Assignment 4(b)
For decades, the position of black women in society has been suppressed due to racial, sexual, cultural and political differences. Patricia Hill points out the African-American women who lay the foundation for empowering black women. She named activists such as Maria Stewart, who was the first U.S black feminist to challenge the black women to reject the negative images painted of them by the society. The text “outsider-within” is used to describe the oppression of black women in the white society. The exploitation of black women’s labour, which they were not paid any wages, is a representation of the economic dimension of oppression. Black women were denied rights and privileges that were extended to the white society such as good education, voting, a fair criminal justice system and public office. The image applied to black women as slaves was adapted by the society and was seen as normal and natural. Patricia Hills highlights that even the white women did not support the black women instead; they were involved in middle-class white politics and shunned the oppression of their fellow women. Despite the oppression and suppression, the black women were encouraged by Maria Stewart to use their responsibilities as mother as a weapon against oppression. The black women were advised to create the minds of their children and make them thirst for knowledge since knowledge is power.
In the “white trash”, the authors argue that when people think about racism, it is usually a one-way street where the whites are the racists and the non-whites are the victims. The authors highlight that poor and working class whites face the same problems as the other racial minorities. The term “White Trash” is used to point out the fear and the hatred brought about by the difference in economic classes among the white Americans. The authors contend that racism is usually brought about by the economic differences. The poor in the white society are undermined and their wealthier counterparts consider them as trash that must be expelled and disposed so that whiteness can achieve and maintain social dominance. The authors agree with the critics that explain “White Trash” as a group of white people who occupy the social and economic margins of American life. The authors disagree with the diagnosis that poor white people are not as smart as their fellow whites. It is not a matter of policy studies and social sciences. Poor white people are also victims of multiculturism that is brought about by stories told by dominant groups.
The film, Paris Is Burning, focuses on the ball competitions that are elaborately structured. It depicts people with different forms of expression and different gender identities such as Venus Xtravaganza who became a sex worker. It explores hoe the people handled adversity of poverty, homophobia, racism and AIDS. The approach of the film which is the exploitation of a subculture on many levels is makes the film significant. The Latino culture and the African-American culture are unappreciated and underground thus many Americans are not familiar with it. The film focuses on the strength, humour and pride the subjects maintain despite the struggles in their lives to survive in a “rich, White World”. Some critics such as Bell Hook, viewed the film as a documentary taken by a white person to entertain other white people and that the participants and the ball world were personally and politically misguided.
