Last Friday, FMF and Ms. interns traveled to UCLA for the 2009 Global Affirmative Action Praxis Project (GAAPP) Transnational Seminar: Critical Race Theory and the Struggle for Equality in Brazil, India and the United States. The seminar ran June 7 - 16. While we were only there for a day, we were overwhelmed with new information!
The seminar, which focuses on racial and caste inequalities and their social, political, and economic consequences in Brazil, India and the US, is structured around workshops and panel discussions enabling conversations and the exchange of ideas. Bringing together Afro-Brazilians, prominent human rights activists, and critical race theorists, the hope of this semiar is to create new ideas and actions for anti-discrimination and inclusion guidelines.
So why were FMf and Ms. magazine interns afforded this amazing opportunity? Because visionary Kimberle Crenshaw, moderator of the entire seminar, is a strong FMF ally and frequently publishes in Ms.! She invited us to participate in the open 2-day portion of the seminar designed for public participation.
The day began with Professor Crenshaw introducing the concept of intersectionality. The basis of intersectionality is prism of various social factors (race, class, gender, sexual identity, etc.), which must be addressed as one, instead of looking at each factor exclusively.
As an African American woman, Crenshaw has experienced various encounters with intersectionality. During her time at Harvard Law School, Crenshaw and a black male classmate were invited to a finals club party, a prestigious all-male social club. They agreed before they entered the party that they would not "take any mess".
As soon as they knocked on the door, a friend quickly opened the door and closed it behind him. Crenshaw and her friend were ready to stand strong against any opposing forces. The man quickly explained that Crenshaw had to enter through the backdoor because of her gender!
Crenshaw waited to hear her friend speak up on her behalf, instead all she heard was silence. Crenshaw realized that her male counterpart would exclusively defend her when it came to race, but gender was another story....
After the introduction, Manjula Pradeep, Jurema Werneck and Russell Robinson gave examples of intersectionality from the US, Brazil and India. Each provided a fascinating account of how intersectionality is played out within their country.
Manjula Pradeep explained the Indian caste system and its effects on Dalit women. The caste system divides society into four principle castes. The Dalits are not even a part of the system and are the most ostracized group in society. Within the Dalit society, women are often of the lowest rank. They are sexually abused by higher caste members and must perform large amounts of manual labor.
Women are so devalued that they will do anything to not have a daughter. One woman, who already had seven girls, really wanted a son. She went to an astrologer who told her to fast three days a week, while pregnant, in order to gain a son. To no avail, her baby daughter was born without bones, and sadly, died three weeks later. Women are forced to undergo these extreme lifestyles because they live outside of the caste.
Jurema Werneck explains that Brazil is still "a racist society". Afro-Brazilians are still seen as inferior and face lower social conditions. While affirmative action began in 2001, there is still enormous struggle to include non-while Brazilians in the top universities. Afro-Brazilian women face additional barriers in this patriarchal society. PBS provides its easy to read report of race and affirmative action in Brazil.
Within the US, Robinson focused on the stereotypes of commonly ostracized groups reinforced by media images. Robinson explained that media images of black women are divided into two typical categories: sassy sidekicks or overweight, older mammies. Whenever someone turns on the TV they are bombarded with these typical messages. Black female actors often cannot create new images for themselves; rather, they are forced to give in to the stereotypes.
These three themes were carried out through the day, each providing a foundation of how intersectionality affects us. We learned so much and would like to thank the GAAPP, UCLA and Vassar for providing us with this informative event!
UCLA is the only school in the country that has a Critical Race Studies within its Law School. Professor Kimberle Crenshaw is one of the founding members of this incredible program.
-Jessica Little and Anita Lederer, FMF Choices Campus Leadership Program Interns
No comments:
Post a Comment