Unequally Yoked

Sophia thinks too much of herself, she needs to be taken down a peg or two. – Mister,  The Color Purple

Devastatingly, many Black men and women felt that getting a Black man on the Supreme Court was more important than acknowledging the indignity a Black woman had suffered at his hands. – Essence Magazine

“De nigger woman is de mule uh de world.” – Zora Neale Hurston

The oppressive forces that seek to subordinate black women are legion and require intentional, enduring, communal and spiritual resistance and radical love if they are to survive individually, or as a community. Black women who are self possessed, (have a clear understanding of their worth and their power) are offensive to the world, especially the black community. It could even be argued that the world seeks ways to subdue her whether through sexually harassment and ridicule as the world watches, beating her into submission or slandering her name to remind her that according the dominant worldview, she has no right to think highly of herself.

What exactly is her place? Is she to be a docile, submissive helpmeet that perpetually acquiesces to male leadership? Even when she might have a better method? In The Color Purple, Mister tells Harpo to beat his wife because she thinks to much of herself. It seems the ability to survive in the midst of oppression is a virtue in the black community, but the ability to maintain one's dignity and celebrate herself while doing so, makes a black woman a villain who deserves punishment. This punishment is often mete out on her flesh, seared in shame onto her sexuality, or tendered through the smearing of her name and the ruining of her reputation and credibility as was the case with Zora Neale Hurston.

Katie Canon’s Black Womanist Ethics offers Hurston’s example. an extraordinarily free woman who saw herself and her people beyond the normative gaze of white supremacy, Zora Neale Hurston created her own rules, and was ridiculed by her own people for it.   Hurston consistently presented the stories and traditions of the black community unencumbered by the surveillance of white people, and had the audacity to offer it and herself as beautiful and worthy of celebration. “She reminded individuals that they were a part of the communal kinship within the black cultural heritage”[1] She was talented beyond measure and misunderstood because of it. Hurston was ahead of her time. She embodied radical subjectivity, traditional communalism, redemptive self-love and critical engagement before womanism was even an idea. Yet these ideals made Hurston a target by the male contingent of power in the black community. Her love for herself and her work was so great that Hurston was uncompromising in her approach and  was considered  a threat to their leadership and prescribed methodology for black liberation and legitimacy.

What is it about a free black woman that incites such anger? And why do black men participate so often, in our mistreatment? Does our power so greatly challenge the privilege of masculinity? Cannon articulates the precarious position of the black woman through the words of Abbey Lincoln, “Her (the black woman’s) head is more regularly beaten than any other woman’s and by her own man…”¹ Despite the black woman’s solidarity with the black man, neither intimate relationships, the academy nor the church has offered black women a space in which she might be affirmed in the many gifts God has bestowed upon her.  In part this is because the nature of oppression instills a sense of individualism and ruptures community because power or resources appear scarce. Oppression also devastates a people’s self-image, causing them to react with malice when one choses to reject the narrative assigned to her for a perspective of her own making. Repeatedly black women have rejected the images assigned to them by the dominant narrative. The have persisted and prevailed in spite of repeated rape, separation from family and offspring, backbreaking work intended for men, persistent usury, insult and victimization. Against great odds black women have used themselves as resources, dug deep and believed in hope because of an inherent sense of the divine within them, despite the report of those who sought to oppress them. In the midst of making a way for themselves and their children, they have also supported black men. The have loved them, sacrificed for them, earned for them, supported them, yet too often black men feel no sense of responsibility in cultivating the success of black women I return. In fact, when black women excel or desire to exist outside the role of midwife to the success of men, they are seen as a threat not only to men, but the black community in general and the community pounces upon them.   

           

            In these instances the strength and pride of black women, the ability to see past the oppression of a racist society and thrive despite the obstacles provokes insecurity, rather than esteem. This is especially present in the black church which functions more like the good old boys network. The ethos of the academy isn’t much different, with black men slipping off to sexually segregated spaces for happy hours, and “man time.” Perhaps it is the false sense that there isn’t enough power to go around, or the notion that a woman who outperforms them will leave them with no one to control or lead, ultimately compromising their status as men. No matter the reasons, a greater sense of solidarity is necessary between black men and women, because as is quite clear there that black women are in need of the life giving support of their community. She is maligned individually, in the church, in black music and in relationships where she is left unmarried and fending for herself. She has been defiled, through sexual offense, physical abuse, and abandonment. Consequently, many black women have collapsed upon themselves, believing themselves to be alone and without resources. Like Sofia broken in jail because Harpo tried to “rule over her”, or Zora penniless and broken-hearted because the black male elite conspired to stall her career, black women, when left to their own devices have had no recourse for the type of betrayal we have experienced in this world. What’s worse, the blame has been placed squarely on their shoulders while none of the perpetrators is willing to admit their culpability in the breaking of their spirits.

The question becomes what can be done to rouse broken black women who believed in their own power, despite the impediments of society, when they realize their power was not enough? The full on assault to their being has been so severe that those who once believed in the dignity and value of black life have been doggedly defeated. Canon suggests a theological turn which asserts the dignity of black people as evidenced through the Imago Dei. Moreover and emphasis on interdependence and the importance community and love must be implemented, and the pursuit of inclusive community. [2] Such practices emphasize radical love and encounter with God, practices that call the black woman to reach beyond herself and her own power so that she might maintain a sense of endurance in the midst of the struggle. But I wonder if it is not too late for such measures. The state of black women today is dismal in that many have lost hope. What’s worse, the institutions that we should be able to look to for inspiration are the same entities that exact the most violence against us. The black church is one of the biggest culprits in using black women for their gifts but keeping them in a subordinate position of servitude, that never allows them agency, but keeps them beholden to men’s whims and working toward men’s progress, at their own expense.

Katie Canon argues “Black women intellectuals must transform the traditions of black women so as to enable black women who celebrate black life to make an affirmation of their spiritual roots.” [3] From my perspective, this begins with the traditions of the church. We must make room for the candor, spirit and leadership of black women. We must link our ability to survive to the power of the Spirit that dwells among us, and interpret it as the highest asset the community possesses. Further we must hold the black church responsible for generating more women leaders so that black women encounter themselves and not just men in the faces offering theological thought. Further, the church must be held accountable for cultivating a sense of responsibility on the part of black men toward black women.

These steps are just the beginnings of healing black women so that they might maintain hope, and dignity.  Black women cannot be expected to save everyone and save themselves too.  They cannot endure alone. The love and vitality of the black woman needs to be replenished through the care and the love of her community and the spiritual power of faith. She cannot continue to exist independently. She needs love, and the radical pursuit of beloved community facilitated by encounter with God.[4] For even the “mule of the world” is capable of irrevocable exhaustion.

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[1] Canon, Katie. Black Womanist Ethics, Wipf &Stock Publishers: Oregon, p.105

[2] Ibid, 174.

[3]Ibid.

[4] Ibid, 165.