Letter to is Elsa Barkley Brown

Dear Elsa Barkley Brown,

My name is Darlene Clark Hine and I am the author of the journal “Rape and the inner livers of Black Women in the Middle West.” I think that it is important to acknowledge our similarities. We are both scholars about the struggles that black women have had to endure. While, I specialize in how rape has impacted the lives of African American women, I can still see how your interests and mine run parallel and intersect each other. Rape was a strategic tool used by white plantation owners to erase the confidence and essential identity of black slave women. It was used to ostracize black women from their own communities so that they were not welcomed even in their own homes. Rape was used to make their husbands, children and fathers feel emasculated and incapable of protecting their own families. White plantation owners wanted to destroy the family unit of slaves so that their confidence in themselves and their abilities was so low that the thought of rebelling never even crossed their minds. Though slavery was hard for everyone affected, women slaves not only had to deal with working in the fields and doing house work, they had to deal with the constant advancements and threats of rape. Black women were made to feel powerless, that no matter what they did their fate would never change. It is no wonder that it has taken so long for black women to start having a voice in society. Black women were also thought to be not only sexually insatiable and promiscuous but above all un-lady like. Because of this reputation, black womens’ history was ignored because people believed that they already knew the whole story. When women’s rights became a huge movement and women fought for equal rights, rights to vote, the profile and individual story of black women became less important as they were grouped into the large category of all women.

      As you said in your journal, the hardships black women have had to endure are unimaginable. While white women were second class citizens, they were far better off than black women who weren’t even thought of as people. Black women were considered animals, property to own, to be used however wanted. This carries over into the women’s movement even today. I agree that Feminist are sometimes unable to see that there are actually different histories of white women, black women, Hispanic and Native American women. Feminism is interested in the equality of the sexes, but how can society ask for equality of the sexes when there isn’t even equality among women from different backgrounds and races. Feminists need to not only want equality between men and women, but equality between women of all backgrounds. The history of the black women is often ignored and pushed aside, but what most don’t understand is that the history of black women is not only part of American history but a very significant aspect of it. The black woman’s history must be recognized and understood because it explains how they came to be the way they are now, where they came from, but most importantly where they will be in the future.

    Sincerely,

Darlene Clark Hine