forms of
oppression, whereby denying the racial realities of women of color. In contrast,
Black women’s leadership adopts a much more radical stance, seeking
fundamental systematic change rather than simple reform. The foundation of
multi-axis theory enables Black women’s leadership to address oppressions in all
its form simultaneously, with race-based and gender-based oppression forming the
base, but also recognizing and addressing the economic realities of Black women
through anticlassist efforts as well as other positions of disadvantage.
In summary, in contrast to traditional approaches to leadership, Black male-
centered leadership models, and mainstream White-dominated feminist leadership
forms, Black women emphasize community work as the preferred form of
leadership; this form manifests most often as outside agitation working in
combination with inside participation to bring about change. The idea is that
agitation equates to and outside “threat” (what can happen if you don’t do it),
where inside participation serves as the “reward” (by working within the system to
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bring about change, you thwart more confrontational/revolutionary efforts). Black
women’s leadership does not deny the value that elected officials and recognized
organizational leaders offer in the movement towards positive change; it simply
argues that additional forms also constitute leadership. This inclusiveness is
consistent with multi-axis theory and the approach avoids making value judgments
on leadership forms. Non-traditional leadership forms and community work are
complementary to traditional models of leadership as opposed to being
competitive. With the low number of Black women who currently serve in el ected
office, this sort of partnership in moves toward community empowerment are the
most effective methods. Once in office many elected officials work closely with
community leaders to take advantage of the inside/outside model for community
change.
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Chapter 4 — References
Anderson-Bricker, Kristin. 1999. “Triple Jeopardy: Black Women and the Growth
of Feminist Consciousness in SNCC, 1964-1975 .” In Still Lifting, Still
Climbing: African American Women’ s Contemporary Activism. Edited by
Kimberly Springer. New York: New York University Press.
Browning, Rufus P., Dale Rogers and David H. Tabb, eds. 1990. Racial Politics in
American Cities. New York: Longman.
Bryson, Valerie. 1994. Feminist Political Theory: An Introduction. New York:
Marlowe & Co.
Bums, James MacGregor. 1992. “The Power of Leadership.” In Political
Leadership in Democratic Societies. Edited by Anthony Mughan and
Samuel Patterson. Chicago: Nelson Hall Publishers.
Cleaver, Kathleen Neal. 1997. “Racism, Civil Rights, and Feminism.” In Critical
Race Feminism. Edited by Adrien Katherine Wing. New York: New York
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Community Coalition. 2002. Organizational Mission Statement and Profile.
Cowley, Joyce. 1970. “Pioneers of Women’s Liberation.” In Voices of the New
Feminism. Edited by Mary Lou Thompson. Boston: Beacon Press.
Davis, Angela. 1983. Women, Race and Class. New York: Vintage Books.
Dunbar, Roxanne. 1970. “Female Liberation as the Basis for Social Revolution.”
In Voices of the New Feminism. Edited by Mary Lou Thompson. Boston:
Beacon Press.
Friedan, Betty. 1970. “Our Revolution is Unique.” In Voices of the New Feminism.
Edited by Mary Lou Thompson. Boston: Beacon Press.
Giddings, Paula. 1984. When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on
Race and Sex in America. New York: William Morrow.
Grant, Joanne. 1998. E lla B aker: F reedom B ound. New York: John Wiley and
Sons.
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Grayson, Deborah R. 1999. “Necessity Was the Midwife of our Politics: Black
Women’s Health Activism in the Post-Civil Rights Era (1980-1996).” In
Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women’ s Contemporary
Activism. Edited by Kimberly Springer. New York: New York University
Press.
Guinier, Lani. 1995. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness and
Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.
Hardy, Gayle J. 1993. American Women Civil Rights Activists: Bibliographies of
68 Leaders, 1825-1992. Jefferson: McFarland and Company.
hooks, bell. 1984. Feminist Theory from Margin to Center. Boston. South End
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—. 1999. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. New York: Routledge.
—. 2000. Feminism is for Everybody. Cambridge: South End Press.
Hutchinson, Earl Ofari. 2000. The Disappearance of Black Leadership. Los
Angeles: Middle Passage Press.
Jennings, James. 1992. The Politics of Black Empowerment: The Transformation
of Black Activism in Urban America. Detroit: Wayne State University
Press.
Kuumba, M. Bahati. 1999. “Engendering the Pan-African Movement: Field Notes
from the All-African Women’s Revolutionary Union.” In Still Lifting, Still
Climbing: African American Women’ s Contemporary Activism. Edited by
Kimberly Springer. New York: New York University Press.
Lerner, Gerda. 1997. “Early Community Work of Black Club Women.” Journal of
Negro History 59 no. 2: 158-167.
Lijphart, Arend. 1992. “Consociational Democracy.” In Political Leadership in
Democratic Societies. Edited by Anthony Mughan and Samuel Patterson.
Chicago: Nelson Hall Publishers.
Locke, Mamie. 2000. “Deconstruct to Reconstruct: African American Women in
the Post-Civil Rights Era.” In Black and Multiracial Politics in America.
Edited by Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh and Lawrence J. Hanks. New York:
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Marable, Manning. 1998. Black Leadership. New York: Columbia University
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Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mughan, Anthony and Samuel C. Patterson, eds. 1992. Political Leadership in
Democratic Societies. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers.
Painter, Nell Irvin. 1994. “Representing Truth: Sojourner Truth’s Knowing and
Becoming Known.” The Journal of American History 81 no. 2: 461-492.
Perkins, Margo V. 2000. Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the
Sixties. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.
Pohlmann, Marcus. 1999. Black Politics in Conservative America. 2n d ed. New
York: Longman.
Prestage, Jewel. 1995. “In Quest of African American Political Women.” In The
Politics of Race: African Americans and the Political System. Edited by
Theodore Rueter. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Quarles, Benjamin. 1940. “Frederick Douglass and the Woman’s Rights
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Radford-Hill, Sheila. 2000. Further to Fly: Black Women and the Politics of
Empowerment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Rause, Jacqueline A. 1984. “The Legacy of Community Organizing: Lugenia
Bums Hope and the Neighborhood Union.” Journal of Negro History 69
no. 3/4: 114-133.
Riegel, Robert E. 1962. “The Split in the Feminist Movement in 1869.” The
Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 49 no. 3: 485-496.
Roth, Benita. 1999 “The Making of the Vanguard Center: Black Feminist
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African American Women’ s Contemporary Activism. Edited by Kimberly
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Smith, Robert. 1996. We Have No Leaders: African-Americans in the Post-Civil
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Starks, Robert T. and Michael B. Preston. 1990. “Harold Washington and the
Political reform of Chicago 1983-1987.” In Racial Politics in American
Cities. Edited by Rufus P. Browning, Dale Rogers Marshall and David H.
Tabb. New York: Longman.
Tate, Katherine. 1994. From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in
American Elections. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Travis, Toni-Michelle. 1979. “Black Women in the Continuing Struggle for
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and Michael B. Preston. Boston: Lexington.
Truth, Sojourner. 1851. “Ain’t I a Woman?” In Feminism: The Essential
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House.
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Walker, Alice. 1982. “One Child of One’s Own: A Meaningful Digression Within
the Work(s).” In All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But
Some of Us Are Brave. Edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and
Barbara Smith. New York: The Feminist Press.
Walters, Ronald W. and Robert C. Smith. 1999. African American Leadership.
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White, Aaronette. 1999. “Talking Black, Talking Feminist: Gendered
Micromobilization Processes in a Collective Protest Against Rape.” In Still
Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women’ s Contemporary
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Press.
White, John. 1990. Black Leadership in America: From Booker T . Washington to
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CHAPTER FIVE -
In s i d e P a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d O u t s id e A g it a t io n :
S e l f -D e f in e d L e a d e r s h i p a n d E l e c t o r a l P o l it ic s A m o n g B l a c k W o m e n
Self-defined leadership among Black women is comprised of four key elements; it
is 1) proactive in nature (as opposed to being simply reactive), 2) emphasizes
group-centered leadership (versus a leader-centered group), 3) requires a linkage
between theory and practice (a call to action), and 4) utilizes both traditional and
non-traditional methods. Given these criteria, the question then becomes whether
this model impacts the ways in which Black women approach political
representation as elected officials. In this chapter I argue that authentic Black
women’s representation requires a relationship between inside participation and
outside agitation approaches whereby the self-defined leadership model is either
explicitly or implicitly utilized.
Where the previous chapter worked to define and illustrate self-defined leadership
among Black women by focusing primarily on theory and the activist tradition,
this chapter links the activist tradition with Black women’s participation in
electoral politics. For Black women, leadership encompasses participation in both
traditional (inside participation) and non-traditional (outside agitation) methods,
with traditional methods being those forms focused primarily on electoral politics1
and non-traditional methods being those forms that move further from the sphere
1 Traditional methods of political participation, discussed here as “inside
participation,” include such forms as voting, running for office, campaign work
and making campaign contributions.
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of government and policymaking. As outlined in Chapter Four, Black women
have vigorously engaged in activism through community organizing as one form
of political participation. This activist tradition brings with it core leadership
principles that undoubtedly impact the way in which Black women engage in
traditional forms of political participation. By bringing these core principles with
them into elected office, Black women elected officials have the capacity to
represent Black women constituents in ways that complement the long tradition of
Black women’s organizing. Furthermore, the continual interaction between
traditional and non-traditional methods helps to solidify the presence of the Black
women’s self-defined leadership model in electoral politics.
As noted in the previous chapter, definitions of political leadership vary among
political scientists. Mainstream political science (read White male) tends to place
primacy on elected office as the most apparent form of political leadership. Black
politics generally extends political leadership also to charismatic leaders who
visibly impact politics but do not hold elected positions. Feminist politics scholars
place great value on organizational leadership as a key form. Among Black
women, political leadership tends to be more broadly defined, incorporating a
range of forms that are both traditional (holding elected office, etc.) and non-
traditional (activist in nature).
2 Non-traditional methods of political participation that move away from the realm
of policy-making and government action emphasizes outside agitation including
protest politics, artistic expression, grassroots organizing and community “other-
mothering.”
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Given this tradition of leadership, two central questions arise with regard to
political representation. The first relates to ways in which Black women as
constituents are represented by elected officials. Who serves as “authentic”
representative for Black women constituencies? The second question overlaps
with the first and asks to what degree Black women as elected representatives
carry with them the traditions of Black women’s self-defined leadership into
office. This chapter works to address these two questions through critical content
and historical analyses of the concept of representation and linkages between
activism and electoral politics among Black women. The first section addresses
the concept of representation and how representation applies to Black women
more specifically. The second section offers a historical analysis of linkages
between Black women activists and Black women’s involvements in electoral
politics and government, laying the groundwork for Chapter 6 which draws from
survey research, interviews and personal profiles to highlight ways in which Black
women in elected office represent their constituencies.
Authentic Representation and Black Women
As outlined by Hannah Pitkin in her groundbreaking work The Concept of
Representation (1967), representation encompasses far more than simply the “right
to act” or “accountability for actions.” Substantive political representation
requires the representative to act in the interest of the represented. For Black
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women, the question becomes who has the ability and commitment to act in her
interests. Where descriptive representation requires that the representative “look
like” the constituency - in the case of Black women constituents, the
representative would share their racial and gender characteristics (also being a
Black woman), many argue that such a form is merely symbolic in nature and not
a requirement for substantive representation (Swain 1995, Reingold 2000). I
contend that descriptive representation serves two purposes. First, it can
encourage symbolic representation whereby legitimizing the government structure.
Second, and most importantly, it establishes positionality which enables the
representative to offer a voice from the perspective of the represented group.
The Symbolic Nature o f Descriptive Representation
D escriptive representation serves as one of the clearest ways in which symbolic
representation might be encouraged. Much like tokenism, descriptive
representation works to send a message to largely marginalized groups that they
are being included - that they have a “seat at the table.” By electing a
representative who “looks like” them, people of color, women and members of
other disadvantaged group often feel more included in the system. The election of
descriptive candidates acts as a symbol of this inclusion. Thus, this sort of
symbolic representation is predicated upon the election of a descriptive
representative.
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Symbolic representation serves a limited purpose in that it legitimizes the system
of government.3 The exclusion of entire groups from the whole of the government
structure often causes excluded groups to either 1) opt out of the system and
develop a sort of “outlaw culture” or 2) challenge the overall legitimacy of the
power structure and actively work towards its end (revolution). Symbolic
representation sends the message that all groups have a stake in the existing
system. For government to be stable, two key elements are required: authority (or
the right to act as discussed by Pitkin) and legitimacy (buy-in on the part of the
citizenry). While descriptive representation alone might be of limited or no
substantive benefit, it can send a symbolic message to constituents that they
somehow have a voice within the government structure - that someone is there to
speak for them.4 This “buying-in” process is generally most beneficial to those
who have the greatest stake in the stability of the current government. However,
3 1 hesitate to highlight this purpose as being valuable. While it is undeniably
valuable to the dominant group, theories of radicalism suggest that government
stabilization works against the interests of oppressed groups, instead affirming and
perpetuating systems that depend upon their oppressed condition. Although I go
on to argue the value of descriptive representation from the standpoint of Black
women, I cannot ignore the role that descriptive representation might also play in
legitimizing the current government structure. While I am tempted to argue the
value of revolutionary politics for women of color, such a discussion is beyond the
scope of the present research and must be reserved for inclusion in future works.
4 As outlined in a later section, this is not to say that descriptive representation is
enough or that this sort of symbolic outcome is even desirable for radical political
agendas. It is the view of this author that symbolic representation alone can serve
as a distraction to the masses - giving the illusion of government access when
what is often at play is nothing more than tokenism. A Black female face that
represents status quo (White, male, capitalist class) interests simply serves to mask
the oppressive nature of the interests that she represents. Still, nonetheless,
symbolically, her presence helps to stabilize government by encouraging the “buy-
in” of a particular constituency.
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the tokenism that is required does offer some limited individual benefit for a few
select members of otherwise marginalized groups. Beth Reingold further
elaborates on this value of symbolic representation in her work on women and
political representation (Reingold 2000).5
Beyond Symbolism: Descriptive Representation and Substance -
How descriptive representation impacts the substance of representative
engagements is a question that has been presented and addressed by several works.
While there is very little work done on Black women specifically (a void which
this work is seeking to fill), there is a significant body of literature that addresses
behaviors of Black representatives and women representatives separately. Much
of the literature assumes the election of descriptive representatives to be a
desirable goal. However, more recent pieces examine the degree to which
descriptive representatives for disadvantaged groups substantively vary in
behavior from White male representatives.
Carol Swain and Beth Reingold lead the charge that the descriptive reality of a
representative makes little substantive difference in the way in which he or she
represents his or her constituents. Their claims are based largely on the legislative
5 Although Reingold argues that the government stability encouraged through
symbolic representation is a desirable outcome not only for major stakeholders in
the political system, but for women as a whole. She further asserts that symbolic
representation is, in fact, the most significant benefit of descriptive representation,
a view that I disagree with as discussed later in this chapter.
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voting behavior of representatives. In her analysis of Black Congressional roll call
votes, Carol Swain argues that the race of a representative makes little difference
in the way in which he or she represents his or her constituency. Legislative
decision-making is determined primarily by party rather than by race. Therefore,
White representatives can just as effectively represent Black constituents as Black
representatives. In fact, Swain goes so far as to question whether or not there
might be some instances where White elected officials might be better
representatives for Black interests based on their levels of influence within the
legislature. Swain argues that with White representatives generally being more
senior and being more likely to serve in positions of legislative leadership, they are
in a better position to advocate (Swain 1995, 211). However, she spends little time
discussing the probability of a senior White representative advocating for the
authentic interests of a Black constituency. Similarly, Black representatives might
revise their strategies and run for offices with significant or even majority non-
Black constituencies. She asserts that both the interests of the Black constituency
and non-Black constituencies can be represented simultaneously. “[I]t is possible
for black candidates to be elected and reelected in majority white districts without
ignoring the concerns of their black constituents” (Swain 1995, 127).
Reingold takes a similar approach with regard to women and representation,
arguing that the sex of a representative makes little difference in the way in which
he or she actually represents. Like Swain, Reingold asserts that differences in
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legislative behavior can be attributed almost in total to party affiliation and have
very little to do with the sex of the representative. In sum. Reingold argues that
women’s interests can be advanced by a male representative just as effectively as
they can by a woman (Reingold 2000).
For both Swain and Reingold then, descriptive representation has very little to do
with one’s effectiveness substantively. These assertions are made based on their
analyses of roll call votes. However, as Kenny Whitby points out, such an analysis
is limited in its view of the ways in which a representative actually advances the
interests of his or her constituency. In his work The Color of Representation.
Whitby argues that what a representative “looks like” does, in fact, make a
difference in the way in which he or she substantively represents his or her
constituencies. He argues that descriptive and substantive representation actually
interact, with one informing the other (Whitby 1997). This runs counter to Carol
Swain’s assertion that a White representative with liberal views can represent
Black constituencies just as effectively as a Black representative.6 Whitby, does
not assert that non-Black representatives cannot be supportive of Black interests.
6 Swain also notes that this substantive form of representation works in both
directions with Black representatives being able to represent White constituencies.
It is my assertion that while this directional representation can be effective, it is
dependent upon the “lowest common denominator” condition. Where a
representative who experiences discrimination based on race can effectively
represent constituencies of the dominant racial group. A member of an oppressed
racial group is generally more capable of being sensitive to all issues related to that
form of disadvantage because of his or her perspective based on lived experiences.
However, it does not work in the other direction because the perspective lens of
racial oppression is absent from the White representative’s “toolbox.”
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However, he acknowledges the added value that comes with descriptive
representation in the form of Black elected officials. For Whitby, descriptive
representation offers an added positionality or perspective that works to inform
Black representatives about issues that particularly impact Black communities.
Perhaps it is Whitby’s method which depends both on final roll call votes and
amended roll call votes that enables him to derive the role that descriptive
representation plays vis-a-vis Swain’s work which depends solely on the final roll
call votes of elected officials, resulting in a division that fell strictly along party
lines.
For Whitby, descriptive representation has some value beyond symbolism; it
establishes positionality and becomes a unique lens through which a representative
views and experiences political phenomena. This lens offers a first-hand
racialized reality for Black representatives that impacts the ways in which they
approach representation.
Virginia Sapiro argues that similar descriptive forms of representation inform the
approaches taken by women who serve in elected office. She first demonstrates
that perspectives exist by arguing that almost everything impacts women in ways
that d iffer from m en b eca u se o f d ifferen ces in w o m e n ’s and m en ’s liv ed
experiences and everyday realities. While it is commonly thought that there are
some issues that can be dubbed as “women’s issues,” issues need not be explicitly
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about women in order to impact them in a unique manner. Her first argument,
then, is that “there is a women’s interest to be represented” (Sapiro 1981, 705).
While she acknowledges that there are very few women in elected office who run
in order to represent women’s interests, she acknowledges that once they are
elected, their perspective as women informs the way in which they approach
representation.
Sapiro contends that descriptive representation is not enough. She further argues
that mere representation in government cannot work alone to change the status of
women in society, but must work in concert with outside organizational efforts
toward empowerment. On the other hand, descriptive representation, along with
substantive representation, in government must be part of a larger effort. “[T]he
presence of female officeholders is only one element among the factors
determining the degree to which government responds to the interests of women”
(Sapiro 1981, 712).
While Whitby looks solely at race and Sapiro looks solely at gender, with neither
author examining what this means for women of color, it can be extended that
additional perspectives based on the race/gender intersection would likely impact
Black women’s approaches to representation.
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As illustrated by Whitby and Sapiro, descriptive representation can serve to inform
the behaviors of the representative; his or her race and gender work to establish a
certain positionality. While it is extremely important that we not essentialize the
experiences, perspectives and ideologies of marginalized groups, it must be
acknowledged that membership in a particular group is required to fully relate to
that group’s collective experiences. This phenomenon is referred to by Sidney
Verba and his co-authors as a “selective outcome” when applied to political
participation (Verba, Schlozman and Brady 1995). In order to reap a particular
benefit from participation, one has to have actually participated. In the case of
participation. Verba refers to the development of social networks, material benefits
and civic goals/pride. However, this same concept might be applied to group
membership. Benefits - manifesting as frames of reference when applied to group
membership - are derived not simply through knowledge about the group, but
through a shared history, a common set of experiences and through the collective
struggle of the group. Therefore, one must actually be a member of the group to
gain such benefits.
As related to descriptive representation then, those who “descriptively” represent
Black women constituents inherit the benefit derived from being a part of three
groups: 1) the racial group - Blacks, 2) their gender group - women and 3) their
position at the intersection - Black women. Therefore, Black women
representatives gain a frame of reference or a political “lens” that is based on the
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realities experiences as a member of the group “Black women.” This is not to say
that all Black women share identical experiences or that their shared experiences
necessarily result in shared ideologies or behaviors. However, the frame of
reference rooted in Black womanhood enables Black women to see the world
through a particular lens to which others do not have access.
The Interaction Between Descriptive Representation and Authentic
Representation —
While descriptive representation serves a limited purpose, the most valuable of
which is positionality or the offering of a social and political perspective that is
unique to the group of which one is a member, it is by no means sufficient to
represent the interests of Black women. Still descriptive representation is a
prerequisite in order for substantive representation to occur at its highest form -
authentic representation. The authentic representation model differs from Pitkin’s
general substantive representation model in that it asserts that positionality informs
the ability of a representative to represent marginalized constituencies. In other
words, while Pitkin argues that substantive representation means that the
representative advocates for the interests of the represented, the authentic
representation model argues that in order for these interests to be understood and
advanced in total, the representative must share the descriptive reality of his or her
constituency. The authentic representation model is careful to note, however, that
description alone does not ensure authenticity. While description is a prerequisite,
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collective interests rather than self interests must serve as the primary motivating
factor for the representative.
In African Americans and the American Political System, Lucius Barker and Mack
Jones highlight the role that Black elected officials might play in advancing the
policy interests of Black constituents. Where there is some value placed on this
descriptive form of representation, Barker and Jones argue that the mere election
of Black representatives is not enough to ensure that Black interests are advanced.
Instead, two additional requirements must be met. First, the Black representative
who is elected must be committed to advancing Black interests. He or she must
make the interests of this constituency a priority and not simply serve as a
descriptive representative alone. This means that the representative must be
willing to serve as a voice for actual and virtual Black constituents. In addition,
the constituency itself bears the responsibility for holding the elected
representative accountable. It is not enough that Black voters mobilize to get their
preferred representative elected. Once in office, constituents must monitor the
behavior and actions of the representative to ensure that he or she is actually
advancing Black collective interests (Barker and Jones 1994).
While the Barker/Jones model moves beyond descriptive representation,
employing the idea of accountability, it does not quite reach the level of authentic
representation. For authentic representation to take place, the elected official
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remains accountable to his or her constituency. However, his or her accountability
is not solely based on monitoring. Instead, the representative actually shares in
both the perspectives and policy preferences of those whom he or she represents
and sees his or her position in elective office as being to advance that collective
interest. In her work The Tyranny of the Majority, Lani Guinier maintains that it is
this form of representation that is of the greatest benefit to minority communities
(Guinier 1995).
Under the authentic representation model, we move beyond substantive
representation as introduced by Pitkin to give weight to positionality. While Pitkin
argues that substantive representation is the most desirable form in that it does not
presuppose that the description of a representative will dictate his or her actions or
define his or her interests - an important an legitimate claim, she does not
acknowledge ways in which description can serve to further support substantive
representation. The authentic representation model argues that description does
have value in that it helps to establish a lens of vision through which individuals
experience life and political occurrences. However, it also incorporates the
warning of Pitkin that descriptive representation does not ensure substantive
representation. According to the authentic model then, descriptive factors become
prerequisites for inclusion. However, the real measure of representative
authenticity is the degree to which he or she represents the interests of those he or
she claims to represent.
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Because authentic representation requires shared perspectives with disadvantaged
constituencies, the representative must share the oppressed condition with that
constituency.7 In other words, to authentically represent a Black constituency, the
representative must be Black; to authentically represent a constituency of women,
a representative must be a woman. I contend that in order to authentically
represent Black women constituents, the representative must also be a Black
woman. Black men can represent the racial reality of Black women. White
women can represent their gender reality. However, applying the multi-axis
7 While Guinier does not discuss ways in which this idea of authentic
representation might apply to privileged groups, I argue that while representatives
from disadvantaged groups might not share the perspectives of constituents from
privileged backgrounds, they are able to adequately represent them. This is
because of the different dynamic that comes with an oppressed representative -
oppressor constituency relationship as opposed to an oppressor representative -
oppressed constituency relationship. There are three main reasons for this
difference. First, the very presence of domination requires that oppressed groups
become familiar with the perspectives of the dominant group (albeit they can never
completely share in that perspective based on their position as the oppressed).
This familiarity enables representatives from disadvantaged groups to incorporate
that perspective into his or her decision making process to a limited degree.
Second, dominant groups are virtually always overrepresented while oppressed
groups are virtually always underrepresented. Therefore, the presence of an
additional representative from an oppressed community helps to balance out an
unbalanced system, allowing for unauthentically represented constituents from
oppressed groups to be virtually represented. Members of the dominant group are
already virtually represented by any number of representatives. Finally, a
representative from a disadvantaged background brings with him or her the
perspective of that group and is able to share that perspective with his or her
constituents. This sharing of perspective helps to encourage increased
understanding whereby encouraging a process of liberation among oppressors.
The point here is that a system of oppression not only binds the oppressed, but in a
sense enslaves the oppressor to that very system which he or she helped to create.
A tearing down of oppression frees not only the oppressed, but also the oppressor.
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framework introduced in the first chapter of this dissertation, “the whole is greater
than the sum of her parts.” The experiences of Black men and White women do
not “add up” to the experience of Black women. There is a position at the
crossroads of race and gender that Black women occupy that cannot be divided out
- that becomes the solitary space of Black womanhood.
With Black women serving as full members of both their racial group and their
gender group, as well as standing at the intersection, they are able to not only
descriptively and substantively represent Black women, but also the broader Black
community and the wider population of women. This is not to say that Black
women can fully represent the gender realities of Black men or the racial realities
of White women. However, since it is not the gender reality which is the basis for
Black men’s oppression nor the racial reality which is the basis for White
women’s, Black women need not share in these perspectives in order to adequately
represent them.
Approaches to Political Representation
Put simply and as demonstrated through the predominant literature on women and
representation, women make more reliable feminists and are therefore more likely
to back feminist legislation. While there are, of course several approaches that
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representatives take to representation,8 there is little debate over the reality that
there is some level of ideology that is incorporated to any approach. This means
that if women representatives are “more reliable feminists” and feminism becomes
a part of their core belief system, they are more likely to incorporate this ideology
into their policy positions than men. Darcy, Welch and Clark call this the
“ideological advantage” (Darcy, Welch and Clark 1987).9
In order to investigate ways in which Black women’s self-defined leadership
models impact Black women’s political representation, this section explores the
interaction between activism (outside agitation) and electoral politics (inside
participation); and highlights activist participation among Black women who serve
in the 107th Congress through group memberships. Finally, it identifies
consistencies between outside agitation and inside participation efforts and
analyzes how this impacts authentic representation for Black women.
8 In approaches to representation, the trustee model - where the representative
formulates her policy position based on her own personal ideologies and the
instructed delegate model - where the representative takes on positions largely
based on the specified desires of her constituency offer the two primary competing
theories.
9 Although I question the core argument presented by Darcy, Welch and Clark
who go on to discuss women as candidates, asserting that women can increase
their numbers in elected office simply by increasing their own levels of education
and that no fundamental or systematic change is necessary to facilitate the process,
the premise offered that women representatives are crucial to representing
women’s interests is extremely valuable.
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Positionality, Ideology and Representation
Such an ideological advantage might also apply to Black representation. As
evidenced by Whitby, Black representatives, while similar in voting behavior on
final roll call votes to White representatives from their party, differ substantially in
terms of agenda setting - especially as applied to Bill amendments. It appears that
these behaviors which lie beyond strict legislative voting are informed by
ideologies that are fundamentally more progressive. Thus, just as women make
better feminists. Blacks make better advocates for Black interests (anti-racism and
Black progress).
With regard to Black women, the previous chapter outlines ways in which Black
women as organizers incorporate unique leadership forms that are womanist/Black
feminist in nature. Based on this activist tradition, it seems that Black women
make better Black feminists - or are more capable and more willing to advocate
for the interests of Black women in ways that are consistent with Black women’s
leadership frameworks. However, the absence of literature on Black women’s
behaviors in elected office makes it difficult to confirm ways in which Black
feminist ideology and Black women’s self-defined leadership translate into
representative advocacy.
If we accept the concept of the ideological advantage introduced by Darcy, Welch
and Clark, that positionality informs ideology, then we might also extend that
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ideology compels action. In other words, because women view the world through
the lens of womanhood, an ideology develops which is rooted in their own
experiential realities. Therefore, more often for women than for men, a feminist
ideology develops. Accepting the definition of feminism developed by bell hooks,
that it is the “movement to end sexism and sexist oppression” (2000), it becomes
apparent that a feminist ideology requires not only the adoption of a particular
theoretical framework, but actions that are consistent with that framework.
The idea of feminism requiring a movement discussed by hooks, is perhaps even
more apparent when we look at Black feminism or womanism. In All the Women
Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave, the authors contend
that Black feminism, more than any other form requires a linkage between theory
and practice (1982). Thus, while theory development is a crucial element in the
advancement of Black women’s interests, theory alone cannot change conditions -
for that, action is required. Similarly, actions must be rooted in theory. Black
feminism must guide actions in order to ensure that collective interests remain
central. For Black women in elected office, this means that their actions must be
guided by the principles of Black women’s self-defined leadership. They must 1)
be proactive in nature, 2) emphasize group-centered leadership, 3) link theory with
practice, and 4) utilize both traditional and non-traditional methods.
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Inside Participation-Outside Agitation: An Interdependent Model
The holding of formal political office and engagement in protest politics are
interdependent leadership forms, especially for marginalized populations.1 0
Political science as a field has dedicated itself primarily to the study of formal
political action through the behavior of formal political actors (elected and
appointed officials) and the study of the policy preferences of constituencies
through analyses of voting behavior. Additional works - especially those that
offer discussions related to communities of color and other marginalized groups -
highlight the role that interest groups and opinion leaders play. However, little
scholarly work has been dedicated to the interaction between formal political
actions and those that lie outside of the traditional sphere. Voice and Equality
(1995) is perhaps the first comprehensive work of its kind in this regard,
highlighting the degree to which civic voluntarism influences policy and politics
and ways in which this form might be utilized by different segments of the
population.
Verba, Schlozman and Brady argue that voting serves as only one measure of
political participation. Another measure is civic voluntarism. The authors define
civic voluntarism as those actions that individuals engage in voluntarily which
1 0 As early as 1934, David Walker highlights this relationship as applied to the
anti-lynching movement. In 1918 riots in the Midwest in response to the huge
number of Blacks who were lynched prompted federal anti-lynching legislation.
This serves as one of the earliest examples Congressional action in this case.
(Walker. 1934.)
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seek to influence political officials - either directly or indirectly; examples
include: political contributions, volunteering on political campaigns, and
involvement in political protests (Verba, Schlozman and Bradyl995). While it is
argued by many pluralists that such forms enable citizens to work to influence
policy outcomes on a fairly level playing field through interest groups, Voice and
Equality asserts that in terms of voicing policy preferences civic voluntarism is the
most unequal form of political participation. The authors highlight three key
elements which enable citizens to participate: 1) motivation - or the desire to
participate, 2) capacity - or the means and ability to participate, and 3) networks of
recruitment - or the right circles of socialization which serve to make citizens
aware of involvement opportunities and encourage participation. Each of these
elements contributes greatly to an individual’s willingness and/or ability to
participate. For marginalized groups - although there might be the motivation to
participate, there is often a lack of capacity and absence of supporting networks of
recruitment. Therefore, women, people of color, and working class populations
are often excluded from civic voluntarism as a form of political action.
Despite the relatively low level at which marginalized groups participate in civic
voluntarism, there are additional forms of participation that lie outside of what
V erba, S ch lozm an and B rady d efin e as p olitical; these forms often serve as
conduits through which the political ideologies and policy preferences of
marginalized groups might be expressed. For example, in measures of
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participation by race, the authors found that Blacks are slightly less likely to
participate in civic voluntarism or political organizing than Whites. They are also
slightly less likely to participate in non-political secular organizations. However,
African-Americans are substantially more likely to participate in religious-based
activities according to all three measures - 1) attendance, 2) organizing, and 3)
financial contributions (228-266). “Since churches can play a significant role not
only as spiritual and social institutions but also in generating political involvement,
their role for African-Americans.. .bears examination.” Although the text
acknowledges the crucial role that church plays in the political lives of African-
Americans and the “gray” areas in measuring political participation, they choose
not to include religious involvements as political. Because such methods do not
target elected officials through their actions they are beyond the scope of Verba,
Schlozman and Brady’s definition of political participation.
I argue that religious and informal organizing should not only be included, but are
key in the political activism of Black women especially. In addition to serving as
a venue for groups to engage in collective analyses of power structures and
strategize around proposed political actions, religious movements and other
settings not used in civic engagement measures often provide participants with
crucial sk ill sets that carry-over into formal and informal political action. Thus,
while I fully accept the core argument presented by Verba, Schlozman and Brady,
that disadvantaged groups are less likely to engage in political actions because of
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the lack of “capacity” (diminished resources) or minimal “networks of
recruitment,” I would also argue that the desire for political change often manifests
in forms that are not generally thought of as political - including religion and
informal organizing collectives. In addition, because the core concerns of the
Black community1 1 are often neglected by public officials, it would be logical for
African-Americans to work to address these challenges through less traditional
means, ones which are less likely to require responsive elected representatives or
government agencies. Finally, while Voice and Equality offers an insightful
analysis of civic engagement and addresses differences in participation based on
race and differences in participation based on gender, it does not include analyses
of women of color. Instead the text makes the assumption that is all too common
in most academic fields - that all the “women are White” and all the “Blacks are
men.” Single-axis analyses fail to acknowledge the possibility that women of
color have behaviors that are different from those of men of color and White
women. Less comprehensive studies on civic participation, seem to indicate that
Black women are, in fact, significantly more likely to be involved in a range of
political activities than all other groups.1 2
There are numerous examples of ways in which the church was used as a
mobilizing force for Black women organizers. Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells
1 1 The core concerns of the Black community are identified by Verba, Schlozman
and Brady as those of “basic human needs, education and youth, and especially
crime and drugs.” (Verba, et. al., 248)
1 2 See Stanford and Alex-Assensoh study.
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and other anti-lynching crusaders used the Black church as a base as they sought
anti-lynching legislation. Ella Baker often organized among church members and
motherboards1 3 to help ensure that the SCLC maintained a grassroots base. The
Black church also served as the mobilizing center for Fannie Lou Hamer and other
women who worked to rally Black voting rights and encourage the Black vote.
Even beyond the church, Black women often organized in ways that might lie
outside of Verba, Schlozman and Brady’s measure. For example, Lugenia Hope
and the Neighborhood Union developed as a grassroots movement founded out of
the desire to provide social services to marginalized African-American Atlantans.
Later the Union would move forward with a plan to lobby government agencies
for resources. This indicates that there is a connection between clearly political
activities and those actions which are more peripheral. I would argue that the
development of the organizations and the plans initiated - regardless of
governmental contact - embody actions that are, themselves, also political. While
such involvements might not seek to influence the actions of elected officials, they
are working to impact power and power relations.
What is of particular value in Verba, Schlozman and Brady’s work is that it offers
a clear linkage between broader civic engagement and traditional methods of
political participation. It argues that participation in civic voluntarism often leads
1 3 In many African-American churches, motherboards serve as the women’s
equivalent to deacon boards. Oftentimes, church “mothers” serve as the unofficial
policymakers of the church, while official leadership positions are reserved for the
men of the church
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to more formal political activism. For Black women, we find particular truth in
this assertion. It is often through their desire to address particular, sometimes even
seemingly apolitical issues, that they undergo a process of overall politicization
that prompts action in formal political spheres, encouraging voting and even
candidacies.
The Activist Tradition Among Black Women Candidates -
The motivation to run for elected office for Black women tends to stem largely
from her tradition of activism as opposed to political ambition. As highlighted by
Kazee, candidates of color and women are more likely to run for office based on
the recruitment as opposed to the ambition model (Kazee 1994). As a full member
of both groups, it can be inferred that Black women also run according to this
recruitment model.
Conyers and Wallace tie this recruitment model to activist traditions, offering one
of the earliest works on the specific motivations for Black office seekers. They
assert that central to Black candidates’ decisions to run are three key factors. First
is the favoring of conventional action as opposed to direct action. However, the
authors are careful to note that nearly all of the elected officials studied purport a
lin k age b etw een d irect and con ven tion al action and the interd ep en d en ce of the
two. Also, there is an emphasis on serving the underserved as well as the public
at-large. Most black elected officials enter politics out of concern for the Black
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community (especially encouraged through their linkages with the Civil Rights
movement). Black elected officials are also more likely to follow the recruitment
vis-a-vis the ambition model where they run based on the urgings of the population
as opposed to their own ambition. This runs counter to White male candidates
who’s own political ambitions generally propel them to seek office (Conyers and
Wallace 1976, 47-48).
Two of Conyers’ and Wallace’s claims are widely supported by the prevailing
literature as well as by the data collected and presented in the following chapter of
this dissertation on Black women specifically. When asked what motivated them
to run and who they define as their constituency. Black elected officials generally
emphasize their commitments to disadvantaged populations as well as their district
stakeholders more generally. Kazee also supports Conyers’ and Wallace’s claim
that African-American candidates are more likely to wait to be recruited to run for
office than to run based on their own ambition. Their initial claim, however, that
Black elected officials favor conventional (or what I term as traditional) over
direct action (or what I term as non-traditional), bears some additional discussion.
Such an observation seems to run counter to my model of Black women’s self-
defined leadership - where both traditional and non-traditional methods are
utilized (also a major point of this chapter). However, upon further examination of
the Conyers/Wallace model, it becomes clear that their overview might, in fact, be
consistent with the Black women’s self-defined leadership model. For Black
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candidates to favor conventional action over direct action does not mean that direct
action is never utilized, simply that it is not the preferred method. Secondly, while
conventional action is the preferred method for the elected official herself, such
actions might be performed in concert with grassroots movements and community
leaders who complement the conventional actions of the representative with direct
action of their own. Finally, while Conyers and Wallace do not discuss differences
in Black candidate motivations based on gender in depth, they do highlight
differences in patterns of representation.
The authors note that there are some differences between the representation
patterns of Black men and Black women; however, these differences are less
pronounced among Blacks than Whites. For African-Americans (as with other
groups) women elected officials predominately serve in educational posts as
opposed to Black men who serve largely in city government and law agencies
(Conyers and Wallace 1976, 86). They also highlight differences in perspective
that affect representative ideology. Black women elected officials are more likely
to view racial progress as linked to gender progress and vice versa. Therefore,
Black women are more likely to support women’s issues than Black men and, even
more interestingly, they are more likely to support women’s issues than White
w o m en (9 7 ).
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This highlights the intersectionality of race and gender. The linkage between
gender and racial agendas for Black women demonstrates that Black women
representatives acknowledge their full memberships in both groups, even
advocating for both racial and gender group issues at rates that match or exceed
that of Black men or White women, but also understand that their liberation comes
with progress on both fronts. For them, gender issues are racial and racial issues
are gendered. This perhaps is the best illustration of Black women’s position at
the intersection of race and gender, where the compound effects of each cannot be
separated out and attributed solely to one axis and multiple battles must be
continuously fought.
While there is a virtual absence of studies that work primarily to highlight
differences within the larger Black collective, we might draw comparisons
between Black candidate models and women candidate models. Limited
discussions of differences among African Americans and differences among
women might help to uncover candidate models that apply to Black women more
specifically. Marianne Githens and Jewel Prestage (1977) whose study focuses on
the political socialization of women argue that women are discouraged from
acquiring the traditional experience, knowledge and skills required to assume roles
as elected officials. As a result of this lack of training and the refusal of wider
society to accept women’s political leadership, women have remained largely
along the margins in formal politics. Therefore, women who want to make
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societal changes tend to engage more readily as political activists as opposed to
participation in the formal realm.
Githens and Prestage also highlight the great differences that exist between the
political realities and opportunities for Black and White women.
The marginality that white women experience is more acute for the Black
woman in American politics. She is marginal because she is wishing to
achieve in a male sphere, and marginal because she is a black entering a
traditionally all-white preserve... .The coupling of racism and sexism
leaves the black woman rejected by males and by Whites (Githens and
Prestage 1977, 9).
The essays within their volume go on to highlight ways in which women address
this marginalization. For Black women, who endure the greatest degree of
marginalization, they have embraced activism as both a form through which they
can bring about change and a valuable tool to be used as a part of their
engagements in electoral politics as well.
Therefore, while Black women are discouraged from becoming involved in
electoral politics, among those who do engage in this traditional sphere, there is a
greater tendency to carry activist traditions with them. This does not mean that
Black women in elected office are simply activists who hold elected posts. What it
does mean, however, is that Black women in elected office are more likely to draw
from the traditions of political activism in their engagements as elected officials.
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Furthermore, they are more likely to see their participation in electoral politics as
one that should complement the efforts of grassroots community leaders.
This interdependence between electoral politics and the activist tradition, or the
strategy of inside participation supported by and supporting outside agitation is
further developed and maintained by James Jennings in his work The Politics of
Black Empowerment (1992). Jennings argues that there is a connection between
protest politics and voting and that one complements the other. African-
Americans have long been of a tradition which links protest and electoral politics,
both as separate and combined strategies. With the separate strategy approach,
protest serves as a greater threat to the status quo, whereby encouraging the
adoption of more favorable policy positions to pacify the group and thwart more
radical efforts. Under the combined strategy approach, protest movements and
elected representatives actually work together, coordinating platforms where the
legislative agenda of the elected official is incorporated into protest efforts and the
policy preferences of the movement are adopted by the representative. Jennings
uses the Black Panther Party as an example of both these separate and combined
approaches. He notes that this combined approach is used by authentic Black
leaders, who seek empowerment for the broader Black collective, as opposed to
those representatives who work towards simple incorporation. Black
empowerment distinguishes between access and actual power; those who subscribe
to Black empowerment understand that limiting engagement to traditional methods
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cannot fundamentally change the system of power. “Changes in power relations
usually involve some type of confrontation” (Jennings 1992, 35).
I contend that this tradition of activism, the need for both inside participation and
outside agitation, is central to the authentic representation of Black women.
While, as noted in the first section of this chapter, not all Black women in elected
office serve as authentic representatives for Black women, with positionality
informing ideology and ideology compelling action, a commitment to activism
should be evidenced in the engagements of Black women elected officials.
Summary o f Activism Among Black Women in the 107th Congress
Of the 535 Members of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators), 36 are
African American and 59 are women. Included in these numbers are 13 Black
women (U.S. House of Representatives, 2002). This means that while the Black
population is 12.3% of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census 2000), they
constitute only 6.7% of the U.S. Congress. While women are slightly more than
50 percent of the general population, they are only 11% of Congress. With 13
Representatives and no Senators, Black women make up 2.4% of Congress despite
being nearly 7% of the general population. This means that their ability to
influence p o lic y and shape d iscu ssio n s b ased on their unique perspectives is
severely limited in that they are not proportionally represented in office.
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T able 5-1
BLACK WOMEN IN THE 107 UNITE]D STATES CONGRESS
Member
(Year
Elected)
District Committees Education Occupation Non-Congressional
Organizational
Affiliations
Rep.
Corrine
Brown
(1992)
3r d (F L -
Jacksonville,
Orlando,
Daytona
Beach)
Veteran’s
Affairs,
Transportation
&
Infrastructure
B.S.,
Florida
A&M
University,
M.A.,
University
o f Florida
(Education)
Education None listed
Rep.
M ia
Carson
(1996)
10t h (IN -
Indianapolis)
Banking &
Financial
Services,
Veteran’s
Affairs
H.S. Human
Resources/
Entrepreneur/
Political
Staff/State
Legislator
None listed
Rep.
Eva
Clayton
(1992)
1st (N C -
Greenville,
Norlina)
Agriculture,
Budget
B.A.,
Johnson C.
Smith
University,
M.S.,
North
Carolina
Central
University
Entrepreneur/
County Board
of
Commissione
rs
Presbyterian
Church, Alpha
Kappa Alpha
Sorority, National
Campaign to
Prevent Teenage
Pregnancy
Rep.
Sheila
Jackson-
Lee
(1994)
18th (T X -
Houston)
Judiciary,
Science
B.A., Yale,
J.D.,
University
o f Virginia
Attomey/Jud
ge/ City
Councilmemb
er
None listed
Rep.
Stephanie
Tubbs
Jones
(1998)
1 l m (OH -
Cleveland)
Financial
Services,
Small
Business
B .A .&
J.D., Case
Western
Reserve
University
Attorney National Council of
Negro Women,
Taskforce on
Violent Crime,
Substance Abuse
Initiative, Delta
Sigma Theta
Sorority, Bethany
Baptist Church,
Community Re-
Entry Program
Rep
Eddie
Bernice
Johnson
(1992)
30th (T X -
Dallas,
Irving)
Transportation
&
Infrastructure,
Science
B.S., Texas
Christian
University,
MPA,
Southern
Methodist
University
Nurse/
Entrepreneur/
State
Legislator
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority
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Rep.
Carolyn
Cheeks
Kilpatrick
(1998)
15th (M I-
Detroit,
Hamtramck,
Grosse
Pointe)
Appropriations B.A., Ferris
State
University
& Western
Michigan
University,
M.A.
University
o f
Michigan
(Education)
Educator/
State
Legislator
None listed
Rep.
Barbara
Lee
(1998)
9th (C A -
Alameda,
Oakland,
Berkeley)
International
Relations,
Financial
Services
B.A., Mills
College,
MSW,
University
o f
California,
Berkeley
Non-
Profit/Politi
cal Staff
None listed
Rep.
Cynthia
McKinney
(1992)
4th (GA -
Decatur,
Stone
Mountain,
Lithonia)
Armed
Services,
International
Relations
B.A.,
University
o f Southern
California,
A.B.D.,
Tufts
University
Educator/
State
Legislator
None listed
Rep.
Carrie
Meek
(1992)
17m (FL —
Miami)
Appropriations B.A.,
Florida
A&M
University,
MPH,
University
of
Michigan
Educator/
College
Administra
tor/State
Legislator
Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, National
Council of Negro
Women, National
Association for the
Advancement of
Colored People,
National Organization
for Women
Rep.
Juanita
Millender-
McDonald
(1996)
37m (CA -
Carson,
Compton,
Long Beach,
Los
Angeles)
Transportation
&
Infrastructure,
Small
Business
B.S.,
University
o f
Redlands,
M.A.,
California
State
University,
Los
Angeles
(Education)
City
Council/
State
Legislator/
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Second
Baptist Church, Los
Angeles African
American Women’s
Political Action
Committee, National
Association for the
Advancement of
Colored People,
Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference, Harbor
College Foundation,
League o f African
American Women,
Young Advocates
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Rep.
Maxine
Waters
(1990)
35th (C A -
Los
Angeles)
Judiciary,
Financial
Services
B.A., California
State University,
Los Angeles
Non-Profit/
Political
Staff/ State
Legislator
Black
Women’s
Forum,
Community
Build,
TransAfrica,
Project Build
Rep.
Diane
Watson
(2001)
32n d (C A -
Los
Angeles)
International
Relations,
Government
Reform
B.A., University of
California, Los
Angeles, M. A ,
California State
University, Los
Angeles, Ph.D.,
Claremont Graduate
University
Educator/
Board of
Education/
State
Legislator
Alpha Kappa
Alpha
Sorority,
(Information compiled from Congressional Black Caucus Member Profiles, official House o f
Representatives Biographies and telephone interviews with congressional staff.)
fVi
This summary o f the 13 Black women who served in the 107 Congress begins to
demonstrate a linkage between activism and participation in electoral politics. Of
th
the 13 Black women in the 107 Congress, 7 listed active memberships in one or
more non-Congressional service, community and/or political organizations. This
indicates a linkage between Black women Members o f Congress and community
activists. Their continued involvement in these organizations after their election to
office is particularly telling. Organizational memberships point toward ways in
which Black women Members view their position as elected officials as extensions
of activist agendas. For Black women, the serving in elected office has generally
been a complement to her engagement in protest politics.
Black women elected officials maintain active memberships in racial, gender and
social justice organizations in greater numbers than elected officials from other
groups. While this listing is not comparative, Conyers and Wallace affirm that
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historically Black women representatives have maintained active memberships in
more organizations than representatives from any other group. This factor is often
key in their electoral success since as candidates Black women are less likely to
receive party support (Conyers and Wallace 1976, 120-122).
Systematic Exclusions and Representative Responses —
Once elected to office. Black women often feel constrained by the traditional roles
of elected officials. Because of the system of majority rule within the legislative
branch itself, Black women are pushed to form coalitions with others whose
interests might sometimes conflict with their own; therefore the question is raised
about the degree to which they can be effective in authentically representing their
constituencies.
Kweisi Mfume draws attention to the challenges that often befall elected officials
who come from an activist tradition through his own experiences in office. While
it is often initially a commitment to activism that prompts the run for office,
elected officials who “go against the grain” often experience diminished
productivity (Mfume 1996, 257). The point Mfume makes is that the legislative
system itself is one of majority rule where unpopular positions, ones that seek to
fundamentally challenge the existing power system, are rendered virtually
impotent by the majority. Mfume uses this to demonstrate the necessity for
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activist elected officials to take less aggressive positions and assimilate into the
mainstream where at least minimal progress can be made.
Mfume’s core assertion that even the most activist of elected officials should move
towards moderacy in order to make minimal gains, leaves progressives and
radicals searching for alternative ways to challenge the system. Nonetheless, his
work does an outstanding job in illustrating the unwillingness of the system to
change itself solely through “inside participation.” This does not mean that Black
elected officials are unnecessary despite the stagnation of the political system
itself. As Mfume notes, moderate gains might be made in the policy-making
sphere. I assert that it also means that there are contributions that Black elected
officials offer which lie outside of their legislative voting function, namely, public
education and agenda setting. In fact, Mfume also notes the significance of
legislators’ roles as public educators by highlighting the power that they have to
shape public opinion which can spark movements leading to social change (197).
Black women elected officials generally feel unincorporated into the realm of
electoral politics. In her article “African American Women State Legislators and
the Politics of Legislative Incorporation,” Wendy Smooth argues that Black
women state legislators largely feel unincorporated into the broader political
system. In her survey, personal feelings of incorporation among Black women
legislators are weighed against 1) the positions of leadership that they might hold,
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2) level of seniority, 3) legislative activity, 4) committee assignments, 5)
geographic region, and 6) the number of Black women serving with them (Smooth
2002). Although each of these measures is typically thought of as encouraging
incorporation among elected officials, these standards were not found to have
played a role in spurring the incorporation of Black women legislators.
Three of the variables resulted in particularly striking findings regarding feelings
of incorporation: 1) positions of leadership, 2) levels of seniority, and 3)
legislative activity. Positive positions on these three factors, it is thought, are most
likely to encourage feelings of incorporation. However, with leadership positions,
there is a neutral response and with both seniority and activity, there is actually a
negative relationship. Black women in leadership positions within the legislature
did not seem to feel any more incorporated than those who did not hold such
positions. With increased seniority came even stronger feelings of exclusion1 4 as
opposed to the feelings of greater inclusion experienced that comes with seniority
among the general population of legislators. Similarly, those Black women
legislators who pushed forward large numbers of bills and were successful in
getting their legislation past also reported greater feelings of exclusion. “The more
active they are, the more likely they are to express feelings of exclusion” (13).
Based on Smooth’s work, it appears that the more Black women legislators work
to become incorporated into the traditional political system, the more striking their
1 4 This is, of course contrary to the general trend of seniority generating feelings of
increased inclusion and came contrary to the researcher’s expectations.
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exclusion becomes. Reasons for this might point back to Guinier’s and Mfume’s
assertions that the current political system is rigid in its refusal to incorporate
“outside” voices. While this exclusion is not often blatantly stated, the institutions
themselves are structured in such a way that non-majority perspectives are
silenced. In Guinier’s legal analysis, she demonstrates how the system of majority
rule in legislative voting perpetuates the rule of a stagnant majority. Through his
personal experiences, Mfume illustrates how for non-mainstream thinkers, this
system forces them to water-down their perspectives in order to build coalitions
and serve as effective legislators.
While Smooth does not delve into the underlying reasons behind Black women
legislators’ feelings of exclusion, it can be theorized that with seniority and
legislative activism also comes a more clear view of the systems rigidity and
refusal to bring Black women and other marginalized groups into the center,
whereby breeding disillusionment with the entire structure.
How Black Women Represent —
This chapter has argued that Black women’s positions inform ideology and
ideology compels action. With action being the final outcome of positionality and
ideology. Black women representatives ought to manifest leadership in forms that
are different from the ways in which representatives from other groups lead. It is
often because of their exclusion from mainstream supports as well as conscious or
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unconscious commitments to self-defined leadership that Black women in elected
office represent their constituencies through a range of forms that include
legislative votes, bill introduction, bill amendments, agenda setting, public
education, as well as a range of less formal methods. By maintaining
memberships and linkages with African-American progressive organizations,
women’s groups, and Black women’s groups. Black women elected officials
provide a link between their constituencies in a way that representatives from other
groups often do not. Black women representatives often carry the activist model
of leadership with them into their elected posts.
This carry-over of the activist tradition into electoral politics is clearly
demonstrated by Shirley Chisolm in her essay “Women Must Rebel” (1970).
Chisolm maintains that women must engage in the women’s liberation movement
and seek to free themselves from their own dependency on men. When women
depend on men for their freedom, they “buy-in” to their own oppression; it
constitutes tacit agreement. She further argues that gender is a virtual caste system
and that the only way for women to become free is to rebel.
The law cannot do it for us, we must do it for ourselves. Women in this
country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old
traditional roles and stereotypes... .We must reject not only the stereotypes
that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes we hold of ourselves
(Chisolm 1970, 211).
She goes on to explicitly state that such a “revolution” will occur through the
building of self-defined, self-determining concepts and values among women. She
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concludes by noting that there are countless lessons to be learned from
involvements in broader social movements. Women have been the backbones of
political organizations, but their positions have been largely supportive rather than
leadership ones (i.e. as campaign workers as opposed to candidates). She
challenges women to move out from these positions, taking many valuable lessons
with them and becoming their own leaders.
This idea of taking the lessons from what Chisolm refers to as “supportive” roles is
key in the linkage between grassroots organizing and the holding of formal
political office among Black women. While positions in recognized political
organizations are often deemed to be “supportive” in nature, they might also be
thought of as part of the collective approach to organizing advocated by Black
women’s self-defined political leadership model. This is not to say that women
held positions in the background solely because of their commitment to group-
centered leadership. Many of their organizations in which they were involved had
men in formal leadership positions, undermining the concept of authentic groups-
centered leadership. Nonetheless, from their “supportive” positions. Black women
often moved their self-defined leadership principles forward. Furthermore,
involvement in political organizations provided them with exposure to key issues
related to power and policy as well as providing them with skill sets that might be
used to move more progressive agendas forward through independent
organizations, informal collective organizing and as elected officials, whereby
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encouraging an approach to leadership that sought to balance outside agitation
(through activism and grassroots organizing) with inside participation (through
electoral politics, including serving as elected and appointed officials).
While there is a virtual absence of work which sufficiently links electoral politics
to outside advocacy and agitation forms for Black women, Paule Cruz Takash
provides compelling research on this linkage for Latinas which may be extended
and applied to Black women as well. Takash maintains that when defining politics
we must look beyond electoral politics. When we close our definition by
acknowledging only traditional forms, we ignore the engagements of many groups,
especially women of color. Instead, our definition of politics must encompass all
of those activities that work to bring about changes in power allocation and power
systems. She goes on to state that Latinas define political participation in a way
that is more inclusive of their own activist tradition.
Building from this redefinition of politics, Takash contends that community
activism stimulates electoral involvement among Latinas. Furthermore, once
engaged in electoral politics, this activist tradition is likely to carryover, where the
emphases of elected representatives are more likely to be ones that push for
fundamental changes in power structure as opposed to simple access to the
existing system (Takash 1997).
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Authentic representation of Black women means not only the election of
descriptive representatives to office, but that those representatives advance the
interests of the collective. Given the restraints of the inside participation method
of political engagement - where representative behavior and electoral politics
more generally is restricted, there must be a strategy among authentic
representatives that seeks to merge inside participation with outside agitation.
This requires a group-centered approach to leadership where elected officials are
but one actor in a movement toward collective empowerment. For many Black
women representatives this group-centered approach is evidenced by continued
involvements in service, community and political organizations that lie outside of
their responsibilities as elected officials. Commitment to such organizations has
been central to their own political success as well as their effectiveness in office.
Chapter Summary
For Black women, substantive political representation requires the election of
authentic Black women representatives who “look like” the group that they are
there to represent1 5 , privileging them with the particular positionality of their
constituency - or at least enabling to see the world through the lens utilized by
“the least among them.”1 6 Flowever, the election of descriptive representatives
1 5 This descriptive element means that authentic representatives of Black women
constituents must be Black women themselves.
1 6 While Black women representatives undoubtedly represent a broader group,
Black womanhood constitutes “the lowest common denominator” in that she is
disadvantaged by multiple axes of oppression.
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alone is not enough. Authentic representation requires that elected representatives
are also committed to advancing the collective interests of Black women, as well
as the whole of Black people, women and disadvantaged groups in general.
The descriptive element of representation allows Black women representatives to
hold a particular positionality. Their racial and gender realities enables them to
engage in politics from an alternative perspective. They are women. Black, and
Black women. This positionality informs ideology - women make more reliable
feminists and people of color are more likely to adopt anti-racist agendas. In turn,
ideology compels action - authentic representatives participate in political
behaviors that represent their adopted ideology. For Black women representatives,
this is most clearly seen through agenda-setting and public education, but is also
evident in their legislative voting patterns. In essence, the election of Black
women representatives who are committed to advancing the collective interests of
Black women, as well as the whole of their racial and gender groups, puts the
theory of Black women’s self-defined leadership into action.
In carrying this leadership model forward, authentic Black women representatives
engage in multiple forms of political participation. This leadership model requires
a relationship between inside participation or traditional methods and outside
agitation methods or more non-traditional forms of political participation. While
traditional measures of participation establish people of color, working class, and
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other disadvantaged groups as being less likely to participate in politics, there is
actually a higher propensity among people of color in general and Black women in
particular to participate in alternative forms - particularly those that are linked
with religious organizations.
Because inside participation methods often leave Black women feeling isolated
and locked out of the system or, at least, limited in the degree to which they can
make a difference (limited to moderate reform as opposed to radical
transformation). Black women often adopt a strategy that combines traditional
methods with less traditional ones. For many Black women legislators this has
meant that their political activism takes the form of membership in political
organizations, grassroots organizing and participation in protest politics as well as
in their legislative voting records.
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CHAPTER 5 - REFERENCES
Barker, Lucius J. and Mack H. Jones. 1994. African Americans and the American
Political System. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hill.
Chisolm, Shirley. 1970. “Women Must Rebel.” In Voices of the New Feminism.
Edited by Mary Lou Thompson. Boston: Beacon Press.
Conyers, John E. and Walter L. Wallace. 1976. Black Elected Officials: A Study of
Black Americans Holding Governmental Offices. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
Darcy, R. Susan Welch and Janet Clark. 1987. Women Elections and
Representation. New York. Longman.
Githens, Marianne and Jewel Prestage. 1977. A Portrait ofMarginality: The
Political Behavior of American Women. New York: David McKay
Company.
Guinier, Lani. 1994. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in
Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.
Hull, Gloria T., Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith, eds. 1982. All the Women
Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. New York:
The City University of New York Press.
Jennings, James. 1992. The Politics of Black Empowerment: The Transformation
of Black Activism in Urban America. Detroit: Wayne State University
Press.
Mfume, Kweisi. 1996. No Free Ride New York: One World.
Pitkin, Hannah. 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender and Legislative
Behavior in Arizona and California, Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.
Sapiro, Virginia. 1981. “Research Frontier Essay : When Are Interests Interesting?
The Problem of Political Representation of Women.” American Political
Science Review 75 no. 3 : 701-716.
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Smooth, Wendy. 2002. “African American Women State Legislators and the
Politics of Legislative Incorporation.” Presented at the 2002 Annual
Meeting of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Atlanta.
Swain, Carol. 1995. Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African
Americans in Congress. Enlarged edition. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
Takash, Paule Cruz. 1997. “Breaking Barriers to Representation Chicana/Latina
Elected Officials in California.” In Women Transforming Politics: An
Alternative Reader. Edited by Cathy Cohen, Kathleen B. Jones and Joan C.
Tronto. New York: New York University Press.
Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman and Henry E. Brady. 1995. Voice and
Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
Walker, David O. 1934. “Legislative Notes and Reviews. Proposals for Federal
Anti-Lynching Legislation.” American Political Science Review 28 no. 3.
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CHAPTER 6 -
A P r o f i l e o f B l a c k W o m e n E l e c t e d O f f i c i a l s i n Ca l i f o r n i a :
B a c k g r o u n d , Id e o l o g y . P o s i t i o n a l i t y a n d R e c r u i t m e n t
At its core, a multi-axis/Black feminist/womanist approach, seeks to combine
theory with practice. The development, analysis and refinement of theory are
central to what drives, not only research, but a movement to enfranchise
disadvantaged groups. Only through this continuous process of theoretical
development and analysis can the driving force of a movement be solidified and
will that movement be enduring. Previous chapters sought to engage in the
process of theoretical development and analysis and ultimately serve as a catalyst
to move the body of scholarship centering around women of color forward. This
chapter seeks to move beyond theory by employing the theoretical models
introduced earlier in a practical sense. This chapter asks to what degree Black
women actually draw from the model of self-defined leadership; it offers examples
of authentic leadership as practiced by Black women elected officials and
highlights ways in which Black women leaders continue the tradition of combining
strategies of inside participation with outside agitation.
Data Set
This chapter is based upon survey data, biographical data and personal interviews
with Black women who currently serve in elected office in California.
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Black Women in Elected Office: 2002 California Survey
"Black Women in Elected Office (BWEO): 2002 California Survey” was mailed
to the 3? Black women who were identified as current elected office-holders in
April 2002.1 The survey resulted in a total return of 16, a response rate of 43%.
Despite the relatively high rate of return, given the very small total number, the
sample pool is too small for any sort of meaningful statistical analysis. Therefore,
for the purposes of this research, survey responses will be used to identify trends
among Black women elected officials by offering simple percentage analyses.
Personal Interviews -
To supplement the trends identified through survey research, offering explanation
to many responses, personal interviews were also conducted.2 Interviews were
requested with the five Black women from California who have served or
currently serve as Members of U. S. Congress: Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke,3
1 Subjects were identified by sorting the 2002 Roster of California Black Elected Officials by
gender.1 The Roster was then cross-checked with the Secretary of State’s office and City Ethics
Commissions. Each subject was contacted by telephone and/or electronic mail prior to the first
survey mailing to alert them of the study. First mailings of the survey were sent in June 2002.
Telephone calls were made to all recipients two days after first mailing to encourage their reply.
Of the 40 subjects initially identified, two were no longer serving in that elected post and were
replaced by an elected official who was not a Black woman and one identified subject was serving
in an appointed rather than an elected position. This brings the total number of Black women
serving in elected office in the State of California at the time of the survey mailing down to 37.
There was an initial return of 12, a response rate of 32%. A second mailing was done in June 2002
to those subjects who had not yet replied, which resulted in four additional responses. See
Appendix A for survey.
2 See Appendix B for interview questionnaire.
3 Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was first elected to U.S. Congress in 1973, becoming the first Black
women from the West to serve in Congress. Since 1992 she has served as Los Angeles County
Supervisor for the Second District, also an elected post (Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
2003).
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Barbara Lee,4 Juanita Millinder-McDonald,5 Maxine Waters,6 and Diane Watson.7
Interviews were scheduled with two of the five women: Yvonne Brathwaite-
Burke and Diane Watson.8 Interviews with both Supervisor Brathwaite-Burke and
Congressmember Watson were conducted in June 2002 and were approximately
90 minutes in duration.9 While it would have undoubtedly provided a fuller view
had interviews with all five women been granted, what is interesting about the two
women who did participate is that Brathwaite-Burke is the first Black women from
4 Barbara Lee represents the 9th Congressional District in the U. S. House o f Representatives. Her
district encompasses parts of Oakland and Berkeley, California. In 2001 her lone no vote on H.R
Bill 64, the U.S. Patriot Aet, won her wide recognition as one of the most politically progressive
Members of Congress (U.S. House of Representatives 2003).
5 Congresswoman Millinder-MeDenald was elected in 1996 in a special election to replace ousted
Congressman Walter Tucker. Her district includes Compton, California and parts of South Los
Angeles (U.S. House of Representatives 2003).
6 Widely heralded as one of the most outspoken Members of Congress, Maxine Waters represents
die 35th Congressional District, which includes South Los Angeles and Inglewood, California. She
was first elected in 1990 after serving in tire California State Assembly and gained national
attention for her ability to bring to light the conditions faced by district residents winch contributed
to tire rebellion following tire verdict in the Rodney King ease in 1992 (U.S. House of
Representatives 2003).
7 Tire most recent Black women to be elected to Congress from tire State of California, Diane
Watson was elected in 2001 in a special election to replace Representative Julian Dixon who died
in office. Watson’s 33r d Congressional District (32n d prior to redistrieting), encompassing parts of
Central Los Angeles, West Los Angeles and Culver City, Iras been identified tire most racially and
ethnically diverse district in Congress (U.S. House of Representatives 2003).
8 Barbara Lee’s staff refused to grant tire interview or participate in this research in any way. This
refusal came after her initial personal commitment to participate. While a refusal never came
directly from the Congressmember, attempts were made to schedule tire interview with four
different members of her staff, including her Chief of Staff each of who either flatly refused or
neglected to return telephone calls or electronic mail messages. Her district director advised that
Congressmember Lee routinely rejected invitations to participate hr scholarly research and that airy
information that was to be made available would be a part of public record that tire researcher could
access him or herself. Both the staffs of Juanita Millender-McDonald and Maxine Waters were
initially receptive to the idea of scheduling such air interview and indicated that tire Representatives
would be willing to participate. However, despite 14 follow-up attempts with Maxine Waters’ staff
and 19 follow-up attempts with Juanita Millender-MeDonald’s staff, interviews were never
scheduled.
Requests were made to each Congressional office by letter. The first mailing was preceded with
a telephone call to alert staff of the request; follow-up calls were made two days later to confirm
receipt and identify the appropriate staff contact. Once a contact person was identified, a second
letter was mailed along with proposed interview questions. This second mailing was also followed
by a telephone call.
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the state to be elected to Congress and Watson is the most recent. Interviews,
therefore, reveal a range of experiences by two women that span more than 30
years.
This qualitative approach to the research offers some explanation to survey
responses by allowing the subjects to define the topics of importance themselves
rather than having them imposed by the researcher. While every attempt was
made in this research to base survey and interview questions on core areas of
inquiry related to leadership and representation, those questions are ultimately
defined by the researcher’s own subjective point of view and driven by that
particular perspective. As asserted earlier, all realities are subjective. The myth of
the objective researcher is one that has been established by mainstream social
science in order to mask a subjective view that has largely been White, male,
middle-class, and generally privileged. Despite this leaning of most research to a
particular viewpoint, even non-White, non-male, non-middle-class researchers
carry their own particular perspectives and motivations into their projects. Black
feminist/womanist thought encourages us to embrace our own positionality and
speak from our personal perspectives. However, this is also a balancing act, as
subjects of our research also maintain the right to speak in their own voices.
Qualitative research through personal interviews offers an opportunity for subjects
to do jus that - speak in their own voices and self-define issues of importance to
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them. Where surveys limit responses to those that are predetermined by the
researcher, the open response format offered through the interview process offers
the subject greater control in the process. Furthermore, interviews can also serve
as a form of political storytelling.1 0 For people of color, this process of storytelling
has long been a source of empowerment for several reasons. First, it humanizes
our experiences; by speaking in our own voices, from our own perspective and
drawing from our own base of knowledge, we are empowered through interaction.
Rather than simply existing as a subject, we come to life in the eyes of the research
and ultimately in the eyes of the reader. This storytelling/interview process has
also been particularly important in researching people of color, and particularly
women of color. This form of research, which has a foundation of simple
conversation, is often much less intimidating and more accessible to groups that
might feel alienated from other, more heavily structured forms. For Black women,
especially, there has been a certain power in the tradition of storytelling - a
tradition upon which the interview process is based.
General Limitations -
In addition to the small number of the total population of Black women in elected
office and as a result, the small sample size upon which this research is based,
there are several other limitations to this project. First, and perhaps most
obviously, the research is confined to California. While the overall size and
!° Richard Delgado elaborates on the importance of this tradition of storytelling - especially for
communities of color in his discussion of “legal storytelling” which allows for the expression of the
“unique voice of color” (Delgado and Stefancic 2001).
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population of the state allows for a greater number of participants than most other
states, there are undoubtedly some differences in the experiences and perspectives
of respondents based on the region that they represent and the inherent culture of
that region. Second, this research is non-comparative. While surveys seek to
identify general trends among Black women elected officials, it is unclear how
such trends might compare to other groups, including Black men, White women,
White men and other people of color.1 1 Finally, and perhaps most significantly,
while this research surveys Black women in elected posts at all levels, local
through federal, there is currently a complete absence of Black women
representatives in California at the state level.1 2 Thus, a key level of government
and corresponding experiences is missing from the discussion.
PERSONAL BACKGROUND
Black Women in Elected Office (BWEO): 2002 California Survey is organized in
three sections. The first, the personal background section, serves to identify
1 1 It might be especially interesting to compare Black women in elected office with other women of
color, enabling us to gauge the degree to which the multi-axis framework practically applies to all
women of color. Such a comparison serves as a viable question for future research.
1 2 A total of eight Black women have served in the California State Legislature, with Yvonne
Brathwaite Burke being the first elected in 1966 (Assembly 1966-1972). Additional Black women
who served in the state legislature are Teresa Hughes (Assembly 1975-1992 and State Senate 1992-
1998), Congressmember Maxine Waters (Assembly 1976-1990), Gwen Moore (Assembly 1978-
1994), Congressmember Diane Watson (State Senate 1978-1998), Marguerite Archie-Hudson
(Assembly 1990-1996), Congressmember Barbara Lee (Assembly 1990-1996 and State Senate
1996-1997), and Congressmember Juanita Millender-McDonald (Assembly 1992-1996). Teresa
Hughes and Diane Watson were the last Black women to serve in the California State Legislature.
Both state senators’ terms ended in 1998 and they were barred from running for re-election because
of term limits; Senator Hughes was replaced by Edward Vincent and Senator Watson’s seat was
won by Kevin Murray, both Black mem Since that time, no Black women have entered the race for
a seat on the legislature for either of the major two parties (Martin 2001, California Legislative
Black Caucus 2003).
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particular traits of Black women in elected office. This section includes largely
demographic information, including age, marital status, number of children,
income level, and prior occupation. Respondents were also asked to list the
primary occupations of their parents as an additional determinant of social class.
The survey also gathers organizational affiliations from respondents which are
used to further identify linkages with outside, non-Congressional organizations, to
determine the validity of the inside participation/outside agitation model discussed
in the previous chapter.
Education —
Respondents were asked to identify the levels of education that they completed.
The chart below lists the highest level of education completed. For those
respondents who listed several levels of degree completion, the highest degree is
represented.1 3
For example, if a respondent completed both a Bachelor’s degree and a Juris Doctorate, only the
J.D. is included on the chart (under “Professional Degree”).
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Ch a r t 6-1
Highest Education Level
Doctorate
13%
For the plurality of respondents, 37%, the highest degree attained was the
baccalaureate degree. There was a relatively even distribution among those whose
highest degree was high-school diploma (12%), Master’s degree (13%), doctorate
(13%), and professional degree (13%). An additional 6% of respondents had
earned “other advanced degrees” (post-baccalaureate). If we were to combine the
post-baccalaureate category, the number, totaling all advanced degrees, the
number would actually exceed the baccalaureate category with 45% of
respondents having earned advanced degrees. This means that 82% of survey
respondents have earned a minimum of a four-year degree. 6% of respondents
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indicated that the highest degree earned was an Associate’s degree, with an
additional 6% earning an Associate’s degree prior to receiving their Bachelor’s,
indicating that community colleges may play a role in the education of Black
women elected officials.
Such rates of education far exceed those of the general population of all people,
regardless of race and gender1 4 and even surpass the educational backgrounds of
most elected officials. While most survey respondents serve at local levels of
government and there is little comparative data available on the educational
backgrounds of local elected officials, Katherine Tate affirms that overall
education rates are generally consistent with those of Black women Congressional
representatives, 90% of who have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree. Rates of
advanced degrees are even higher among Black women Congressmembers,
however, with 80% holding post-baccalaureate degrees.1 5 (Tate, 2003) This
number surpasses the 77.9% of all women Congressional members who hold a
four-year degree and is nearly double the 42.5% of all women with advanced
degrees. It is also higher than the 83.5% of all male Congressmembers who hold
baccalaureate degrees and 53% who completed post-baccalaureate programs,
indicating that Black women Representatives are generally much more educated
than either men or non-Black women. (Thomas, et. al., 1998, p. 180)
1 4 In 1990, only 13.3% of Black wom en, 13.9% of Black males , 25.9% of White women had, and
26.7% of White men had earned baccalaureate degrees (Seltzer, Newman and Leighton 1997,24).
With 86.3% of respondents earning baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degrees, BWEOs far
exceed the average educations of any race/gender group.
1 5 Master’s degree or higher. This indicates that among BWEOs who serve in Congress, education
is of even greater importance than among those who serve at local levels.
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Congressmember Watson explains the high rates of educational attainment among
BWEOs by asserting that for Black women in elected office there is a constant
skepticism through which they are viewed. Education serves as a sort of
confirmation of merit. Consistent with this line of reasoning is the finding that the
more localized the elected office, the more closely the educational backgrounds of
respondents resemble that of the general population. It is logical that those who
serve at higher levels of government might also have to shield themselves from a
greater degree of skepticism. The full 18% of respondents whose highest degree
earned is either a high school diploma or Associate’s degree serve at local levels of
government.
Perhaps even more striking than the high levels of baccalaureate and post
baccalaureate degrees earned by Black women in elected office are the types of
degrees earned. A full 25% of respondents earned their degrees in Education, a
greater percentage than for any other discipline. In addition to providing a
perspective that might encourage elected officials to view policy through a lens of
education - one that places student populations at the center of the discussion,
more tangibly, this background in education might also shape the way in which
Black women in elected office prioritize policies.1 6
While the degree to which this might be the case is unclear based on the listing of majors alone,
the assertion is further supported by Chart 6-2 which indicates that an even greater number of
respondents noted a career background in education.
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The focus on education is consistent with the value that Black people and
particularly Black women have placed on education throughout their history in the
United States. Education has been viewed by community and grassroots leaders
like Lugenia Hope (Rause 1987) and Dorothy Height (House Committee on
Education and Labor 1988) as the most viable avenue for Black empowerment.
Diane Watson affirms that education remains central to both collective and
individual uplift among African-Americans and has been a central to her own
professional and personal development “I have always placed great emphasis on
education. I’ve always been involved in education as both a student and an
educator. I have always been in school. Even once I received my Ph.D. I
continued to take classes.” She further confirms that “Education was the key
political issue that prompted my candidacy.” Watson’s first elected post was as a
member of the Los Angeles Board of Education. Further illustrating the profound
emphasis on education held by many Black women in elected office is the example
that Congressmember Watson provides - while advocating for better education for
students in urban schools, she was also writing her own doctoral dissertation,
actually earning her Ph.D. while in office (Watson 2002).
Previous Occupation —
Career backgrounds in education constitute 25% of all previous career paths for
respondents. However, this number is exceeded by those women whose previous
careers fall into the social service category; 30% of respondents have a
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background in social services. When we combine the education and social service
categories we find that a majority of women (55%) held careers in these areas
prior to their election to office. This is a significant departure from the traditional
career paths of White male political leaders who generally have career
backgrounds in law, followed by business (Amer 2001). In his survey of
legislative candidates, David Niven affirms that the great majority of candidates
(77%) have listed “lawyer” as their occupational background (Niven 1998, 54).
While not as overwhelming a percentage as among the general population of
representatives, amongst Black members of Congress law professions still account
for a significant percentage of career backgrounds, with 33% having previous
occupations as attorneys (Tate 2003, 38-39). In contrast BWEOs do not have such
a leaning towards this traditional career base; only 13% of survey respondents
indicated that they practiced law prior to their run for office. Of the 13% who had
previous occupations in the business, 50% worked in retail rather than corporate
positions.
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Ch a r t 6-2
Previous Occupation
Healthcare
CO /
i j IQ
Gcwernmenf;!;!!
13% B
0
gduiatM i'
25%
These occupational backgrounds, which are concentrated heavily in social services
and education, along with educational disciplines which correspond with these
career paths suggest that Black women who serve in elected office are likely to
view their positions differently than those who entered politics through more
traditional paths. Political positions and policy priorities are undoubtedly shaped
by the perspectives that these backgrounds offer.
A g e -
Ages of Black women in elected office are slightly older than other racial and
gender groups. Where the average age of Congressional Representatives in the
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107th Congress was 54 (Amer 2001), the average age among survey respondents is
56. They are also older than most women legislators. In his survey of women
legislators, David Niven finds that only 63% are age 50 or younger (as opposed to
40% of Black women). Of all the women surveyed in this study, the youngest was
46 and the oldest was 69. While the greatest number of respondents (40%) fell
into the 41 to 50 year old category.
Ch a r t 6-3
Age
70 and older
0%
30 and younger
0%
31 to 40
40%
33%
Although the literature indicates that this range of ages is only slightly older than
the general profiles, it is unexpected when we consider that the vast majority of
elected officials surveyed serve at the local and county levels, with only one
serving at the federal level. Like BWEOs, mainstream politicians tend to enter
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political office as local level officials; however, they tend to launch their political
careers at much younger ages (generally in their 30s or even younger). Among all
women state legislators, 67.5% served in a previous elected post and 37.5% held
two or more previous elected positions, indicating that their first run for office
occurred at younger ages (Dolan and Ford 1998, 80). In contrast, for many
BWEOs, their first run for office often occurs later in life (in their 40s or 50s).
The most obvious reason for this relatively late start relates to the
race/class/gender intersection. With more than 80% of respondents being mothers,
it might be inferred that women, and working class women in particular, enter
politics later in life because of their roles as the primary caretaker of their children.
This assumption is supported by the predominant literature on women in public
office which highlights common trends among women of all races (Van Ingen
2001, Thomas and Wilcox 1998, Seltzer, Newman and Leighton 1997, Saltzstein
1986). Among working class women of color, in particular, however the demands
of child-rearing are often even more profound since there are generally fewer
resources available for hired childcare providers.
Another possibility, however, might be the general dependence upon recruitment
vis-a-vis ambition in the initial decision to run for elected office. As indicated in
the section to follow on recruitment, the vast majority of Black women who serve
in office indicated that their initial decision to run for office was based on whether
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or not someone “asked” them to run. From there, it can be argued that one must
gain a certain degree of public recognition, largely through her profession and
public advocacy in order to warrant such a request. This recognition often requires
a track-record of sorts, which can take years to build whereby delaying the run for
office for many Black women until later in life.
Marital Status/Children —
The role that marital status plays in an individual’s decision to run for office and
their viability as a candidate remains unclear. However, campaign strategists
generally agree that married people with children tend to make better candidates
(Faucheaux 2002, Cramer 1993). For male candidates, it often makes them appear
more stable and reliable. There is limited research that suggests that married
candidates also receive tangible support from their spouses that unmarried people
do not receive. This support base contributes significantly to their chances as
political candidates. What has been researched much less is how marital status
impacts women in elected office. As demonstrated in the chart below, less than
half of the Black women in elected office who responded indicated that they are
married (45%). However, the majority have been married at some point, with 62%
being either married, widowed or divorced. Still that leaves 38% of respondents
who have never been married. This a great departure from the traditional profile
of political candidates. “Men have been far more likely than women to be
married” (Seltzer, Newman and Leighton 1997, 25). However, even among
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women legislators, Black women are generally less likely to be married than
women of other racial backgrounds, with 72.4% of the general population of
women legislators married compared to 45% of Black women and 93.5% of
women legislators reporting having been married at some point in their lifetime
vis-a-vis 62% of Black women.
C h a r t 6-4
Marital Status
Divorced
Married?
1 43% s
While this research is not intended to serve as a comparative study, the difference
in rates of marriage between men and women in public office requires some
analysis. An immediate question might be the degree to which men and women
engage in household labor. The recent research of Pierrette Hongdagneau-Sotelo
asserts that where men generally benefit from marriage in terms of household
labor, with wives spending more time engaging in household labor and childcare
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than husbands, women do not receive the same benefits. In fact, married women
may actually “lose” in terms of time dedicated to household chores in that they
tend to engage in household labor more heavily when married than when single
(Hongdagneau-Sotelo 2002). Thus, where for men who run for office benefit from
the support given by their spouses, for women who run for public office spouses
represent an added responsibility.1 7
For Black women candidates marriage may serve as an even greater hindrance on
the road to elected office. The relationship between race and class, establishing
Black women as more likely to be poor or working class than White women and
falling at the lower ends of the class even within the same class category, means
that Black women are also more likely to work outside of the home. In fact, 100%
of respondents indicated that they worked outside the home prior to their run for
elected office. While in many cases, it was their presence in the workforce that
encouraged their runs for office, workplace responsibilities also bring additional
time restraints. Balancing candidacy, with career and family may prove to be too
great of a task for many women. Thus, for a significant minority of Black women
who serve in elected office, a single lifestyle might be more conducive to electoral
runs.
1 7 This is not to say that women do not benefit in other ways from marriage. In fact, women as
candidates often draw financial and volunteer support from the networks developed by their
husbands as well as their own. However, the disproportionate time spent on household labor by
married women might also have a negative impact and serve as one reason that there is such a great
number of Black women in elected office who have never been married.
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Similarly, children may also serve as an additional restraint on time and energy
resources. Where the majority of respondents are mothers, most have only one or
two children. In addition, when examining the number of children in the context
of age, most of the children are now adults and do not require nearly the same
amount of time or attention by their mothers, “freeing up” their mothers to engage
in electoral politics and ultimately become candidates for office.
Income —
Upon initial review it appears that BWEOs earn much higher incomes than the
constituencies that they represent. In fact, 40% of respondents fell into the highest
income category (with household incomes of $100,000 per year or higher) and a
full 83% of respondents had above average household incomes (listed as above
$41,000 per year).
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Ch a r t 6-5
A n n u a ) Household Income
$100K
40%
S41-60K
7%
$81K-100K
13%
What is unclear, however, is if these higher relative incomes are the result of
increases in pay based on their positions in public office. In other words, if we are
using income as an indicator for social class, did that income level result from their
positions as elected officials or was their income at these higher than average
levels prior to their election to office? One way to address this question is to
delineate the incomes of single respondents from those of married respondents
then compare with previous occupations. By performing such an analysis we can
more clearly determine whether higher income levels result from spousal income
and whether there is a significant difference between the reported income and the
average income for the listed profession.
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Ch a r t 6-6
Income Levels Among Unmarried R espondents
$100K+
25%
$61-80K
25%
As expected, the percentage of respondents falling into the lowest income level
increased significantly when we take the incomes of unmarried women alone.
However, this is largely because there is a single household income rather than
two. This can mean little in terms of overall social class since there are also fewer
family members dependent upon the reported income for support. Despite the
dependence upon a single wage earner, it is interesting that nearly 76% of
respondents reported incomes that remain above the California average, meaning
that there is little difference between the income levels of unmarried respondents
and married respondents (with 83% above the state average).
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The second part of this question, however, is whether or not these relatively high
income levels are a result of salaries earned as elected officials or if they are
consistent with the average salaries of previous careers.
C h a r t 6 -7
Professional Salary Averages Among Unmarried R espondents
$100K+
$81K-100K no.
$41K-60K
0 %
Based on average reported salaries, earnings of respondents prior to their election
to office are likely to be much lower than the income levels reported in the survey.
This indicates that income levels reported are higher based on increases in salary
earnings after election to office. The difference is particularly striking for those
who were educators prior to their election to office where the average salary in
California is just under $39,000 per year compared with the average salary for a
2 2 2
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local elected official at $77,000 - a near doubling in likely salary earnings
(California Employment Development Department 2001).
This means that while the reported household incomes of Black women in elected
office are far higher than the California average, incomes may not be the best
predictor of social class. Instead, we might use previous occupation as a more
accurate tool, placing the vast majority of respondents in working class to lower-
middle class categories. This categorization is further supported by reported
parents’ occupations. 75% of respondents were raised in households where both
parents worked, as is common among African-American households, though less
so in the 1940s, 50s and 60s - the period of childhood for more respondents. A
more interesting finding is that 73% of fathers’ occupations can be classified as
manual labor, with the remaining 27% as professional (with most working as
educators or ministers). Of the 81% of mothers who worked, 62% worked in
unskilled professions, with 23% employed as domestic workers. Elitist theory
argues that social class is determined not so much by income, but by socialization,
where financial status can be a sort of prerequisite for entrance into the higher
echelons of society, one must also be from the “right stock.” Thus, the financial
status, type of employment and overall community standing of parents is often a
much more accurate indicator of social class than income. Given that most
respondents grew up in households where both parents worked and that the
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dominant parental professions can be categorized as unskilled labor, we can infer
that the majority of the women surveyed are from working class backgrounds.
Organizational Membership
Included in socialization is organizational membership. What sorts of resources
and networks do respondents draw from? Respondent were asked to list
organizational memberships that were not a part of their role as elected officials.
Participation in organizations has implications in three areas: 1)
socialization/network development, 2) recruitment/candidate support, and 3)
outreach/community linkages.
In terms of socialization and network development, organizational membership
encourages the development of networks which often become the base for political
support to candidates. In their interviews, both Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke and
Diane Watson cited the support received from their sorority as a whole along with
additional support given by individual members.1 8 Social organizations and
churches also served as key elements in their campaign success. Watson notes that
while many organizations are limited in their ability to offer formal candidate
endorsements, churches and Black Greek-letter organizations were particularly
helpful in providing access to members, many of whom became campaign
volunteers, contributors, and formed the voter base needed for electoral victory.
1 8 Both women, are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the oldest Blaek sorority
founded in 1908. Representative Millender-McDonald is also a member.
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Organizational membership and involvement also often serves as an initial
introduction to formal processes for members. For Black women especially,
membership in service, religious and social organizations has historically served to
both politicize the group and offer opportunities to gain additional organizing and
advocacy experience.1 9 In addition to serving as an introduction to and training
ground for political participation, organizations often serve as grounds for
candidate recruitment and support. It is often from within Black women’s
organizations, churches, professional associations and community organizations
that candidates are initially asked to run for office. In addition, members often
serve as volunteers for the political campaigns of fellow members, gaining
additional experience in the realm of political campaigning. Finally, organizations
enable elected officials to remain connected with the policy preferences of
particular segments of the community and their constituencies more broadly.
Through memberships, elected officials often appear more accessible to their
constituents and, as a result, are often made more aware of community interests
and concerns. Membership, in this sense enables group-centered leadership to
exist in a tangible form.
1 9 Examples of this are made in Chapter 4 whieh highlights the roles that the Black ehureh played
in encouraging Black women journalists and providing them with their initial formal writing
experiences. The Black women’s club movement served as an additional outlet for organizing and
activism.
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Ch art 6-8
Organizational Memberships
C hurch C B O S o ro rity P rof
Based on survey responses, organizational membership has been identified as
being of key importance to Black women in elected office. In fact, 100% of
respondents reported memberships in one or more organizations, with the highest
single organizational category being church affiliation, with 94% of respondents
reporting membership. This high rate of church membership is no great departure
from the overall numbers within the Black community. Verba, Schlozman and
Brady (2000) noted that African-Americans engage in religious activities that
exceed that of any other community. Furthermore, which Black male political
leaders are much more likely to have recognizable leadership positions in the
church (White, 1994), Black women make up the great majority of church
membership (Canon, 1996). Thus, the number of respondents that indicated
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church membership as a part of organizational affiliation is consistent with
membership rates within the broader community of Black women.
The number of respondents who reported membership in Community Based
Organizations is, perhaps, the most striking point of this section. 88% of
respondents reported membership in such organizations which indicates a strong
linkage between Black women as political representatives and grassroots
organizers. This serves as a key indicator of the commitment to group-centered
leadership and collective empowerment among Black women in elected office.
Overall, strong organizational ties might encourage candidate recruitment,
contribute to the development of candidate skill sets, establish candidate support
bases and further support network development among Black women. Black
women maintaining active memberships in non-political organizations at such
great numbers indicates a strong connection between Black women who serve in
elected office and the broader community.
Section Summary —
In short, Black women who serve in elected office tend to come from working-
class family backgrounds that are very similar to that of the general population of
Black women. While their social class generally moves toward middle class status
later in life based on skilled professional paths largely in the areas of education
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and social services, their actual income levels remain at levels that are in line with
the averages among the greater population. Current reported incomes are much
higher among married respondents and among all respondents once elected to
office, indicating two things 1) Black women in elected office who marry
generally have spouses whose earnings afford them middle-class to upper-class
lifestyles and 2) respondent earnings increase once elected to office. Despite the
elevated class status that comes with marriage, however, a great number of
respondents reported never being married. This data might suggest that marriage,
while undoubtedly bringing some benefit to married respondents, is also an
additional responsibility that might detract from the time and energy commitment
required to be a viable political candidate. It is this time and energy commitment
which might also be a reason that many Black women wait to run for elected
office. The average age of respondents was 56 and the youngest respondent was
46. I assert that there are two significant motivators behind this delay in running
for public office. First, because women often bear the primary responsibility for
child-rearing, women who run for public office wait to run until their children
have reached adulthood. (The majority of respondents have children, with an
average of two children each.) An additional reason, which ties in well with the
following section on political backgrounds is related to the leaning among Black
women candidates toward a recruitment rather than an ambition model. Because
Black women generally wait to be asked to run for office and most come from
non-political career paths, a public reputation must be established in order to gain
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the trust of the community and encourage community members to recruit Black
women as candidates for office. This ties in well with the final finding of the
previous section which indicates that Black women maintain strong organizational
ties. In fact, 100% of respondents identified memberships in religious,
community-based, and/or professional organizations. It is these organizational ties
that often serve as a ground for candidate recruitment and a base of support for
Black women candidates once they decide to run for public office.
Political Background and Identity
Where the previous section served as an overview of the personal backgrounds of
respondents, the following section serves as a summary of their political
backgrounds and identities. The section is divided into four sub-sections. First, a
general overview of respondent political backgrounds, including levels of office
and prior political experience. The second area is a discussion of political
ideology and ways in which respondents categorize themselves on an ideological
continuum. The third discussion area is a summary of leadership styles. This
section draws heavily from the theoretical models introduced in Chapter Four.
The final area works to delineate campaign strategies utilized by respondents.
This section is useful in offering more tangible examples of the inside
p articip ation /ou tsid e agitation m o d el introduced in Chapter F iv e and how such a
model has benefited Black women candidates.
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Political Background -
As noted in the personal background section, respondents generally fell into older
age categories, with many of them waiting to run for political office until after they
had built strong professional reputations and their children reached adulthood.
Given this, although Black women in elected office are generally older than most
new office-holders, age does not indicate long careers in public office. In fact, the
average total time in governmental office for respondents is only five years, with
50% of respondents indicating that their current office is their first elected
position. Of those who had previously served in elected office, 50% began their
careers as elected officials as members of local school boards. This translates into
a great majority of respondents who serve in local levels of government.
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Ch a r t 6-9
Current Qoyernment Level
Federal
0 0 / ~ 1
State
County
38%
A majority of respondents, 56%, serve as city or municipal level representatives,
with an additional 38% serving on the county level. This means that 94% of
respondents serve at local levels, rather than state or federal. Despite the fact that
100% of the African- American Congressional Representatives from California are
women, federal level elected officials made up only 6% of respondents, this
relatively low number is undoubtedly because there are far fewer federal posts, but
also because there are only four African-American Representatives from
California currently serving in office.2 0 The most disturbing number of all,
An even more astounding figure is that of a total number of 535 elected posts at the federal level
(435 in the House of Representatives and 100 in the Senate), there are only 10 Black women (all in
the House of Representatives), a number that is at less than 2% of the whole and far below the
proportion that Black women represent of the total population (which is currently at approximately
6% (U.S. Census 2000). This means that while the number of respondents who hold federal level
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however, is the complete absence of Black women representatives at the state
level. There are currently no Black women who serve in the California state
legislature.2 1 In fact, the last Black women to serve in the California legislature
were State Senator Teresa Hughes and State Senator Diane Watson,2 2 both barred
from seeking reelection because of term limits in 1998.
Political Ideology -
While a significant amount of research has been done to establish party leanings of
Blacks and women, establishing both as more firmly committed to the Democratic
party than Whites or men and some limited research has even established Black
women as more active in the Democratic party at the local and baseline levels than
Black men, little work has been done to establish the political ideologies of group
members. At a time when there is a growing question related to party
identification - challenging commonly held beliefs of what it means to be a
Democrat as opposed to a Republican,2 3 ideological classifications can serve as
better assessment tools than simple party identification. With 100% of Black
women in the state who hold elected office and specify political party belonging to
the Democratic party, it can be generally assumed that respondents would be
unlikely to identify with staunchly conservative perspectives. Therefore,
posts is low, Black women federal level representatives from California constitute 40% o f the total
number of Black women who serve at the federal level.
2 1 This is despite the fact that 30% of the California legislature are women (CAWP 2003) and 6
legislators are African-American.
2 2 Now a member of Congress.
2 3 Ralph Nader asserts that both the Republican and Democratic parties have an interest in
maintaining a two-party system that protects the interests of the political and economic elite rather
than moving forward agendas that can bring about mass empowerment (Nader 2002).
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respondents were asked to position their political ideology on a five point scale
ranging from “radical” on the left to “conservative” on the right - a scale that
places a “liberal” identification rather than a “moderate” one at the center.
Ch a r t 6-10
Political Ideology
Conservative
0%
_ Radical
Progressive
44%
Liberal
25%
While a significant number of respondents (31%) identified themselves as
moderate, a far greater number positioned themselves to the left of liberal, as
progressives (44%). In fact, those who identified themselves as progressive
con stituted the plurality - e x ceed in g th e num ber o f BWEOs who felt that a
“liberal” ideology best defined their belief system. A full 69% of survey
respondents identified themselves as either liberal or progressive, this compares
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Moderate
31%
with 24% among all women legislators who identify as either liberal or “very
liberal” (Niven 1998).
Although none of the women surveyed identified themselves as radical, this may
have less to do with actual ideological positioning than it has to do with the
implications that radical ideologies carry. Where radicalism in its truest sense
simply dictates an approach that favors transformation rather than simple reform,
subversive activities are often ascribed to those who adopt radicalism as their
political ideology. In addition, because respondents serve as members of the
current system through their elected posts, they might be less likely to adopt an
ideology that seeks to fundamentally transform the system that they are also a part
of as it can also be a perceived threat to any power that they might hold. Thus,
most women are more likely to hold up a banner of progressivism - an approach
that seeks to combine inside participation with outside agitation - rather than
radicalism. Nonetheless, there remains a heavy leftist leaning among respondents,
further illustrating the Black women’s self-defined leadership model which moves
away from more centrist models.
Given the more leftist ideological perspective, an immediate follow-up question
would be how this political ideology manifests more tangibly. While previous
studies on the political representation of women (Reingold 2000) and the political
representation of African Americans (Swain 1995 and Whitby 1997) focuses
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0 4 • •
almost exclusively on legislative voting patterns, it is my assertion that
legislative voting is restrictive in that it allows only one of two outcomes - either
the passage of the proposed legislation or the bill’s rejection. Therefore,
legislative voting alone is not a sufficient indicator of ideology because it
disallows a full range of options. Alternate methods of advancing ideological
perspectives might include the shaping of political discussion among elected
officials, public education efforts (the offering of information and perspectives to
actual and virtual constituencies) and involvements with community and
grassroots organizations as well as legislative voting patterns and bill
authorship/sponsorship.
2 4 This focus on legislative voting is with the great exception of Kenny Whitby’s discussion of bill
amendments and agenda setting. (Whitby, 1997)
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Ch art 6-11
Ideology and A ssociated Actions
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Interestingly, the two methods of representation most heavily studied, bill
sponsorship and legislative voting, were the forms that Black women cited least
often in expressing their political ideologies. Most important to the expression of
their belief system was community involvement, including activism in grassroots
organizations, with 50% of respondents highlighting such activities as the best
reflection of their political ideologies. This mode was closely followed by public
education, including the holding of public forums and constituent/voter awareness
campaigns with nearly 44% of respondents noting this function’s significance.
The third method through which respondents expressed their political ideologies is
agenda setting or the shaping of discussion among colleagues, which garnered a
38% response rate. It is this informal function which enables the sharing of
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Bill Sponsorship Shaping Pol Disc Among Comm Involvement Leg Vtg
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diverse perspectives and can ultimately lead to coalition-building - an important
outcome for “minority” policymakers.
This does not mean that the most studied functions were insignificant; however, it
does mean that not only are legislative voting and bill sponsorship not the sole
forms of political representation, they are noted by representatives themselves as
being of least importance. Far better measures for political representation among
Black women are 1) the degree to which they participate in community activism,
2) the role that BWEOs play in public education and 3) informal lobbying and
coalition building among colleagues. The dependence upon alternative methods of
representation by Black women in elected office also further supports the
theoretical model introduced in Chapter Four of Black women’s self-defined
leadership which is 1) proactive as opposed to simply reactive, 2) emphasizes
group-centered leadership rather than a leader-centered group, 3) utilizes methods
of both inside participation and outside agitation and 4) is collective rather than
individualistic in nature. In addition, the reliance on such methods which lie
outside of the measures utilized by previous researchers like Carol Swain and Beth
Reingold further establish the fallacies of their claims that race and gender make
little difference in political representation since the forms of representation that
served as the bases for their analyses were confined to legislative voting — a
method of representation that is far less significant than community involvement,
public education or agenda-setting.
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Election Strategies —
It is often this focus on community involvement and public education functions
that has also served as the basis for campaign strategies for many respondents.
There appears to be a perceived mutual benefit to the organizational/community
involvement of Black women who serve in elected office, with the representatives
relying on organizations as a base of support and organizations entrusting Black
women representatives with their policy preferences and overall visions for
community empowerment. Benefits to organizations are marked by the continued
membership and involvement in community organizations by Black women
representatives and the priority placed on community involvement and public
education as core functions of BWEOs. Black women representatives derive
benefit from their relationships with organizations largely through support for their
candidacies.
Black women candidates generally run for office in districts that have relatively
diverse constituencies, with the Black population being significant, but often not
the majority. District profiles of respondents are consistent with this tendency.
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CHART 6-12
Black Population of District
76%+ Bk Pop
0%
31-50% Bk Pop
56%
None of the survey respondents report district compositions that have a Black
population of 76% or higher and only 19% report majority Black district
populations (district populations of 51-75%). The bulk of respondents represent
districts with significant, but not majority Black populations - populations of 31-
50% and a substantial minority (25%) represent districts with Black populations
that fall below 30%. Carol Swain (1995) argues that the implication here is that
African-American candidates need not be confined to seeking office in majority-
Black districts.2 5 While this study offers additional support to the claim that Black
3 5 Similarly, she argues, majoiity-Biack districts need riot restrict their choice in candidates to
African-Americans, an assertion that I refute in Chapter Five of this dissertation.
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candidates can win offices in non-Black districts, the ability to win such seats
might have less to do with the willingness of non-Black voters to elect Black
candidates than the difference between district voting age population and actual
voters. In many districts, while Blacks do not constitute the numeric majority,
they often comprise the majority of high-propensity voters, especially in those
districts with a high number of Latino residents. Although the majority of
respondents in this study report district populations that are less than 50% Black,
regular voters within many of the districts represented by BWEO are largely
African-American (Grigsby 2000). This means that the likelihood of Black
candidates winning in districts where non-Blacks constitute the majority of actual
voters is lower than one might estimate based on district voting age population
measures. This difference does not negate the fact, however, that many BWEOs
are winning the support of non-Black female constituencies. Especially in districts
where the Black population falls below 30%, Black women candidates rely heavily
on the support of non-Blacks. Without non-Black votes, candidates cannot be
elected.
Clearly, then, non-Blacks and male voters are somehow persuaded to vote for
Black women representatives. Multi-axis theory establishes full membership in
both the racial and gender groups of individuals who stand at intersections of race
and gender - meaning that Black men should view Black women as descriptive
representatives who are capable of authentically representing the interests of all
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Black people regardless of gender. Similarly, women of all races should accept
Black women as full members of their gender class who are able to meaningfully
advance the collective interests of all women regardless of race. Despite this
theoretical model, however, those who stand at the intersection are often
marginalized within larger racial and gender groups, in effect, silenced from
speaking for the collective 2 6 Nonetheless, the majority of Black women
officeholders have been able to somehow convince voters who fall outside of
either their racial class, their gender class, or both their race and gender class that
their interests are aligned. Successful candidates have been able to build such
coalitions with other racial/gender groups while maintaining the support of their
own group. Since the majority of respondents identified a significant Black
population in their districts, it is likely that African-American voters constitute a
significant base of support with other coalition members joining with them to
constitute the majority necessary for an electoral victory. For Black women
candidates, this has encouraged the adoption of an election strategy appropriate to
both Black voters and a broader coalition of potential supporters. Supervisor
Yvonne Brathwaite-Burke articulates this approach as having “three
constituencies: 1) African-Americans, 2) women, and 3) the people who elect you.
2 6 For example, Harris v. Forklift industries questions whether H arris, as a Black wdiiieri, is capable
of making a discrimination claim on the basis of race since she is also a woman Similarly, her
right to file a claim against her employer on the basis of gender discrimination is also challenged.
For many Black women, the unique forms of discrimination experienced are largely thought of as
digressions from the core oppressions faced by Black people as a group and/or the class of women
as a whole.
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It is the people who elect you who constitute your most important constituency
because it is them that you must truly represent” (Burke 2002).
Ch a r t 6-13
Racial Campaign Strategy
Race Moderate
19%
Race Specific
0%
Consistent with this coalition style campaign strategy are survey responses that
indicate a complete absence of race-specific campaigning. While 19% of
respondents employed a race-moderate strategy, which includes limited use of
racial cues, a greater number employed a race-neutral approach where there is a
virtual absence of racial cues. This race-neutral approach, while favored far more
than the race-specific approach and to an even greater degree than the race
moderate approach is still found to be utilized less than the multi-faceted approach
engaged by 50% of the respondents. As the approach favored by the plurality of
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the women surveyed, the multi-faceted campaign strategy invokes racial cues in
particular circumstances - namely those environments where Blacks comprise a
significant majority of the prospective voter population. In more heterogeneous
environments, however, candidates limit their use of racial cues in an effort to
appeal to the broader constituency. Such a strategy seems logical in that it allows
for the establishment of candidate authenticity amongst Black voters without
alienating non-Black voters. Thus, a multi-faceted campaign strategy enables the
candidate to limit her use of racial cues to predominantly Black settings while
maintaining a race-neutral strategy in non-Black and mixed race settings.
For the 31% of respondents who favor the race-neutral approach, what is unclear is
whether their racial campaign strategy results from a genuine commitment to
“color-blindness”2 7 or because of its effectiveness as an approach. Candidates
might choose to employ a race-neutral strategy because it is likely to make non-
Black voters feel “safer” in voting for a Black candidate - that the candidate
represents interests that are not exclusive to African-American constituents. Race-
specific or even race-moderate campaigning often alarms non-Black and
particularly White voters in that many associate group-consciousness and racial
pride with separatism.2 8 When asked about the importance of race to voters and
8 7 The notion of “color-blindness” is often asserted by those who advocate moving away from
“color-conscious” policies and programs (i.e.: affirmative action, support for historically Black
colleges and universities, etc.)
2 8 Such fears are largely evidenced through questions posed to Black candidates as to whether or
not they will be able to “represent all constituents.” This irrational association between group-
consciousness and separatism does not often apply to White candidates, however. White
candidates are largely seen as the most neutral - the candidate who is best able to transcend race.
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constituents, Congressmember Watson affirms this focus on race among White
voters. She asserts that it is generally assumed by communities of color that
candidates of color will be able and willing to represent their interests (Watson
2002). Supervisor Burke corroborates Watson's assertion that there is an
“expectation that [candidates of color] will address their problems” (Burke 2002).
On the other hand, White voters have a sort of fear of candidates of color, an
irrational prejudice that assumes that candidates of color can only represent a
particular set of concerns - those that impact their particular racial groups.
Therefore, where the race of candidates of color is of minimal concern to voters of
color, Watson argues that it is of particular concern to White voters. A race-
neutral approach in this case might come less from personal ideology than from a
desire to win the election and the belief that a less racialized approach as more
likely to bring about the desired outcome.
An analysis of gender campaign strategies suggests that race neutral campaign
strategies are more likely to be utilized because of their success in winning non-
Black votes, than because of a commitment to a color-blind ideology. Where
BWEOs are unlikely to utilize either race-specific or even race-moderate
campaign strategies, 6% of respondents utilize gender-specific campaign strategies
and another 19% utilize gender moderate strategies. Only 19% employed the
gender-neutral approach and a 56% majority utilized a multi-faceted strategy.
Such a flawed view of race-iteutrality stems from a system of White racial normalization developed
in order to support the current racial hierarchy.
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Ch a r t 6-14
Gender Campaign Strategy
uender Neutral
19%
Gender Moderate
19%
This means that Black women candidates are much more likely to emphasize their
status as women than their position as Blacks in their campaigns. Were this to be
an indicator about the ideologies of Black women candidates, it would seem that
Black women candidates identify more readily with their gender identity than their
racial identity. Such a finding runs counter to the predominant identity literature
which establishes that Black women, when forced to choose, are more likely to
place their racial identities ahead of their gender identities (Wallace 1982, Thorton
Dill 1988, Harley and Terborg-Penn 1997). Survey responses related to
conflicting racial and gender interests outlined in the following section also
establish race as taking primacy over gender when forced to choose. Brathwaite-
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Burke also affirms that “Although I still experience discrimination as a woman,
women have moved up the ladder in greater numbers than Blacks. So if I were
asked to choose [an axis of identity], I would choose Blackness over womanhood”
(Burke 2002). This means that the gender-specific/race-neutral campaign strategy
has much less to do with the identity alignment of BWEOs than the strategy
developed for electoral success. The willingness of BWEOs to run for office on a
more gendered platform yet utilize a racially muted strategy is most likely to stem
from the belief that prospective voters are more willing to support candidates that
highlight gender identities than those that emphasize racial ones.
Upon initial review it might also appear that Swain’s second assertion, that White
representatives can represent Black constituents just as well as Black
representatives has merit (Swain 1995) as does Reingold’s claim that the interests
of women are advanced by male representatives just as well as female ones.
(Reingold 2000). In fact, only 19% of respondents indicated that non-Blacks
could not adequately represent Black interests. Although a larger minority, 25%,
thought that men had difficulties adequately representing women, most did not
think that the gender of the elected official would preclude him from advancing
women’s agendas. This falls in line with the perceived leaning toward gender
identification over racial identification, with responses that are less supportive of
the idea that male representatives can represent women’s interests than the notion
that non-Black representatives can represent African-American interests. (81% of
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respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “racially
sensitive non-Black elected officials can adequately represent Black constituents”
as opposed to 69% of respondents strongly agreeing or agreeing with the statement
that “gender sensitive male elected officials can adequately represent women, a
difference of 12%.)
Ta b le 6-1
ELECTED OFFICIALS AND RACE/GENDER IDENTITY
Racially sensitive
non-Black elected
officials can
adequately
represent Black
constituents
Gender sensitive
male elected
officials can
adequately
represent women
The combination of
Black male
representation and
White female
representation can
“ add up ” to
adequately
represent Black
women.
STRONGLY
AGREE
13% 13% 0%
AGREE 68% 56% 12%
UNDECIDED 0% 6% 13%
DISAGREE 19% 25% 62%
STRONGLY
DISAGREE
0% 0% 13%
What remains unclear, however, is the degree to which such responses are
theoretical as opposed to practical. In other words, do respondents simply believe
that in theory a White representative could represent the interests of Black
constituents and that a male representative could represent the interests of women
or do they believe that there are tangible examples of non-Blacks actually
representing the interests of African-Americans and men representing the interests
of women? Furthermore, the racial category responses may be more supportive of
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the idea of non-Black representatives representing Black interests since the “non-
Black” category is not limited to Whites. So the question becomes whether there
is a greater ability for amongst representatives of color as opposed to White
representatives. Finally, the statement made assumes the presence of racial and
gender sensitivity. However, respondents were not asked the degree to which they
believed most representatives to be racially and gender sensitive. Thus, the
statements may have been interpreted as being ones that were more idealistic than
realistic.
Through the personal interviews, it is generally confirmed that non-Blacks are
assumed to be White. Watson, highlights the role that two “racially-sensitive”
White representatives played in advancing Black interests and Burke re-phrased
the question to encompass the totality of communities of color rather than solely
Black constituents. While Diane Watson identifies two White representatives who
she believed were capable of adequately representing Black interests: Kenneth
Hahn and Jesse Unruh, Brathwaite-Burke is much more skeptical about such a
possibility. She highlights the importance of perspective and positionality, stating
that even for racially sensitive elected officials “There is a difference in actually
being a person of color and simply being liberal. Liberals may not come down on
the same side o f policy issues because they don’t have the day-to-day familiarity
with what it is to be a person of color and the issues that are continuously faced”
(Burke 2002). Where Brathwaite-Burke essentially argues that substantive
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representation by a White representative for communities of color is a near
impossibility, Watson’s response implies that while it might be possible the level
of racial sensitivity required is an extremely rare trait.
Once we delve deeper into questions of descriptive representation, survey
respondents begin to place a greater premium on these identities. Respondents are
particularly adamant about the specific need for Black women in office. Despite
the general agreement that non-Blacks can adequately represent Black interests
and that men can represent women’s interests, respondents largely rejected the
notion that racial representation by Black men and gender representation by White
women can adequately represent the interests of Black women. In fact, 75% of the
BWEO who participated either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the idea that
Black male representatives and White female representatives can effectively “add
up” to advance the interests of Black women. Only 12% of respondents agreed
with this idea; the remaining 13% were undecided.
These responses clearly support the general subscription of Black women to multi
axis theory - the idea that there are several overlapping axes of oppression and that
the intersection at which Black women stand forms an immutable position which
cannot be divided out and attributed to either the axis of race or the axis of gender.
What is unclear based on the responses given, however, is why descriptive
representation is required for Black women, but not for single axis representation -
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the representation of racial or gender interests separately. Because of the
limitations of the close-ended survey question format, responses are deplete of
further explanation. However, what seems most likely is that while it might be
possible for a non-Black to develop racial sensitivity to the degree that he or she
might be able to adequately represent African Americans and men might be able to
develop gender sensitivity enabling them to adequately represent women, it is
much more challenging to become fully sensitive to the racial, gender and
race/gender status of Black women. Thus, where it might be possible to become
racially sensitive or gender sensitive, the ability to be sensitive to the simultaneous
racial, gender, and intersectional realities of women of color is far less likely.
In contrast the position of Black women at the intersection of race and gender
seems to privilege Black women representatives as full members of both their
racial and gender groups as well as through the unique position that they hold at
the intersection of the two axes, enabling them to fully represent African-
Americans of both genders and women of all races. Respondents indicate that
while Black men and White women do not “add up” to adequate representation for
Black women. Black women are able to adequately represent both groups as well
as members of other groups that fall outside of either their racial and gender
groups.
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TABLE 6-2
BWEO EFFECTIVENESS
How effective are
BWEOs in representing
all Blacks regardless of
gender?
How effective are
BWEOs in representing
all women regardless of
race?
VERY EFFECTIVE 56% 62%
EFFECTIVE 31% 25%
SOMEWHAT
EFFECTIVE
13% 13%
NOT VERY EFFECTIVE 0% 0%
NOT AT ALL
EFFECTIVE
0% 0%
100% of respondents indicate that Black women are at least somewhat effective in
representing Black men and non-Black women, with the majority in both cases
indicating that Black women are, in fact, “very effective” in doing so (56% “very
effective” rating in representing Black men and 62% “very effective” in
representing non-Black women). While there is little doubt that responses are
likely to incorporate some bias in that they are, in effect, rating their own
effectiveness, responses nonetheless speak to perceptions of identity and contrast
greatly with the perceived ability of others to represent Black women. Who, then,
is most able to represent the interests of Black women? Undoubtedly, respondents
argue that the best representatives for Black women’s interests are Black women
themselves. Moreover, when asked to rank the ability of other racial/gender
groups to represent their interests, it appears that respondents adopt a “lowest
common denominator” approach - where a representative is capable of
representing the interests of those who sit above them in the hierarchy of power,
but those at the upper rungs are less able to relate to the interests and perspectives
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of those closer to the bottom. Therefore, because Black women occupy the lowest
status according to both racial and gender axes, they are able to advance the
interests of a greater number of people, yet other groups are less able to advance
the interests of Black women.
The assertion here is that the position of disadvantage or status of “otherness”
requires the greatest level of representation. White women are oppressed because
they are women; therefore it is the gender reality rather than their racial reality that
requires representation. Black men are oppressed along the axis of race; so it is
their racial identity rather than their gender identity that takes precedence.
Inevitably, the interests of the privileged status of one group will conflict at some
point with another group’s position of disadvantage. For example, White women
might oppose race-conscious policy making because they are in a position of racial
privilege. When such a conflicts arise. Black women would be more likely
advocates for the interests of people of color who are disadvantaged by race.
Similarly, were Black men to support policies that are oppressive to women, Black
women would advocate for the gender interests of women. Because Black
women, stand at positions that are disadvantaged by race, gender and race/gender,
they possess perspectives along all three axes of disadvantage and are therefore the
most reliable advocates for the range of oppressions experienced by Blacks,
women and Black women. In short, BWEOs serve to best represent those interests
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that are in a position of disadvantage, rather than further contributing to privileged
identities.
Ta b le 6-3
REPRESENTING BLACK WOJMEN
RACE/GENDER RANK VALUE
Black Women 1 1.0
Other Women of Color 2 3,0
Black Men 3 3.1
White Women 4 3.3
Other Men of Color 5 4.5
White Men 6 5.2
The above table lists the average score received for each racial/gender group
ranked according to their ability to represent the interests of Black women,2 9
Where Black women were identified by 100% of respondents as being the most
able to represent Black women’s interests, there was little difference made
between other women of color, Black men, and White women in their ability to
represent Black women’s interests. Other women of color fell behind Black
women, identified as the group that is second in line in their ability to represent
Black women’s interests. This ranking is significant in that it further affirms the
subscription to multi-axis theory in that women of color more broadly all stand at
the race/gender intersection and therefore share a status of multiple oppressions.
Black men came next in their ability to represent Black women, with White
women coming fourth. Other men of color and White men were the least likely to
be able to represent Black women’s interests. The ability to represent the interests
of Black women seems to be ranked in order of perceived oppression as well as
2 9 Rankings are represented with the lowest number as the most desirable representative for Black
women’s interests and the highest number as the least desirable.
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shared positionality along at least one axis with Black women. The ranking is also
consistent with the literature that establishes that Black women are more likely to
identify along the race axis than the gender axis since they identify Black men as
being better able to represent Black women than White women. However, the
difference in rankings is very slight suggesting that respondents are uncomfortable
in placing race before gender, but will do so when forced. In sum, what these
rankings and representation questions establish is that while Black women believe
that they are fully capable of representing other racial and gender groups, other
group members are less able to fully represent the interests of Black women. The
most challenging element of Black women’s representation is, perhaps
representation of the intersection; Black male representation and White female
representation leave a void in that they fail to address the intersectional
experiences and realities of women of color.
Despite their position at the intersection and their reluctance to choose a single
axis of identity, Black women often feel forced to choose one set of interests and
subsume another. While there are times when race is subsumed to gender and
when gender is subsumed to race, race more often takes precedent. 57% of
respondents indicated that gender interests are often subsumed, while 38% indicate
that racial interests are.
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Ta b l e 6-4
B IACE/GENDER PRIM ACY
Black women
representatives are often
required to subsume their
gender interests to their
racial interests
Black women
representatives are often
required to subsume their
racial interests to their
gender interests
STRONGLY AGREE 13% 0%
AGREE 44% 38%
UNDECIDED 12% 6%
DISAGREE 25% 50%
STRONGLY
DISAGREE
6% 6%
While responses can also be interpreted as perceptions of an existing system that
requires single axis allegiance, it is more probable that responses indicate whether
respondents are more apt to identify with the axis of race or the axis of gender
when interests conflict. In other words, responses are not meant to serve as a
critique of imposed restrictive requirements that demand the prioritization of race
and gender identities as competing centers of being. Rather they more accurately
reflect the willingness of respondents to align with either the racial or gender axis
when the interests of each axis are in competition with one another. Responses
confirm that BWEOs are more likely to identify with Blackness than with their
gender group in these circumstances. Where 57% of those surveyed gave positive
responses giving race primacy over gender, only 38% of responses acknowledged
regularly subsuming racial interests to gender interests. Perhaps even more
interesting are the negative responses where a majority of 56% of respondents
refused to subsume their racial interests to their gender interests, but only 31%
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refused to place their racial interests ahead of their gender interests.3 0 Despite
these findings, however, this is not a choice that Black women enjoy making. In
fact, the heavily weighted positive and negative responses for questions related to
the primacy of either gender or racial identity suggests that there are a significant
number of respondents who are opposed to this sort of competition of identities.
Rather than serving as an indicator of identity, negative responses might be
indicative of a rejection of systems that require competition among axes of
identity, implying a commitment to the retention of simultaneous identities (race,
gender and intersectional).
Each of these simultaneous identities provides a unique perspective through which
BWEOs view and experience realities. When one identity is given primacy over
another, policy outcomes are inevitably impacted. Thus, we must ask to what
degree these perspectives are incorporated into policy considerations. While
perspective shapes position regardless of consciousness, the degree to which
policy is impacted by particular perspectives is determined largely by conscious
awareness and incorporation of one’s particular identity. In order to determine the
extent to which the invocation of identity politics impacts policy position,
respondents were asked to review their policy positions and establish the level of
conscious use of positionality.
s0 This assertion is further supported by survey responses which suggest that Black women more
readily align with racial identity than gender identity when a choice is required.
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Ch art 6-15
Race/Gender Consciousness-Neutrality in Policymaking
90 .
r n m m m m m
pilllill;
i M M i
S M P l
r n mmmmm
R ace-C onscious G ender-C onscious R ace-N eutral G ender-N eutral
Categories presented were not mutually exclusive. Respondents could mark both
the call for race-conscious and race-neutral policy perspectives; similarly they
were able to call for both gender neutral and gender-conscious perspectives. What
is perhaps most interesting based on responses is that while both the race
conscious perspective (supported by 69%) of respondents) and the gender
conscious perspective (supported by 75% of respondents) are utilized and
advocated by the majority of BWEOs, more often race-neutrality is called for
(with the greatest number of respondents, 81% encouraging this perspective) while
gender neutrality is supported by only 50% of respondents. Upon initial review,
the support of more gender-conscious positions at a rate that greatly exceeds race
conscious ones seems contrary to the previous conclusion that BWEOs align more
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readily with race than they do with gender. However, given the structure of
government and the requirements for policymaking, these responses are better
indicators of the limitations of the political system rather than the desires of
BWEOs. In other words, respondents may adopt gender-conscious perspectives at
a higher rate than race-conscious perspectives based on the likelihood that such
positions might being about some positive tangible outcome. There are far more
women in elected posts, than Blacks, therefore the development of a strong
contingency supportive of gender-conscious policy is much more likely than a
base of support for race-conscious policy. Thus, the adoption of a gender
conscious policy position is more likely to result in policy outcomes than the race
conscious perspectives in policymaking are likely to produce.
These results are further supported by Kweisi Mfume’s observations in his work
No Free Ride. Mfume asserts that while elected officials often hold progressive or
even radical ideologies that include race-consciousness, such perspectives are
unlikely to win the support of more moderate or even liberal colleagues and are
therefore limited in their ability to result in policy outcomes. Therefore,
policymakers, regardless of ideological position are required by the system to
either restrict the degree to which their ideology impacts their policymaking or risk
becoming ineffective as a legislator (Mfume 1997). Lani Guinier maintains that
this sort of restrictive system of majority rule, in effect, mutes the voices and
perspectives of minorities. The requirement of a majority coalition in the
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policymaking process shifts policy outcomes toward moderacy rather than reflect
the core ideologies and personal perspectives of a diverse body. Permanent
majorities have little incentive to compromise with minorities since they,
themselves, are never in a minority position where reciprocal compromise is
warranted (Guinier 1994). Thus, White male policymakers are disinclined from
enabling the voices and policy preferences of racial minorities from being heard.
Larger minority coalitions, like women, are more likely to have some voice in the
process because there is a greater possibility that their votes will constitute a swing
vote required for the development of a legislative majority. In essence, because
Black legislative votes are so few in number they cannot themselves pass race
conscious legislation and must depend upon the building of coalitions. However,
given their small numeric presence, there is little opportunity for log-rolling and,
therefore little incentive for non-Black policymakers to support race-conscious
legislation supported by Black colleagues. Therefore, race-conscious policies are
unlikely to receive the necessary support from non-Black policymakers to result in
policy outcomes and as a result are abandoned by Black policymakers. In contrast,
because women constitute a larger legislative voting bloc, they are more likely to
have a substantial base of support and can depend upon a lesser number of male
votes to pass gender-conscious legislation. Additionally, male legislators are more
likely to support gender-conscious policies because there is a greater likelihood
that at some point their own policy preferences will require the support of female
colleagues. This means that gender-conscious policy proposals stand a greater
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probability of passage. Since policymakers generally want to be viewed as
effective, capable of having their policy proposals pass, they are more likely to
adopt a gender-conscious perspective than a race-conscious perspective towards
policymaking. This does not mean that they place their gender identity ahead of
their racial identity; however, they realize that policy positions grounded in their
gender perspective are more effective than policy positions grounded in their racial
perspective. The support for gender-conscious policymaking over race-conscious
policymaking is, therefore, much more of a statement about the limitations of the
system than the ideologies and allegiances of Black women elected officials.
Recruitment
With the required differences between perspective/ideology and policy positions, it
might seem that Black women would view their roles as elected officials as largely
ineffective - at least in terms of presenting the particular realities and
accompanying preferences of Black women. With limited opportunities to
advocate from their particular standpoint, what prompts BWEOs to run for office?
Is their decision to run based largely on a recruitment model - where they are
invited and encouraged to run by an individual or group or an ambition model -
where their own personal desire to serve acts as the catalyst for public office-
seeking (Kazee 1994)? To ascertain whether Black women are more likely to run
for office based on the recruitment model or the ambition model, several sets of
questions were presented, including the 1) timing of the initial decision to run, 2)
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major factors encouraging bids for elected office and 3) previous experiences in
the formal political realm.
The timing of the initial decision to run can help to discern whether or not
becoming an elected official has been a lifelong goal - which would indicate a
leaning towards the ambition model or whether the electoral bid of the respondent
developed from an invitation by a mentor or community group - which would be
more indicative of the recruitment model.
Ch a r t 6-16
Timing of Initial Decision to Run for Office
Life Goal
25%
When Asked
Prev Career
_College
O K
(_HS
As theorized by Kazee (1994), the majority of respondents (56%) first decided
to run for office when asked by either a mentor or community group; 19%
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developed an interest in running during their previous career - which might
also be indicative of a recruitment model leaning and generally runs counter to
the ambition model. Only 25% of respondents indicated that being elected to
office has been a lifelong goal. While Kazee asserts that both candidates of
color and women tend to favor the recruitment model over the ambition model,
it appears that the overwhelming alignment with the recruitment model (at a
ratio of greater than 2:1 without incorporating “previous career” responses or
3:1 when “previous career” responses are included in the recruitment model),
is much higher than projected for either candidates of color or women
candidates. This suggests that Black women are in a sense “doubly burdened”
by their race and their gender with this double disadvantage deterring them
from seeking public office based on internal ambition.
This leaning toward the recruitment model is further supported by the factors
highlighted by respondents as encouraging their run for office.
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Ch art 6-17
Factors in Decision to Run for Office
■
X v . ' . v X
“““ 1 1
mm
W M M p *
a litty iili
M gs
■v.v.*Xw.sH
A sk ed N dforBkRep N eed for F em ale N eed fo r B k P ersonal G o al In te ra ctio n w ith C o m m E d A d v o cacy
R ep F em ale R ep E O s In v o lv e m e n t
Although a significant number of respondents (44%) listed “Personal Goal” as a
factor in their decision to run for office. This is far outweighed by “Asked to Run”
(69%) and “Community Involvement” (94%) which offer further evidence of the
leaning towards the recruitment model ahead of the ambition model. Additional
factors, including the need for Black, female and Black female representation are
less clear in their role as indicators of either the recruitment or ambition model.
While the “Need for Black Representation” can be interpreted as an indicator of an
ambition model leaning, demonstrating that the respondent views herself as the
most appropriate representative for Black constituencies, it can also point toward a
recruitment model where the prospective candidate views herself as heeding a call
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for representation that she is somehow bound to answer. It is my assertion that the
second interpretation is much more plausible - while some elements of ambition
are undoubtedly buried in the process, responding to a call for a particular type of
representation is more aligned with the recruitment model. Because the need for
Black representation garners the greatest response in this area and Black women
are more likely to align themselves with racial vis-a-vis gender interests, there is a
greater probability that this would be a call that is heeded rather than an indicator
of ambition. Whereas the call for Black women’s representation specifically is
likely to be a much quieter one; therefore it is more doubtful that those who abide
by the recruitment model hear and respond to the need for Black women’s
representation.
This recruitment model also supports the inside participation/outside agitation
model presented in Chapter 5 where BWEOs view their roles as elected officials as
extensions of their community work. 94% of respondents highlighted
“Community Involvement” as a major factor encouraging them to run for elected
office. This, in combination with the number of representatives who maintain ties
with community-based organizations even after being elected to office,3 1 indicates
that for the great majority of Black women office-seekers, they aspire to these
elected posts not so much out of a sense of personal ambition, but more so out of a
commitment to community identified goals. This relates directly to the Self-
3 1 88% of respondents indicated that they presently hold memberships with COmmunity-based
organizations. (See Chart 6-8.)
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Defined Black Women’s Leadership model developed in Chapter 4 which
establishes that there is a sense of group-centered leadership. BWEOs’ retention
of community ties suggests that they view their leadership relationship with
community members as one of dialogue among leaders rather than a hierarchy
which designates them as leaders and others as followers. In essence, BWEOs
view themselves as being explicitly and/or implicitly recruited by constituents to
serve as a voice for the collective. Thus, they serve a Sanction in the process of
empowerment rather than as an imposed designee who solitarily develops policy
positions for the community at-large.
The centrality of community involvement in the recruitment of Black women
candidates also negates the more traditional path to elected office which is often
indicative of the ambition model. Where the great majority of respondents
reported both current linkages with community-based organizations and listed
community involvement as a major factor in their decision to run for office, very
few had experience as political staffers. This contrasts sharply with the political
staff experience of White and/or male candidates. Since political staff experience
is generally thought of as a first step in the road to political office and most Black
women do not seek out such positions, the ambition model applies much less to
BWEOs than to other groups.
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This is not to say that some BWEOs do not more accurately depict the ambition
approach. When asked about previous experience as political staff members, 27%
of respondents reported having worked for an elected official prior to their run for
office and 20% indicated that their experience as a political staffer significantly
impacted their decision to run for office in particular and their political outlook
more generally.
C h a r t 6 -1 8
Not Very
7%
Not at all
0%
Although a significant number (20%) acknowledge their experience as political
staff members as being either “very significant” or “significant,” a full 80% of
respondents have either never served as members of any political staff (73%) or
did not view their experience as political staffers as significant (7%). The limited
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Political Staff Experience and Significance
Very
7%
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formal political experience that the great majority of BWEOs have prior to running
for office themselves further supports the idea that they generally run for office out
of a sense of duty - being recruited by a particular mentor or a larger community
of constituents (who they often view as fellow leaders).
It is also this community base that most Black women in elected office credit as
being the key to their electoral victory. In fact, of six factors presented as
contributing to electoral success, the role of grassroots support was identified as
being the most important.
Tab le 6-5
CAMPAIGN FACTORS
FACTOR RANK VALUE
Grassroots Support 1 2.4
EO Endorsements 2 3.1
Organizational Support 3 3.2
Name Recognition 4 3.4
Financial Contributions 5 3.5
Volunteers 6 3,6
In addition to the overall ranking of grassroots support as a contributing factor, it
also carried the greatest difference in value. With a mean value of 2.4 as first
ranked factor, grassroots support was followed by “Endorsements by Elected
Officials” which carried a value of 3.1, a .7 difference. In contrast, differences in
value among all remaining factors each carried differences of only .1, meaning that
not only was grassroots support listed by the greatest number of respondent as the
most important campaign factor, but it was ranked as such by an overwhelming
margin.
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The support given to candidates by elected officials through endorsements was the
second most important factor in a campaign. What is unclear based on these
responses is whether the relationship with the elected official himself or herself is
of the greatest value or if it is, instead, the accompanying name recognition and
legitimacy derived through such endorsements that make the difference in the
campaign. Although these aspects of endorsement are not mutually exclusive and
there is undoubtedly value placed on both elements, it is likely that the greatest
value is placed on endorsements as a campaign strategy rather than the longer term
relationship that might extend from it. With the low number of BWEOs who
served as political staff members and the minimal value placed on such
experiences, as well as the sandwiching of “elected official endorsements”
between “grassroots support” and “organizational support,” it is more plausible
that endorsements are thought of in terms of campaigning with a possible
mentoring relationship developing as a fortunate by-product.
The connection between BWEOs and organizations also serves as an important
element in Black women’s campaign strategies. Listed as the third most important
factor in successful campaigning, organizations serve to both increase the level of
name recognition (the fourth most frequently listed factor) as well as providing a
built-in base of voters, campaign contributors, and campaign volunteers. This
demonstrates that the relationship between BWEOs and organizations is not solely
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based on ideology, but also utility. Where organizational memberships often
develop first from a commitment to group-centered leadership and the desire to
proactively address the challenges faced by the community, there is also a sort of
reciprocal relationship between Black women elected officials and the
organizations that they are a part of As public officials, BWEOs provide
organization members with authentic representation - seeking to advance the
collective interests of the group. In return, organizations provide support by
helping to get their representative elected to office.
What is perhaps the most interesting element of the entire set of responses is the
low level of value placed on “financial contributions” - listed as one of the least
important factors, surpassed only by “volunteers.” Where organizations like
EMILY’s List assert that campaign contributions, especially early contributions,
are key to winning campaigns, BWEOs place far less value on those financial
resources than they do on human ones. Even more confusing is that the
“volunteers” factor fell below even financial contributions in terms of importance.
One might initially assume that grassroots and organizational support along with
endorsements from key elected officials might offer in in-kind contributions what
is generally paid for through financial contributions, namely volunteer hours.
With a core group of volunteers, paid staff positions become less necessary and
much of the campaign groundwork can be covered with minimal cost. However, it
appears that supports from the grassroots, organizations and elected officials are
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not depended on so much for volunteer support, but for something else. I assert
that each form of support serves as a sort of constituency base or voting bloc in
itself Where volunteers are used to convince voters to cast their ballots for a
candidate, grassroots support indicates that the votes are already there. Similarly,
organizations can request that their entire membership vote for the supported
candidate, delivering votes rather than convincing voters. Endorsements provide a
similar effect, with the goal of endorsements being to have voter support for a
current elected official translate into votes for the supported candidate. The
ranking of support of particular organizations confirms this contention, with
“community organizations,” “unions” and “elected officials” constituting the three
most important forms of organizational support. Each of these organization types
carry with them a built in voter bloc, community organizations and unions through
their memberships and elected officials through their own core supporters.
Chapter Summary
Responses elicited through the “Black Women in Elected Office - 2002 California
Survey” along with personal interviews conducted with Supervisor Yvonne
Brathwaite Burke (the first Black woman to serve in Congress from California)
and Congressmember Diane Watson (the current 33rd 3 2 Congressional District
Representative and the most recent Black women from California elected to
3 2 At the time of the interview, Diane Watson was the Representative for the 32n d Congressional
District. However, since that time, reapportiomnent has meant 2 new seats in the state and
redistricting moved Congressmember Watson from the 32n d to the 33r d District, although the
geographic composition of the district remains generally in tact.
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Congress) reveal that Black women in elected office do not “look like”
representatives from other groups. In general, they are more working class (with a
great emphasis on education and social service backgrounds), they favor a
recruitment model over an ambition model of candidacy, they are ideologically
classified as liberal or progressive and generally grassroots oriented - maintaining
active memberships in community, social, religious, professional and grassroots
organizations at much higher rates than representatives from other groups. They
also view themselves as standing at a “crossroads” of sorts - where they must
serve as authentic representatives for Blacks, women and Black women
particularly, while also advocating for those policies that benefit their districts
more generally. In general, these interests are not in competition with one another.
However, it is often perceived by the dominant community - especially the
racially dominant group - that particular concerns for communities of color run
counter to the interests of White constituents. Therefore, Black women
representatives are often forced to subdue their racial perspective, presenting a
more seemingly neutral racial agenda.
This perceived neutrality, however, does not undermine the established need for
Black women representatives. 100% or respondents identified Black women as
being the best representatives for Black women’s interests. While some racially
sensitive non-Blacks and gender sensitive men might be capable of representing
Black and women constituents in theory. Black and women representatives are the
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most capable of doing so in practical terms. In addition, Black women are fully
capable or representing the totality of their racial and gender groups, as well as
constituencies that lie outside of their groups. Their position at the “bottom” of
both the racial and gender hierarchy makes them uniquely qualified to represent
the interests of all people regardless of race or gender because their positionality
makes them more sensitive to the needs and interests of disadvantaged
communities.
Despite the stated need for Black women in elected office. Black women
representatives generally do not seek out elected posts on their own. Instead, they
wait to be recruited for office by community groups and/or mentors. While this
limits their tenure in office since they are generally recruited later in life - once
they have an established professional and community track record, it also provides
them with a support base within the community that they serve. They often draw
from this base for campaign support and, in turn, serve as authentic representatives
for the groups that recruited and helped to elect them. This mutually beneficial
relationship is sustained through continued organizational membership and
involvement in community and grassroots organizations by BWEOs once elected
to office.
In sum. Black women who are elected to office generally employ the Black
women’s self-defined model of leadership. BWEOs are largely proactive rather
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than simply being reactive - advocating for their policy preferences through a
range of behaviors - including through involvements with grassroots organizations
and public education. There is also a group-centered approach to leadership where
the decision-making process is shared amongst colleagues in office, with
community leadership and with the voters themselves, bridging traditional inside
participation strategies with non-traditional outside agitation ones. Although
somewhat restricted in their actions by their role as members of the existing
governmental structure. Black women in elected office generally draw from a
progressive ideological tradition and move beyond a theory of simple reform
towards a more fundamental shift in power and resources.
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Chapter 6 - References
Amer, Mildred. 2001. “Membership of the 107th Congress: A Profile” CRS Report
for Congress. Washington: Library of Congress - Congressional Research
Service.
Brathwaite-Burke, Yvonne. June 13, 2002. Personal Interview.
California Employment Development Department. 2001. Occupational Outlook
Report. Sacramento: State of California.
California Legislative Black Caucus. 2003. Member Biographies. Sacramento:
State of California.
Canon, Katie Geneva. 1996. Katie’ s Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black
Community. New York: Continuum.
Center for American Women and Politics. 2003. Women in Elective Office. New
Brunswick: Rutgers.
Cramer, Richard Ben. 1993. What it Takes: The Way to the White House. New
York: Vintage Books.
Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic. 2001. Critical Race Theory: An
Introduction. New York: New York University Press.
Dolan, Kathleen and Lynne E. Ford. 1998. “Are All Women State Legislators
Alike?” In Women and Elective Office: Past, Present and Future. Edited
by Sue Thomas and Clyde Wilcox. New York: Oxford University Press.
Faucheaux, Ronald. 2002. Running for Office: The Strategies, Techniques and
Messages Political Candidates Need to Win Elections. New York: M.
Evans and Co.
Grigsby, J. Eugene. 2000. African-Americans in Los Angeles: Prospects for the
21st Century. Los Angeles: Los Angeles City Council. Commissioned by
Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, 8th District.
Guinier, Lani. 1994. The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness and
Representative Democracy. New York: Free Press.
Harley, Sharon and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, eds. 1997. The Afro-American
Woman: Struggles and Images. Baltimore: Black Classic Press.
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Hongdagneau-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2002. “Household Labor, Childcare and Marital
Happiness,” unpublished manuscript.
House Committee on Education and Labor. 1988. Report on Minorities in Higher
Education. Washington: United States House of Representatives.
Kazee, Thomas. 1994. Who Runs for Congress? Ambition, Context and Candidate
Emergence. Washington. Congressional Quarterly.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. 2003. Biography of Supervisor Yvonne
Brathwaite-Burke.
Martin, Mart. 2001. The Almanac of Women and Minorities in American Politics:
2002. Cambridge: Westview Press.
Mfume, Kweisi. 1997. No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream.
New York: Random House.
Nader, Ralph. 2002. Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in
an Age of Surrender. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Niven, David. 1998. The Missing Majority: The Recruitment of Women as State
Legislative Candidates. Westport: Praeger.
Rause, Jacqueline A. 1984. The legacy of community organizing: Lugenia Burns
Hope and the Neighborhood Union. Journal of Negro History. 69 (3/4) p.
114-133.
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women: Sex, Gender and Legislative
Behavior in Arizona and California. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.
Saltzstein, Grace Hall. 1986. “Female Mayors and Women in Municipal
Jobs.” American Journal of Political Science 30, No. 1
(February).
Seltzer, Richard, Jody Newman, and Melissa Vorhees Leighton. 1997. Sex as a
Political Variable: Women as Candidates and Voters in U.S. Elections.
Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Swain, Carol. 1995 Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African
Americans in Congress. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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Tate, Katherine. 2003. Black Faces in the Mirror: African Americans and their
Representatives in the U.S. Congress. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Thomas, Sue and Clyde W ilcox, eds. 1998. Women and Elective Office: Past,
Present and Future. New York: Oxford University Press.
Thorton Dill, Bonnie. 1988. “The Dialectics of Black Womanhood,” In Black
Women in America: Social Science Perspectives. Edited by Micheline
Malson Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, Jean F. O’Barr and Mary Wyer.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
United States House of Representatives. 2003. Biography of Representative
Barbara Lee.
United States House of Representatives. 2003. Biography of Representative Diane
Watson.
United States House of Representatives. 2003. Biography of Representative
Juanita Millender-McDonald.
United States House of Representatives. 2003. Biography of Representative
Maxine Waters.
Van Ingen, Linda. 2001. “Campaigns for Equality: Women Candidates for
California State Office: 1912-1970.” Journal of American History 88 no. 3
(December).
Wallace Michelle. 1982. “A Black Feminist Search for Sisterhood,” In All the
Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave.
Edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith. New York:
The Feminist Press
Watson, Diane. June 15, 2002. Personal Interview.
Whitby, Kenny J. 1997. The Color of Representation: Congressional Behavior
and Black Interests. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
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CHAPTER 7 -
B l a c k W o m e n a n d P o l it ic a l R e p r e s e n t a t i o n :
S u m m a r y a n d C o n c l u s io n
Multi-Axis Theory
Multi-axis theory asserts that there are several axes of identity along which people
stand. Each axis determines a position of advantage or disadvantage, with White,
middle to upper-class, Protestant, heterosexual, able-bodied males representing the
“norm” whereby possessing the greatest access to societal resources and power
(the position of ultimate advantage). In contrast, “other” groups stand at a position
of disadvantage since power and resources are dominated by the norm group.
Thus, when an individual is Black, he is at a position of disadvantage because of
his race. Similarly, women are disadvantaged because of their gender.
There is an “ideological advantage” that is derived from each of these positions -
different perspectives or standpoints that result from one’s place. Positions of
advantage and disadvantage along these axes of identity help to shape individual
and collective experiences, realities and perspectives. How one sees the world and
engages in society is partially determined by the position of advantage or
disadvantage that they hold. When one is disadvantaged by race, he is more likely
to view phenomena through a more critical racial lens. Similarly, women are more
likely to engage in the world in a way that is more aware and respondent to
gender-based oppression. Simply put, women make better feminists and people of
color make better anti-racists. This is not to say that all women are feminists or
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that all Blacks are committed to the battle against racism. However, women are
more likely to be feminists than men are and Blacks are more likely to engage in
antiracist struggles than Whites.
What is missing from this formula, however, is the recognition that these axes are
not mutually exclusive. In other words, because one is disadvantaged along the
axes of race, one is not precluded from also being disadvantaged by gender. The
model presented assumes that disadvantage occurs along only a single axis - that if
one is Black, then all other positions of advantage remain - he is still a middle to
upper-class, Protestant, heterosexual, able-bodied male. This model negates the
existence of those who stand at the intersection of two or more axes. In contrast,
multi-axis theory acknowledges that several positions of disadvantage can coexist
simultaneously within a single individual. In other words, one can be both Black
and a woman. Furthermore, the multi-axis approach asserts that Black women
endure a sort of “triple burden.” They are at a position of disadvantage because of
their race, because of their gender and also because of their unique position as
Black women - a compound form which results in unique sorts of oppression that
cannot be wholly attributed to either racial or gender discrimination.
The Ideological A dvantage
Because of these multiple identities, Black women stand at a place that provides
them with several perspectives, enabling them to simultaneously view the world
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through the lenses of race disadvantage, gender disadvantage and the unique form
of disadvantage experienced by women of color. As a result, at least three forms
of “ideological advantage” are derived, one that is feminist, one that is committed
to Black empowerment and one that is dedicated to the uplift of Black women.
These ideological advantages enable Black women representatives to serve as
authentic representatives for their racial group, their gender group and those who
stand at the intersection of race and gender.
What is perhaps most interesting about the position of Black women, however, is
that while they are fully capable of representing Black people of both genders and
women of all races, at least along the particular axis of disadvantage, the reverse is
not true. Because of their position at the intersection of race and gender and the
unique form of disadvantage experienced by women of color, representation by
White women and Black men cannot “add up” to provide appropriate perspective,
ideological advantage and representation for Black women. In fact, while Black
women representatives assert that their unique lenses enable them to adequately
represent all people, regardless of race or gender, they maintain that the best
representatives for Black women are Black women themselves, with other women
of color (Latinas, Asian women, and/or Indigenous women) being the second most
desirable representative. This assertion indicates that Black women
representatives perceive the most important form of representation as being the
form which advocates for constituents based on their position of disadvantage. In
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other words, women require representation that will advocate for them based on
their gender disadvantage; Blacks require representatives that will move antiracist
agendas forward; Black women require representation that is sensitive to the
intersectional forms of oppression that women of color experience (as well as their
gender-based and race-based positions of disadvantage). While there are
undoubtedly positions of advantage that each disadvantaged individual also holds,1
these advantaged positions do not require particular forms of representation since
the already represent the societal norm and thus have greater access to resources
and power in these contexts. It is the positions of disadvantage that require special
attention to representative perspectives and corresponding ideological advantages.2
Self-Defined Leadership Among Black Women
The position at which an individual stands impacts not only her experiences, but
also the way in which she conceptualizes and approaches phenomena. In the
context of political representation, this means that definitions and manifestations
of such key concepts as leadership differ, with axes of identity helping to
determine the approach to leadership taken. Predominant studies of political
leadership generally center around higher level elective posts and emphasize a
sharp division between leaders and followers. Although such an approach is
1 For example a Black women might also be middle-class, able-bodied, heterosexual and/Or
Protestant.
2 Black men are advantaged in terms of gender and therefore do not require specific forms of
representation because they are men. However, they are disadvantaged by race and require race
conscious advocacy because they are Black. Similarly, White women require representation as
women, but are already in a racially privileged position as Whites.
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assuredly a part of political leadership, it constitutes only a particular type of
leadership and assumes a division between leader and follower that only exists
within certain models. While traditional approaches to political leadership are
often assumed to be neutral and universal, the role of positionality highlights the
subjective nature of White dominated neutrality. While a mask of objectivity is
often presented, this mask is simply used to conceal a White, male, middle-class
(“norm”) bias. Thus, traditional approaches to leadership equate to this “norm.”
Traditional, white, male leadership models are generally restrictive and emphasize
a hierarchical relationship between the leader and the followers. Political
leadership under this model is confined to those individuals who serve in elected
and appointed office. In short, the traditional approach to political leadership is
limited in its application, serving as a model that is utilized almost exclusively by
the “norm” group.
In contrast, Black leadership models differ from traditional models in that they are
not as restrictive in terms of leadership roles - political leadership extends beyond
elected posts to include those who lead from the pulpit and from the helm of
recognized organizations. Nonetheless, despite the inclusion of non-elected
positions as viable leadership forms, Black leadership models maintain many of
the same elements as traditional models. A key relationship between the
traditional leadership and the Black leadership model is that their hierarchical
structure - the line between the leader and the follower is maintained in both
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approaches. What must be recognized, however, is that the “Black leadership”
model continues the fallacy of dominant identity politics approaches in that it
assumes a single axis of identity, assuming positions of privilege on all axes other
than race. Black leadership becomes shorthand for Black male leadership.
Just as Black leadership models assume maleness, women’s leadership models
assume Whiteness. White women’s leadership models and approaches to change
are generally rooted in liberalism, which seeks to expand the circle of power and
resources to include a greater number of people - more specifically women. This
approach to leadership stops short of radicalism which seeks to fundamentally
transform the system; rather, the liberal feminist approach limits its involvements
to the traditional tools offered by the existing system (i.e. voting, lobbying, etc.).
In addition, liberal feminism seeks to draw the circle around a single class of
“women” for incorporation into the mainstream, viewing other marginalized
groups as competition rather than partners in a potential coalition. This forces
Black women to “choose” whether to be a part of the prescribed class of women or
whether to identify with their racial group, disallowing them from advocating for
both their racial and gender realities simultaneously. Also, the dominance of the
liberal feminist school fails to challenge the core elements of the existing power
structure w h ic h require an interlocking system of oppression and privilege.
Instead liberal feminism simply seeks to include women (or at least a greater
number of women) in the privileged group. While radical feminism rejects
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attempts at liberal inclusion by calling for a movement that seeks to fundamentally
transform the system of power in society, it is woefully underdeveloped as a
practical strategy for empowerment. While well-developed as a theory, radical
feminism falls short in that it offers very little in the way of tangible guidelines for
leadership and liberation. Yet it is this brand of feminism that is most in line with
the general principles of Black women’s leadership.
Further illustrative of the triple identity carried by Black women - as members of
their racial class, gender class and position at the intersection - is the self-defined
model of leadership that has been developed by Black women. While there are
some elements of the Blaek leadership model3 included in Black women’s
approaches to leadership and some components of radical feminism4 are also a part
of the developed model, many of the core elements of Black women’s leadership
are unique. In contrast to the model of leadership presented by Black men where
there is a clear division between leader and follower, the self-defined model of
leadership developed by Black women much less hierarchical. The Black
women’s model rejects the tenets of liberalism and is rooted in a tradition of
radicalism - seeking to bring about total transformation rather than limited reform.
3 A key commonality is that political leadership forms among Black men arid Black women are
generally less restrictive and more inclusive, applying to both formal positions of political
leadership (the realm of electoral politics) and positions of advocacy that are largely outside of the
formal political sphere (including work with churches, community-based organizations, and
informal collectives).
4 The core theoretical components of radical feminism - namely an emphasis on systematic
transformation rather than liberal inclusion - are consistent with the approaches to the theoretical
approaches to political leadership ascribed to by the Black women’s model.
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However, it moves beyond the theories presented by radical feminism in that
theory is tied to practice.
Commonalities in leadership approaches by Black women to those of Black men
and non-Black women confirm their shared positionalities. Their third position at
the intersection of race and gender also provides a unique perspective and impacts
the way in which Black women approach leadership. Rather than existing simply
as a merging of Black men’s and White women’s models of leadership, this third
perspective enables a distinctive leadership form to be birthed. This self-defined
leadership model is rooted in both the historical, social and economic realities of
Black women as well as the legacy of civic engagement practiced by Black women
activists. Differences in concepts and approaches to leadership by Black women
are derived from the particular histories of Black women as African people,
women and members of the underclass, conditions of race-based, sex-based, class-
based and race/sex-based oppression and legacies of struggle for political, social
and economic empowerment.
The model of Black women’s leadership that unfolds includes four core elements.
First, for Black women there must be a relationship between theory and practice -
with each constantly informing the other. Where ideologies are often associated
with social movements, many stop short of placing developed belief systems into
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practice.5 Similarly, many organizations are largely reactionary, responding to
perceived oppressions and injustices, but failing to ground their actions in a
theoretical base. In contrast, the model of Black women’s leadership presented
here asserts that theory must be tied to practice. A core set of beliefs and driving
principles is developed by Black women’s movements prior to engaging in
activism. This belief system serves as a base upon which the group can be
galvanized; however, it remains malleable and is in a constant state of evolution,
both informing and being informed by activist engagements. Black women’s
leadership theory adheres to a multi-axis framework which requires coalition
building and cooperative political engagement among disadvantaged groups; it
also ascribes to the principles of radicalism, not simply seeking liberal inclusion,
but fundamental transformation - abolishing a system where the privilege of one
group requires the subjugation of another; tied in with this radical principle is the
commitment to collective vis-a-vis individual uplift. These core ideologies also
require actions that incorporate them more tangibly. This means that each
component of Black women’s self-defined leadership must be consistent with its
ideological principles and that the theoretical base in itself compels action.
The second component of the model is that it encourages proactive versus simply
reactive activism. Organizing among Black women has been consistent in the
requisite that the women themselves identify goals and challenges proactively
5 For example, radical feminism ascribes to the principles of radicalism which requires systematic
transformation rather than liberal incorporation or limited reform. However, it generally stops
short of actually engaging in practices and actions that put this theory into practice.
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rather than simply reacting to crises as they arise. By engaging in self-initiated
activism. Black women are empowered by setting their own agendas for liberation
as opposed to being bound to respond to those challenges posed by groups outside
of their own - and often made by the very group that serves in the position of the
oppressor. This does not mean that Black women ignore crises that arise or shy
away from activism in response to a presented dilemma. What it does mean,
however, is that the power to determine the key challenges and platform for
collective uplift is reserved for Black women themselves rather than being dictated
by an outside group.
Thirdly, the Black women’s leadership model is the commitment to collective
decision-making and action - a power-sharing among the group. Perhaps most
clearly illustrated in the leadership models of Lugenia Hope and Ella Baker, Black
women ascribe to a communal as opposed to an individual process of decision
making - emphasizing the importance of group-centered leadership rather than a
leader-centered group. This means that a group does not revolve around a single
individual or even a core of individuals nor does it depend upon the charisma of an
identifiable named leader - in this sense, the group is not leader-centered. Rather,
the organizational ideology, decision-making process and activist engagements
draw from the resources and contributions o f all group members, making the
leadership form group-centered. This model enables all group members to share in
the process and responsibility o f leadership, erasing the line between leader and
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follower and making us all leaders. As a result, the movements that employ such
models are given a life of their own rather than simply existing as the
organizational tag of an anointed leader; such a movement is undoubtedly much
more enduring and impactful, making substantive change a much more realistic
goal.
Finally, the methods used to organize and empower among Black women include
both inside participation and outside agitation, ranging from traditional political
tools, like voting, lobbying and running for office, to less traditional methods,
including marches, boycotts and grassroots organizing. These organizing methods
are grounded in the theoretical principles asserted by the model. By limiting
engagements to traditional methods, options are also limited largely to liberal
reform. However, by engaging in a range of options, some of which seek to
accomplish movement goals through inside participation and others that move into
forms of outside agitation, progressive and even radical goals are much more
viable. In fact, this two-pronged approach makes each method more effective than
it would be on its own. Where there is often little incentive for advantaged groups
to pass the progressive reform options initiated through inside participation
methods, the threat of systematic upheaval presented by the outside agitation
approach often makes dominant groups more agreeable to progressive alternatives.
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Black Women and Political Participation
This leadership model requires that Black women develop alternate views of what
constitutes political participation. While the traditional view of political
participation is generally confined to engagement in electoral politics (i.e. voting,
running for office, etc.) and even more expanded views of political participation
(Verba, Schlozman and Brady 1996) limit their definition of participation to
activities that work to influence government and policy making, Black women
often engage in activities that work to change the way in which power and
resources are allocated in society yet lie outside the realm of electoral politics and
are not seeking to directly influence those in elected posts. Definitions of political
participation are shaped by the perspectives and positions of those who are
defining the term - just as definitions and approaches to leadership and
representation are. For Black women, politics is about power,6 meaning that
.politics permeates into every element of the way in which life is lived. Political
participation, then, is those conscious efforts made to change the way in which
power works. Because power does not rest wholly with formal structures, but
exists - and often exists to an even greater degree - with non-governmental
entities, political participation need not be an attempt to influence government.
Instead, broader movements that seek to empower the people themselves are often
defined by Black women as forms o f political participation.
6 While there is a general acceptance of a linkage between polities and pOwef, for Black wOiheii
power and its allocation is applied more broadly - moving away from approaches that confine its
discussion, analysis and application to formal institutions to those less formal relationships that
impact the way in which people live their day-to-day lives.
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Non-traditional forms of political participation, like the forming of informal
collectives, acts of everyday resistance (Kelley 1996), activism through activist
forms and liberation theology, have long been a tool used to empower Black
people in the United States and Black women particularly because more traditional
methods were unavailable to them (restrictions on voting, etc.). Engagement in
non-traditional forms of political participation does not indicate an aversion to
traditional methods, but that traditional methods alone are not enough.
Participation in non-traditional political methods through individual and collective
work also interacts with more traditional methods, with non-traditional forms often
making traditional ones more effective. The perceived threat of destabilization of
the current power structure through non-traditional political strategies often
enables more traditional tactics to work, since traditional methods are largely
confined to liberal or progressive reform, making them a more desirable
alternative to those who benefit from the status quo.
Because traditional methods of political participation require working within the
existing structure, plausible outcomes are largely limited to reformative change. In
contrast, substantive change is more likely to be achieved through non-traditional
forms of political participation. Thus, Black women’s engagement in non-
traditional political practices serves as an indicator that many Black women
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ascribe to more radical ideologies - ideologies that move beyond simple reform to
structural transformation.
As elected officials, these alternative forms of participation translate into the way
that Black women represent constituencies, with representation occurring both
through legislative voting as well as public education and agenda setting functions.
In fact, survey data suggests that BWEOs are likely to participate in and/or support
outside agitation activities, with high rates of membership in community-based
organizations and grassroots movements. These alternative forms of participation
for BWEOs are partially related to the tradition of Black women’s organizing, but
also result from being “locked out” of traditional methods of engagement - even as
elected officials (with most traditional methods requiring the building of a majority
coalition).
Black Women’s Leadership and Social Movements
It is important to note that this leadership model is not static, but has evolved over
time and continues to evolve to meet the needs and challenges of Black women
and the larger groups to which they belong. Accepting a central assertion of
Katherine Tate’s “protest to politics” theory (Tate 1994) that early movements
toward Black empowerment required that African-Americans adopted tactics that
were largely outside the realm of traditional politics since voting and running for
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7
office was restricted both by law and by fact, Black women have long played a
central role in social movements. While not often recognized as the leaders of
social movements, Black women’s social movements contributed significantly to
Black women’s advancement, Black advancement and women’s advancement
made by Black women. The general omission of Black women’s leadership in
social movements can, of course, be partially attributed to biases within
mainstream scholarship. However, an additional explanation might also be the
very form that defined Black women’s leadership. The emphasis on group-
centered leadership discourages social movements from being “owned” by any one
individual. Instead, all members have a stake and share responsibility for the
movement. As a result, traditional historical approaches often overlook the
collective efforts made by these groups of women leaders.
Once entry into the realm of electoral politics was achieved, an additional form of
Black women’s leadership emerged - essentially as an extension of Black
women’s foundation in social movements. Political representation through
authentic elected representatives became both a means and an end to uplift on all
fronts. One of the most interesting findings of this research is the solid connection
between Black women who serve in elected office and Black women’s social
movements, with BWEOs maintaining active memberships in social and
community-based organizations at rates that substantially exceed that of any other
7 The Black women’s leadership model departs from Tate’s theory, however, in that it demonstrates
a joined strategy between protest movements and electoral politics rather than an abandonment of
activist tactics in favor o f formal politics.
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group. In addition, it is often their affiliation with such organizations that is
pointed to as a key component in their electoral victory. This points to the
existence of an ongoing and interdependent relationship between Black women
who serve in elected office and social movements, where the movements are
dependent upon the representatives to serve as advocates inside the existing
political system and representatives depend upon the support of organizations to
serve as outside agitators and supporters of their political candidacies.
Black Women and Representation
Their shared positionality, the interdependent relationship between Black women
officeholders and community organizations along with the range of forms through
which political representation occurs, enables BWEOs to serve as authentic
representatives for Black women, Black men and non-Black women. While some
assert that racial and gender identity have little effect on representation (Swain
1995, Reingold 2000), an analysis of representative functions beyond legislative
voting reveals the relevance of description in that it entitles the representative to a
certain perspective or standpoint unavailable to non-group members.8 This is not
to say that this descriptive element alone ensures authentic representation, simply
8 1 argue that legislative voting is but one form of representation and with the limited options
available (either a yes or no vote), it is actually the form that is least capable of capturing the range
o f policy preferences held by representatives. Kenny Whitby’s study (1997) takes these limited
options into account and asserts that the role of race and representation can better be determined
through bill amendments than simple legislative voting patterns. His work illustrates some
difference in policy preference based on race. However, I argue that there are a range o f forms
through which representation takes place, including public education, agenda setting, community
involvement and legislative voting. This study’s survey respondents confirm that legislative voting
is actually the form that is least reflective o f their ideologies and that other forms are much more
accurate reflections.
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that a shared positionality is a prerequisite for authentic representation to occur.
Authentic representation also requires that the representative serve as an advocate
for the collective interests and concerns of her constituency. Authentic
representation carries substance in that the interests of the group are placed ahead
of individual interests. So, while Black women are not necessarily authentic
representatives, they are the sole group that meets the prerequisite for the authentic
representation of Black women, Black men and White women. As authentic
representatives, the descriptive form of BWEOs (being Black and female)
privileges them with a particular standpoint that only individuals in their unique
position share;
This question of authentic representation is of greatest concern to people along
their positions of disadvantage. Statuses of privilege do not require the same level
of advocacy as positions of disadvantage since they are generally accepted as the
norm and dominate the power structure. Thus, the identities of concern for Black
women are largely race and gender.9 Black women serve as full members of both
their racial and gender groups, enabling BWEOs to serve as authentic
representatives of all Blacks regardless of gender and all women regardless of
race. However, their intersectional position prevents this representative ability
from working in the opposite direction; their interests cannot authentically be
9 There is also an implied class concern since Black women are more likely than other groups to be
working-class or poor. This is not to say that Black women cannot also hold some positions of
privilege - for example heterosexual Black women are privileged along the axis o f sexual
orientation, able-bodied women are privileged by physical ability and Black women Christians are
privileged along the axis of religion.
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represented by either Black men, White women or even the combination of Black
men and White women. While Black male representatives can represent the racial
interests of Black women and White women can represent their gender interests,
even with the two forms, the intersectional status of Black women goes
unaddressed. BWEOs ability to represent “up” stems from their ability to
simultaneously represent their disadvantaged racial status, gender status and
intersectional position. Because their positions of disadvantage along the single
axes of race and gender are shared with a larger group, they also possess the ability
to coalesce around common interests and conditions of oppression. In instances
where interests conflict, Black women who serve as authentic representatives will
maintain their advocacy for the position of disadvantage. In other words, while
they can effectively represent White women, they do so along the axis of gender -
representing the disadvantaged status of White women as women; their role is not
to represent them along the race axis. Therefore, when White women’s Whiteness
conflicts with Black women’s Blackness, Black women representatives advocate
from their position of disadvantage - their racial identity. Similarly, when Black
men’s privileged male status conflicts with Black women’s disadvantaged gender
position, an authentic Black woman representative will represent her gender
position. This does not mean that Black women choose either race over gender or
gender over race, rather they retain both positions of disadvantage and refuse to
contribute to the advantaged positions of members of either their racial or gender
group to subjugate those who are in a position of disadvantage.
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Prospects for the Future of Black Women and Political Representation
This study demonstrates the essential role that Black women play as political
representatives, with their positionality enabling them to offer authentic
representation to Black women, Black men, and non-Black women. This
representation takes multiple forms, including legislative voting, but also public
education, agenda setting and community involvement. As representatives, Black
women serve to move the Black women’s leadership model forward and partner
with those women who lead in non-traditional ways (as community organizers,
other-mothers, activists, and agitators). What is apparent in all of this is that the
presence of Black women in elected office is essential to the social, economic and
political progress of all people, but especially people from disadvantaged groups
and that representation by Black men and White women cannot “add up” to
adequately represent the interests of Black women.
However, despite the need for Black women in elected office, in recent years we
have witnessed an actual decline in numbers. Although all four of the Black
Congressional Representatives from California are women, of the 535 members of
the 108th Congress, only 10 are Black women, a number that reflects less than 2%
of the total make-up (Congressional Black Caucus 2003).1 0 Even more
discouraging is the fact that there are currently no Black women who serve in the
California state legislature, often thought of as a “stepping stone” to Congressional
1 0 Proportional representation would require approximately 30 Black women Members o f Congress
(U.S. Census 2000).
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office.1 1 We are also witnessing an aging of Black women officeholders with the
average age of survey respondents at 56. This is especially disturbing because the
survey includes both local and federal level elected officials, indicating that there
are few women in a position to ascend to higher office. Although many Black
women take non-traditional roads to elected office, with backgrounds in education
and social service, their initial elected post is most office a local level one, making
it unlikely that a Black woman who has never held an elected position will run for
or be elected to either the state legislature or Congress.
The question then becomes who will succeed current Black women officeholders.
While demographic shifts might impact some seats currently held by Black
women, perhaps an even greater concern is the role that current BWEOs play as
recruiters. As Thomas Kazee indicates, Black women are unlikely to run for office
based on ambition and are more likely to wait until they are recruited to run
(Kazee 1994). Unfortunately, based on current trends, those who are succeeding
Black women officeholders are not Black women, but Black men.1 2 An initial
assumption is that Black women officeholders are more likely to recruit Black men
1 1 In fact, all five o f the Black women who have served as Congressional Representatives from
California were members o f either the California State Assembly or California State Senate prior to
their runs for Congressional office (California Legislative Caucus 2003).
1 2 In California, Assemblymember Carl Washington served on the staff o f Supervisor Yvonne
Brathwaite Burke, as did Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson and Assemblymember Roderick Wright
was a political staffer for Congressmember Maxine Waters. In Florida, Kendrick Meek succeeded
his mother, Carrie Meek, as the Representative for the 17th District. Representative Carolyn
Cheeks Kilpatrick (15th Distict, MI) also appears to have groomed and recruited her son, Kwame
Kilpatrick, into politics; he now serves as Mayor of Detroit.
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as their successors than Black women. However, based on analysis of the staffs of
BWEOs, it appears that this is a false conclusion.
Ch a r t 7-1
Staff Composition
O ther M O C
9%
O ther W O C
20%
As illustrated in Chart 7-1, Black women constitute the plurality (25%) of staff
members on the staffs of Black women officeholders. In fact, the number of Black
men on staff is also surpassed by other women of color (who constitute 20%) and
White women and White men (each at 16%); Black men (at 14%) only exceed
other men of color (who are the lowest rate at 9%).
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It seems then that black women office holders are, in fact, making efforts to recruit
Black women to office. In fact, in my interview with Yvonne Brathwaite Burke,
she indicated that she has encouraged and continues to encourage one of her Black
women senior deputies to run for office (Burke 2002).
Why, does the number of Black women in office continuing to decline? What has
been overlooked is that while Black women candidates favor the recruitment
model over the ambition model, the source of candidate recruitment for Black
women is not the same as it is for other groups. Rather looking to political staffers
to succeed current Black women officeholders, perhaps we should look to
educators and social service providers and recruit political representatives from
there. Very few current officeholders ever served as political staffers prior to their
candidacies; instead they worked as teachers, school administrators and
community workers. Given the existing linkage between Black women in elected
office and community-based organizations, there seems to be a logical pathway for
recruitment, with BWEOs looking to these partners as their most likely successors.
Imnlications for Future Research
This dissertation subscribes to the principles outlined in multi-axis theory,
intersectionality, Black feminism/womanism and critical race feminism asserting
that the unique positionality of Black women provides them with an ideological
advantage that translates into policy preferences and advocacy reflected through
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legislative voting behavior, agenda setting, public education and activism. Black
women in elected office are more likely to provide authentic political
representation for Black women, incorporating the unique model of leadership
required for collective uplift and empowerment. In addition, Black women
representatives can serve as authentic leaders for all members of their racial and
gender groups - particularly along their axes of disadvantage. In addition to this
study’s findings, however, are implications for future research that are beyond the
scope of this work.
First, the study is limited to those women who serve in elected office in California.
A national study that surveys all Black women in elected office would confirm
whether or not this project’s findings apply nationally. In addition, it would allow
for the inclusion of Black women who serve in state legislatures. Also, with a
larger total number, survey results would more readily lend themselves to more
advanced statistical analysis.
Second, the study highlights linkages between Black women who serve in elected
office and community-based and grassroots organizations, with BWEOs
maintaining memberships in such organizations in extremely high numbers. What
is implied by this finding is that there is an ongoing conversation by BWEOs and
community organizers. In other words, methods of inside participation and outside
agitation do not simply complement one another, but develop and advance
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coordinated goals and agendas. In addition, collaborative strategies are outlined
and implemented. Recent works by Nancy Naples (1998), Deborah Gray White
(2000) and Andrea Simpson (forthcoming) analyze the enduring legacy of
organizing among Black women in the United States. Additional work might be
done that links Black women’s grassroots activism with their role in electoral
politics.
Third, the limited comparative analysis provided in this study compares the
profiles, experiences, ideologies, leadership styles, and representative forms of
Black women in elected office to Black men, White women and White men. What
is unclear is the degree to which the self-defined model of Black women’s
leadership presented in this dissertation might extend to other women of color,
particularly Latinas - who generally share similar political, economic and social
conditions with Black women. With the rapid rise of Latinas in politics, a
comparative study of Black women and Latinas is not only timely, but might
outline prospects for coalition building.
Finally, the present work invites research that focuses on prospects for recruiting
Black women candidates. As demonstrated by Thomas Kazee (1994) as well as
the research findings of this work, Black women are less inclined to run for office
based on an ambition model and are more likely to wait to be asked to run. This
study’s findings also assert that the most traditional venue for recruitment, from
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the political staffs of current elected officials, is less likely to be a viable source for
Black women candidates. The great majority of Black women who serve in
elected office had never served as a political staffer. Furthermore, the great
number of Black women who serve on the political staffs of BWEOs has not
translated into additional Black women candidates for office. Thus, while Black
women do serve on political staffs, they are generally unlikely to use their
positions to move themselves forward into political office. This suggests that there
are other grounds through which Black women candidates might be recruited.1 3 In
addition, research in this area might outline ways in which coordinated efforts to
recruit, groom and support Black women candidates might be developed.1 4
1 3 The high number of BWEOs with previous occupations in education and social service suggests
that professional associations in these fields might be more fertile ground for candidate recruitment.
1 4 The recent development o f the African American Women’s Leadership Institute in Los Angeles
might serve as one model for study.
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Chapter 7 -- References
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Appendix A
BLACK WOMEN IN ELECTED OFFICE
2002 California Survey
UNIVERSITY
OF SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Department of Political Science
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BLACK WOMEN ELECTED IN ELECTED OFFICE - 2002 CALIFORNIA
SURVEY
Please respond to each question to the best o f your ability. If you wish to respond to a
question in more detail than the space provided, please note the question number and
respond on a separate sheet of paper. (Please note: Your identity will be kept
confidential.)
I. Personal Data
1) Please check ALL levels of education completed:
( ) Less than High School Diploma
( ) High School Diploma or Equivalent
( ) Associates Degree (AA)
Major:________________
( ) Bachelors Degree (BA/BS)
Major:________________
( ) Master’s Degree (MA, MS, MBA, MSW, etc.) Please specify:_______
Major:_________ ______
( ) Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD)
Major: _______ ______
( ) Doctorate of Education (EdD)
( ) Other Professional Doctorate (JD, MD, etc.) Please specify:________
( ) Other Advanced Degree Please specify:__________
2) Please list your age:___________
3) Marital Status: ( )Single ( )Married ( ) Widowed ( ) Divorced
4) Number of Children:__________
5) What were your parents’ primary occupations) during your childhood and
adolescence?
Mother:____________________
Father:____________________
6) Please list your occupation^) prior to election to office:
7) If you have served as a staff member for an elected official, how significant was
the role that he or she played in your decision to run for elected office?
( ) Very significant ( ) Significant ( ) Not very significant ( ) Not at all
significant ( ) N/A
P lease specify gender o f elected official whom yo u staffed: ( ) Fem ale ( )
M ale
8) Current Annual Household Income:
( ) Under $40,000 per year ( ) $41,000-60,000 per year
( ) $61,000-$80,000 per year ( ) $81,000-100,000 per year
( ) More than $100,000 per year
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9) Which of the following organization types do you belong to? (Check all that
apply)
( ) Church/Mosque/Synagogue/Temple
( ) Community Organization(s) (CBO, grassroots organization, etc.)
( ) Sorority Please Specify: __________________________
( ) Professional Associations)
( ) Other Memberships Please
List:___________________________________________
II. Political Data
10) Level of government of current elected post:
( ) City/Municipal ( ) County ( ) State ( )
Federal
11) Total number of years served in current elected post:________
12) Please list all previous elected posts in which you have served beginning with the
most recent
Position Held Agency Name Total Years Served
13) How would you classify your political ideology?
( ) Radical ( ) Progressive ( ) Liberal ( ) Moderate ( )
Conservative
( ) Other Please
specify: _________________________________________________ ____________
14) Is your political ideology most clearly reflected through your:
( ) Legislative voting patterns
( ) Sponsorship of bills/policies
( ) Shaping of political discussion among elected officials
( ) Public education efforts (informing constituents)
( ) Involvements with community/grassroots organizations
15) Which of the following best describes your campaign strategy as it relates to race?
( ) Race-Neutral (e.g. absence of race cues; “colorblind” approach)
( ) Race Moderate (e.g. minimal usage of racial cues)
( ) Race Specific (e.g. “color-conscious” approach)
( ) Multi-Faceted (e.g. race-specific within Black community and race-
neutral/race-moderate outside Black community)
16) Which of the following best describes your campaign strategy as it relates to
gender?
( ) Gender Neutral (e.g. absence of gender cues)
( ) Gender Moderate (e.g. minimal usage of racial cues)
( ) Gender Specific (e.g. gender conscious approach)
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( ) Multi-Faceted (e.g. gender specific within women’s groups and gender
neutral/gender moderate outside women’s groups)
17) Please describe the general population of your district:
( ) Black population of 75% or more
( ) Black population of 50-74%
( ) Black population of30-49%
( ) Black population of less than 30%
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The following statements are designed to explore selected aspects of your leadership style.
Please read each item carefully and check the most appropriate answer.
18) A racially sensitive non-Black elected official can represent Black voters just as
well as Black elected officials.
( ) Strongly Agree ( ) Agree ( ) Undecided ( ) Disagree ( ) Strongly
Disagree
19) A gender sensitive male elected official can represent women voters just as well
as female elected officials.
( ) Strongly Agree ( ) Agree ( ) Undecided ( ) Disagree ( ) Strongly
Disagree
20) The combination of representation by Black male elected officials and White
female elected officials adequately represents Black women voters.
( ) Strongly Agree ( ) Agree ( ) Undecided) ( )Disagree ( ) Strongly
Disagree
21) Black female elected officials often have to subsume their gender interests to then-
racial interests.
( ) Strongly Agree ( ) Agree ( ) Undecided ( ) Disagree ( ) Strongly
Disagree
22) Black female elected officials often have to subsume their racial interests to their
gender interests.
( ) Strongly Agree ( ) Agree ( ) Undecided ( ) Disagree ( ) Strongly
Disagree
23) How effective do you believe Black female elected officials are at representing
the racial interests of ALL Blacks, regardless of gender?
( ) Very Effective ( ) Effective ( ) Somewhat Effective ( ) Not Very Effective ( )
Not Effective
24) How effective do you believe Black female elected officials are at representing
the gender interests of ALL women, regardless of race?
( ) Very Effective ( ) Effective ( ) Somewhat Effective ( ) Not Very Effective ( )
Not Effective
25) In considering policy, Black female elected officials should utilize which of the
following perspectives? Check all that apply.
( ) Black perspective ( ) Woman’s perspective
( ) Race-neutral perspective ( ) Gender-neutral perspective
26) Black women elected officials best represent the interests of which of the
following groups?
( ) Black women
( ) All Blacks regardless of gender
( ) All women regardless o f race
( ) Women of color
( ) All people o f color regardless o f gender
( ) All people regardless of race or gender
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27) Please RANK the level at which each o f the following types o f elected officials is
capable o f representing the interests o f Black women constituents, with 1 being
the best representative and 6 being the worst.
Black female representative
Non-Black female of color representative (Latina, Asian, Native American female)
Black male representative
Other male of color representative (Latino, Asian, Native American male)
W hite female representative
W hite male representative
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III. Recruitment
28) At what point did you FIRST decide to run for elected office?
( ) Lifelong Goal ( ) Previous Career ( ) College ( ) High School ( )
When Asked
29) What major factors influenced your decision to run for public office? Check all
that apply.
( ) Asked to run ( ) Need for Black representation ( ) Need for female
representation
( ) Need for Black female representation ( ) Personal Goal
( ) Interaction with Elected Officials ( ) Community Involvement ( )
Educational Advocacy
30) Please RANK the impact that each o f the following factors has had on your
campaign(s), with 1 being the greatest impact and 6 being the least impact.
Endorsements from other public officials
Financial support
Grassroots support
Name Recognition
Organizational Support (Churches, Business Associations, Unions, etc.)
Volunteers
31) Please RANK each o f the following entities in terms o f the level o f support given
to your campaign(s), with 1 being the entity that offered the most support and 8
being the entity that offered the least.
Black Organizations (NAACP, SCLC, etc.)
Businesses
Clergy
Community Organizations (non-profits, CBOs, etc.)
Elected Officials
Professional Organizations
Unions/Labor
Women’s Organizations (Sororities, NOW, etc.)
32) How many o f each o f the following groups currently work on your staff? Please
write number.
Black women
Black men
Other women o f color (Latina, Asian, Native American)
Other men o f color (Latino, Asian, Native America)
White women
White men
Thank you for your participation. Please return completed survey to:
M elina R eim an n , P h .D . C a n d id a te
D ep a rtm en t of Political Science
U niversity of S o u th er n C aliforn ia
Los Angeles, C alifornia 90089-1695
T elep h on e: 213-740-9061
F a x : 213-740-8893
E -M a il: reim a n n @ u sc.ed u
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APPENDIX B
CALIFORNIA BLACK WOMEN ELECTED OFFICIALS
INTER VIEW QUESTIONAIRRE
Section One: The Road to Elected Office - This initial section is designed to
identify ways in which interviewees arrived at their current elected posts,
specifically highlighting ambition/recruitment model outlined by Thomas Kazee.
1) How did you first come to run for elected office?
a. When did you first begin to think about running for elected office?
b. Was your decision to run more o f an individual, personal decision
or were you asked to run?
1. If asked, by whom?
c. Did you consult with key political players before making a decision
to run?
1. Who did you consult with?
2. In what way did any advice given impact your decision?
2) Were their key political/policy issues which prompted your candidacy?
a. If so, what were they?
3) Were you satisfied with the quality of representation that had been offered
in your district?
a. Please explain why or why not.
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b. What were the main strengths and weaknesses o f previous
representatives?
c. What were the main strengths and weaknesses o f your primary
challengers?
4) Did you run for an open seat?
a. If so, did you receive the endorsement o f the outgoing incumbent?
b. Were the other primary candidates men or women?
c. What were the racial/ethnic backgrounds o f the other candidates?
d. If you did not run for an open seat, what were the main challenges
of running against an incumbent?
e. Was the incumbent a man or a woman?
f. What was the incumbent’s race/ethnicity?
Section Two: Support Patterns - This section is designed to determine the
degrees to which interviewees received financial, volunteer, and other forms o f
support from various groups and individuals.
1) What maj or endorsements did you receive?
a. To what degree do you believe these endorsements impacted your
campaign?
2) What significant organizational support did you receive?
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a. What kinds o f organizations provided the greatest support?
(Churches, sororities/fraternities, grassroots organizations, etc.)
b. What form(s) of organizational support did you receive?
(Volunteer, financial, independent campaigns, community mobilization,
etc.)
c. To what degree do you believe organizational support impacted
your campaign?
3) How successful do you think your fundraising efforts were?
a. Why or why not?
4) What major hurdles did you face in garnering support?
Section Three: Approach to Representation - The following section works to
determine the interviewee’ s general approach to representation, especially as
related to the idea o f “ authentic ” versus “ inauthentic leadership discussed by
Lani Guinier and questions raised by Carol Swain and Beth Reingold related to
the race and gender o f representatives.
1) How important do you think your race is in representing your constituents?
a. Do you think that the racial interests o f your constituents could be
represented as effectively by a White representative?
b. Do you believe that, as an African-American, you effectively
represent the interests of non-Black constituents?
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c. If you think that the interests o f African-Americans cannot be as
effectively represented by Whites, but a Black representative can
effectively represent the interests o f non-Blacks, why do you think this is
so?
2) How important do you think your gender is in representing your
constituents?
a. Do you think that the gender interests o f women could be
represented as effectively by a male representative?
b. Do you believe that, as a woman, you can effectively represent the
interests o f men?
c. If you think that the interests o f women cannot be represented as
effectively by men, but a woman representative can effectively represent
the interests of men, why do you think this is so?
Section Four: Black Female Candidate Recruitment Efforts - The final
section works to 1) identify the degree to which African-American organizations,
women's groups, Black male elected officials, non-Black women elected officials,
and Black women elected officials are working to recruit new Black women
candidates, and 2) the degree to which the interviewee views targeted recruitment
efforts as a priority.
1) What methods currently exist for recruiting Black women candidates to
office?
a. Are these methods largely formal or informal?
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b. What role are women’s groups playing?
c. What role are African-American organizations playing?
d. How effective do you think current methods are?
2) To what degree are potential Black female candidates mentored?
a. What role are Black male representatives playing in this process?
b. What role are non-Black women representatives playing in this
process?
c. Is there any organized effort among Black women representatives
to mentor potential Black women candidates?
3) Do you think it is important that potential Black female candidates be
specifically targeted for recruitment to elected office?
a. Do you think that recruitment efforts targeting Black women are
more, less, or equally important as efforts directed toward Black men?
b. Do you think that recruitment efforts targeting Black women are
more, less, or equally important as efforts directed toward non-Black
women?
c. Do you think that recruitment efforts targeting Black women are
more, less, or equally important as efforts directed toward White men?
d. Are targeted recruitment efforts more or less effective than general
recruitment efforts?
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1. Why?
e. What role do you believe mentoring plays?
1. At what point should the mentoring process begin? (Prior to
potential candidate’s run for office, once elected to local office,
etc.)
2. Were you mentored?
a. If you were mentored, how?
3. Have you served as a mentor?
a. If you have served as a mentor, who have you
mentored and how did you mentor them?
f. How should potential Black women candidates be identified?
(Elected official staffers, community organizations, etc.)
327
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Abdullah, Melina Rachal (author)

Core Title Greater than the sum of her parts: A multi -axis analysis of Black women and political representation

School Graduate School

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Political Science

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag American studies,OAI-PMH Harvest,political science, general,women's studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Preston, Michael B. (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Renteln, Alison Dundes (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-555496

Unique identifier UC11339158

Identifier 3103853.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-555496 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 3103853.pdf

Dmrecord 555496

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Abdullah, Melina Rachal

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA