.. ,
".
Rape
&
Organizing Strategies
In many respects, "Organizing to Stop Vio lence
Against Women" was a deli ghtful contrast to the
othe r conference workshops. The audience got its
first hin t that they wou ld not be passive note-takers
when Susan Schech ter and Barbara Hart, the Coordinators, arranged chairs in a circle and asked each
woman presen t to introduce herself. The group was
divcrsc, and shelter and anti-rape workers slightly
out-numbered law students. But the most dis tingu ishi ng feature of the workshop was th e st ro ng
fem inist analysis in the presentation, an anal ysis
which was less apparent in some of th e other workshops. The audience was composed of both longtim e activists and women who seemed to have had
less exposure to feminist political theory in the antirape and anti-battering movem ents.
The workshop was a condensed exe rcise in organizing a campaign for a specific even t. The examp le
used for th e exercise was a lob by ing effo rt for a
marriage license tax to rai se funds for shelters and a
plan for respondin g to ri ght-wing opposition to shelters as being Hpasse ls of lesb ians." Susan ab ly led
the group through the organizing ste ps (developing
the political content of the issue; designing a plan of
action; ant icipating problems and responding to attacks) and gave a crash course in feminist theory in
the process.
The ambitiousness of the presen tati on was its
major drawback; the exerci se needed a mu ch longer
38 .
Third
World
Women
tim e period than the two hours al lotted. One
sensed that many members of th e group had specific
ideas for organizi ng on var ious issues, and there was
not tim e during the worksho ps to share strategies
and exchange stor ies of success and failure. Nor was
there an opportunity to question or debate the assumptions behind some of th e comments offered by
the women present (such as the shelter's responsibility to reunite families or provide cou nseling to batterers). But both the large turnout for this workshop and the fact the workshop seemed to end far
too soo n attes t to the need for more time for organizing workshops at th e next nat io nal conference.
Next year's conference will be held in Washington, DC in April, 7983. A Steering Committee is
now working on plans for the worl?Shops to be in-
cluded in the conference. We expect that once
again, the subjects of violence against women ond
children will be well-represented in the IVorkshops.
If you have ideas or suggestions for panel topics or
speakers, the conference co-ordinotors would IiIw to
hear from you. Write: 74th Notional Conference
on Women and the Law, Antioch University Law
School, Meyer House, Room 302, Washington, DC
20009.
jean Noonan and Diane Conner Ofe Aeg is staff
members and are 0150 attorneys for the Federal Trade
CommiSSion, handling credit discrimination cases.
J
The 1980 's have witnessed a terrifying escalation
of violence committed against Third Wo rld people.
The m urder of the Atlanta children and the support
of the ri ght-w in g junta in EI Salvado r have created an
atmosp here where the brutalization of Third World
people is commonplace. In th is context, the issue
of rape and its effects on Third World commu niti es
became one of the leading discussions at the First
National Co nference o n Third World Women and
Violence in August, 1980.
For the first time, Third Wor ld ac tivi sts invo lved
in community anti-violence work ac ro ss the cou ntr y
met at the Rape Cri sis Center in Washington, D.C.
We began to add ress sexual assault from the myriad
of perspectives we represented . As a starting point,
we broadened ou r definition of who we were. Alth ough most of us work at rape crisis centers and
battered women's shelters, a significant number of
us work in other community organ izatio ns no t viewed as "women's" organizations. We focussed this
wide ran ge of perspectives on the critical problem of
sex ual assau lt and began the imp ortant first step of
analyz ing o ur coll ective histo ry. Clearly this conference was a beginn ing, but it co nfirm ed that we must
form strategies to confront this issue, devel op functiona l programs, and enlist community support and
part icipation in our efforts. This articl e will synthesize the conference proceedings which examined the
history of rape and its impact on Third World Women in America. It will also discuss th e hi storical involveme nt of Third Wor ld activists in addressing
sexual and raci al oppression within natio nal liberati on struggles a nd the women's movement.
The conference defined "Third Wor ld" as th ose
nat ions strugglin g to break th e shack les of coloni alism and neo-coloniali sm. Principal ly, th is includes
Asia, Africa, the Pacific, South and Central America, as well as Native American, Afr ican, Hispanic
and Asian people under domestic colonialism in
America. While Third World was origin all y a phrase
coined to describe a state of econom ic dependency
and lack of techno logical advancement, these same
characteristics of und erdevelopment tragica ll y describe the condition of Afr ican, Asian, Hispan ic and
Native American women wor ldw ide, and particu larly in America, the heart of imperialism. By collectively naming ourselves Third Wo rld, we begin to
break down the barriers of nationalism, racism and
39
/
Rapes of bl ac k wO llle n by po lice arc not in fre q uent ei ther. "Even at the stro nges t ti me of the
civil rights moveme nt in Birmingham , yo un g ac tivists often stated that no th in g co uld pro tec t Bl ack
wO lll en fro m bein g ra ped by Birm ingham po lice .
As recen tly as Decem ber, 1974, in Ch icago, a 17year-old Black wo man repo rted that she was ga ngraped by 10 po lice men . So me o f the men we re
suspended, bu t ultim a te ly th e wh o le thing wa s
swe pt und er th e ru g. "10
TH E ME ANING OF HI STORY
The speci fi c role rape pl ays in th e su bo rdin at ion
o f black wo men is perce ived by Ge rd a Lern er as o ne
as pect of th e co lo ni al o ppress io n o f blacks:
"Tile p rac ti ce o f rapin g th e wo men of a defeated
enemy is wo rl d wid e and is found in every cult ure .
Th e occu rre nce of thi s p rac ti ce du ring many race
ri ots and du ri ng periods of terro r aga inst Blacks a t
va ri o us tim es in U.S. hi sto ry mere ly affi rm s th e co lo ni al nature of the o ppress io n o f Blac k peo ple in
th e Uni ted States. II is th e ult im a te ex press ion of
co n te mpt fo r a de fea ted foe , sin ce it sy mbo li zes his
helplessness mo re full y th an any o th er co nce ivable
act. .
The h isto rica l record does no t lend itse lf to in terpretat io ns ex pl ai ni ng such eve n ts as th e iso la ted
acts o f crimin al indi viduals. T he abse nce o f puni shment o f wh ite and Blac k men fo r th e same offense
si m ply und erscores the do ub le stand ard o f justice
fu r the rul er and the ruled. It must be u nderstood
that ' indi vidual aClS o f cri mi nal be havio r ' o n the
part o f white men toward Bl ac k wo men ari Se out o f
and arc reinfo rce d by the pre va lent cultu ral racist
my th s." 11
28
Ange la Davis ex pl ains how co lo ni al o ppress io n o f
b lac ks is impl ied with every ac t o f ra pe o f a black
woma n by a whit e mJ n :
" .. . rape is no t o ne-d imen sio nal and ho moge neo us - but o ne fea ture that do es remai n co nslant is
the overt and fl agran t trea tment o f women, through
rap e, as p ro perty. Particular rape cases wil l th en express di fferen t modes in whi ch wo men are hand led
as pro perty .
Thu s when a wh ite man ra pes a blac k wo m an,
the und erlyi ng mea ning of th is cr ime re mains inaccess ibl e if o ne is blin d to the h isto rical dim ensi o ns
of Ih e ac t.
. . " And , " For blac k wo men, rape
perpe trated by whi te me n, like th e soci al stereoty pe
of blac k me n as rapists, mu st be classed amo ng the
b rut al pa raph ern ali a of rac ism .... "12
FOOTNOT ES
Th e foll o wi ng resources co ntain mu ch mo re info rma tio n o n th is sub ject:
3. A. Leon Hi ggin bo tham, J r. , "Virginia Led the
Way in Lega l Opp ressio n." Washingt on Post .
Ma y 21 , 1978.
4 . So cial ist Wo men 's Caucus o f Loui sv ill e, " The
Rac ist Use of Rape and the Rape Ch arge. " Jul y,
1975 . P.O . Box 11 416, Lo uisv ill e, KY 4 0211.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid .
7 . Elsie Sco tt , "Rape and Raci sm : th e Case o f th e
So uthern Bl ac k De fe nda n L " Uni ted Chur ch o f
Christ Co mm iss io n fo r Racial J ustice, 29 7 Park
Ave . So u th, Rm . 23, New Yo rk, NY 10010 .
Newsle tter.
8. Ge rd a Lern er, ed itor, Blacl? Women in White
America: A Documentary /-lislory. Ne w Yo rk :
Vintage Books, (1973) p. 163. (A n especial ly
use fu l boo k for gain in g a hi sto ri ca l perspecti ve .)
9. Ange la Davis, " Th e Dialectics o f Rape. " Ms.,
J une, 197 5. p. 74.
10. "The Racist Use of Rape and th e Rape Charge "
11 . Le rne r, p. 172.
12. Dav is, "Dialec ti cs of Ra pe."
Deb Friedman has been a member of FAA Rand
the D. C. Rape Crisis Center for th e past six years.
Deb is a fo und ing m ember of FAA!( and served 0 11
the Board of Ihe D. C. Rape Cr isis Cent er for four
years.
Black and Th ird World wom en have developed th eir own perspect ives and pri oriti es in
the ant i-rape m oveme nt. In the nex t articl e,
origin all y pu b li shed in the FA AR Ne wsletter,
May/Ju ne 19 77 , I. Nke nge T ou re repo rt s on
a con ference on " Sp ecia l Popu lat ions" held
in A pril of 1977 , by the Na ti ona l Center for
th e Prevent ion and Co nt rol of Rape, and addresses some of those ideas. Th is art icle is
f ol lowed by an interv iew w i th Ms. T oure
and Michele Pl ate, wh ich appea red in the
Novembe r/ Decem ber 1976 issue of the
FA AR Newsletter. The in ter viewers were
Jack ie MacM illan and Sue Lenaer ts.
BLACK
FOCU
by I. Nke nge To ure
The kn o wl ed ge tha t the Nati o nal Ce n ter fo r th e
Preventi o n an d Co ntro l o f Rape is ho ldi ng a se ri es
of wor king co nferences o n issues perta in ing to sexual assault is spreadin g ra ther rapidl y amo ng th at scgment of th e large r co mmun ity in vo lve d in ra pe fro m
the se rvicc, treatm en t or resea rch end. Ho wever,
wi th fewe r Black and/o r Th ird Wo rld wo men in volved in ac tivities rela ted to rape , tha t part o f the com mun ity is obviously goi ng to be more iso la ted or less
li kely to have access to infor ma ti o n co nce rning thi s
confer ence ser ies. Fo r purp oses o f b ri d ging thi s ga p,
in fo rm a tion will be shared he re o n the a u lco me of
th e Blac k focus group from the Nor theas t regio nal
Specia l Po pul ati o ns conferen ce - Blac ks being one
of th e "special po pu lati ons" groups iden ti fi ed.
Seve ral importan t po in ts should be recogni zed to
pl ace thi s in for ma ti o n into perspect ive:
1. Blac ks have ju st rece ntly (in th e last two yea rs,
approx ima te ly) beco me involve d in rape or ganizi ng
through the ve h icl e of rape crisis ce n ters and hot·
lil~e s , as we ll as ho spitals, commu n ity me ntal hea lth
cen ter s, a nd socia l services ; and, a t thi s po in t in t im e
our nu mbers arc relati ve ly lo w by compariso n to
others invo lved in thi s ac ti vity .
2. Th ere is no accu ra te researc h ava ilable o n l3 lacks
in re la ti o nship 10 rape.
3. No research has bee n d one fo r the Ill OSt part
by Blacks tha t wou ld prov ide a rea listi c, r;1I iona l
and pro per perspec tive with which to view this pheno meno n in the Blac k comm u nity . Ex ist in g resea rc h, if it ca n be so ca ll e d, ha s bee n conce ive d o n
th e bas is of rac ism, sex ual ste reo types, dogmatism,
a compil ed wea lth of assumpt io ns, and is characle r·
is t ic of tha t cle men t in research whi ch opera tes beyon d the rea lm of e thi cs.
Wo rk sho ps of th e Blac k foc us gro up included:
Societa l Biases and Assumptions
Preventio n
Trea tm en t
Speci al Ethi ca l Co ncern s
Futu rc Direc ti ons
Racism was cv iden t as on e of the causes of the
problem of rape as it a ffects Blacks. Thi s was discussed duri ng th e Biases and Assum ptions Work sho p wh ich dea lt with m yths. So me of the myt hs
ide nli fi ed were:
- Blacks were inh erently more act ive sexually ;
- Sex ual assa ult ex ists pri m ari ly wi thi n the co nfi nes of t he Black co mmuni ty, espec ial ly tha t portio n de fin ed as the Ghetto;
- Black wo men are strong u nder stress and the refo re a rc no t a rfec ted by be ing ra ped;
- Black s are accus to med to viole nce in thei r
daily lives, so rape is no t consi dere d Loo ser ious an
o ffense b y Bbck wo men.
Obv io usly, co nfro ntin g a rape is no less d ifTic ul t
fo r the Black wo man. We are face d w ith the uSll al
"victi m a t fa ul t" attitud e perpe tu a ted aga ins t the
majority of rape victims in ad d iti on Lo having to
co ntend with the insti tu tionalized racism that is inheren t in the Amer ican way of life.
Preve nti o n was a majo r co ncr rtl in th e Bl ack focus grou p. Repu rting as a mea ns of preve n tion was
ex plo red , the proposed rationa le being Ihat if more
7.9
a max imum se ntence of no more th an 20 yea rs, de·
pe ndi ng o n the sta te. No whe re in the law was the
rape of a blac k wo man consid ered a cri me .4
The rape of slave wome n by whi tes was in fac t a
co mm o n occ urrence. In add iti o n to hav in g no protec ti on from th e sexua l whim of any white man,
m an y black wo men were forced to co mpl y wi th o ngo in g se xua l re latio ns wit h th e white owner. Although so me black wome n re ceived slightl y bette r
trC(ltment than man y o f th e o ther slaves for providing sex ua l se rvices 10 the white owner, it is clear
tha t the ir re lati onship s were rarely co nse nsual. Refu sa ls were no t trea ted lightl y.
In add iti o n to having to tal sex ual rights to slave
wome n, white slave ow ners used bl ack women to
breed a co nstant su pp ly or slave children. In some
sta tes in part icul ar , slave breeding was a profitable
trad e. The use of slave wo men as "breeders" and
as co ncu bines was in to tal disregard of rela ti onship s
be tween black men and women. Tha t a slave woman he used sex uall y had a hu sband was o f little conce rn to th e master. Thus were blacks force d to bear
sex ual as we ll as raci al transgressi o ns again st them as
peo pl e.
26
Afte r slavery ended, sex ual and physica l terror
were used as the me ans of keep ing blacks in their
place. In th eir pam phl e t entitl ed, "The Raci st Use
of Rape and th e Rape Charge," th e Socialist Women's Caucus o f Lo ui sv ill e desc ribe th e end of Reco nstructi o n :
"After th e Civi l War, there was a brief peri od of
Reconstruc ti o n. The free d slaves won the right t o
vote and ow n land, and they joi ned with poo r
whites to se t up new gove rnments in th e Old Confederacy. Th is brief exper im en t in democ racy wa s
over th rown literall y by fo rce and vio lence; the Ku
Klux Klan and o th er such group s bega n a reign o r
terror that las ted ror deca de s... This wa s the period
when th e Jim Crow laws were e nacted - making it a
cri me for Black and white to come toge th er in any
way , even fo r a game of checkers in so me places."S
The systema ti c terro riza tio n o f black co mmun iti es by the Kl an fre quentl y included the rape or
black women. A co mmon prac t ice by the Klan d urin g an attack o n a black community was to rape the
women, and bu rn peo ples' ho mes and chu rche s.
Rapes se rved La terro riz e th e entire co mmunity in
the sa me way as ly nchings. Blacks were powerle ss
to oppose e ith er one . A number of me n were in
fa ct ly nched fo r attemptin g to defe nd womc n from
their atlackers.
By viciously att ac kin g blac k co mmuniti es (rap in g
wo men and ly nchin g both wo men and men), the
Klan and th ose wh ose rac ial prejud ice th ey helped
stir up bea t th e new ly freed black men and wome n
int o submission. This ensured th e co ntinu ed superio r sta tus o f whites and furth ered the di vis ion betwee n wh ites and blacks.
" Th e most effecti ve too l for th is divi sion was th e
cry of rape. An atmosphere was crea ted in wh ich
eve ry Black man was pi ctured to th e whIte commu n'iTy
poor and n cn
as a savage pote ntial
rapi st;Who mu st be kept un de:! control .... ,,~
Pl aY Ing o n raclal lear s and sex ual ste reo types, th e
Klan was able to conv ince whites th at all black men
wanted to rape whi te wome n. Charging a numb er
of black men with rapes of wh ite wome n, the Klan
ga in ed ap p rova l among many whites fo r th eir terro rist acti viti es_
"In th e 76 yea rs betwee n th e signing of th e
Emancipa ti o n Pro clamati on and Wor ld War II, approxi mate ly 3 ,000 Blacks were ly nched by mobs
and 20% of th e vict ims had been cha rged with
rape."7
Des pite th e fact that for eve ry five lynchi ngs,
o nl y o ne in vo lved an alleged rape , th e rape scare was
used by wh ites to ju sti fy the use of mob ju stice
aga in st black men and women. The acc usa tion of
rape was made by white men who often pressured
wom en into sup po rtin g th eir charge. In ma ny cases,
th e mere suggest io n by a white man tha t a bl ack
m an had had sex ual relatio ns with a white wo man
was eno ugh provocatio n for a ly nchin g.
Th e use o f the rape charge to co ntro l black men
and th e vuln erabilit y of black wo men to rapes by
whi te men remai ned in force eve n after the Kl an's
powe r had grea tl y dimini shed by th e end of the
1920 's. Mter slave ry ende d, and after passage of
th e Fourtee nth Ame ndm ent, di scr iminatory slave
cod es were e lim inated, but the new rape laws called
fo r di sc retio nary dea th se ntences fo r rape convicti ons. This o pera ted as a means of all owi ng th e
courts to se ntence ma inl y black men to dea th fo r
rape.
Rapes of black wo men, alth o ugh ill ega l, co ntin ued to be igno red by the law. Th e genera l att itu de
toward b lack wo men who had sex ual re lat ions with
wh ile men presuppose d th at black women , because
of th ei r repu ted gre at inte re st in and ca pacil Y for
sex ual ac tivity, could no t litera ll y be raped. To day 's my th o f th e pro mi scuit y o f bl ac k wo mcil
evo lved from thi s ear ly assump tio n of black wo men's co mpli cit y in "il li cit" sex ual relations wit h
whit e me n. Acco rdi ng to Ge rd a Lern er , edit or o f
the boo k, Black Women in White America: A Docu-
m entary /-listory:
"By assuming a differen t leve l of sex uality fo r all
Blac ks than th at of whi tes and my thi fy ing the ir
grea ter sex ual po tency , the black woman cou ld be
made to personify sex ual freedo m and Jban J o n. A
my th was crea ted th a t all blac k women were eage r
fo r sex ual ex pl o its, vo lu ntar il y ' loose ' in th e ir
morals and , therefo re, d ese rved no ne o f the consideratio n an d respec t gra nted to white women.
Every black woman was, by definition, a slu t accord ing to thi s rac ist m y th ology ; therefo re, to assa ult her an d exp lo it her sex uall y was not reprehensibl e and carri ed with it no ne o f the no rmal
co mmur~ al sanct ions aga in st such be hav io r. A wide
ra nge o f practi ces re in fo rced th is_my th: th e laws
aga inst intermarriage; the d enial o f th e titl e 'Mi ss'
o r 'Mrs.' to any black woman; th e taboos agai nst
res pec tab le social mi x ing o f th e races ; the refu sal
to let black wo men custo mers tryon clothing in
sto res be fo re mak ing a purchase ; the assign ing of
sin gle to ilet fa cilities to both sexes of Blacks ; the
different legal sa ncti o ns agai nst rape, abu se of minors and other sex crimes when co mmitted agains t
while or black wo me n. " 8
"[Tlhe rape of bl ack women is rlirectly
related to the discriminatory charge of rape
against black men. The same sexual stereotyping that enabled blacl< women to be ex ploited caused black men to be feared ."
Angela Dav is, in "The Dialect ics o r Rape" (Ms.,
Jun e , 1975), poi nt s o ut :
"I f rape wa s, in effec t, institutio nali ze d du ring
slave ry , essen ti all y the sa me insti tut io nal ize d form
of rape is prese nt to d ay in such vest iges of slavery
as d omestic wor k. How m any black wo men wo rk in g in the ho mes o f whi le peo pl e have no t had to
co nfro nt the 'man of th e house ' as an actu al o r potenti al rapi st?"9
27
;"
,
I
C'x lCl1ckd fam il y in
lij~ o f crisis.
Yet, beca use of
the strong taboos that surround sex ualit y in His-
p;lIli c culture, she ma
feci this so urce is not ava il _
able 10 her.
Fu r thermore, for man y I-l ispanas it is not o nly
~hamc
or humiliation that prevents their seeki ng
dssistancc , but also it fear of depo rtation. Th e
fCilfCd deportation may co me in the form of immediate arrest by law enforcement o ffi cials or in the
for m u f repr isal by th e rap ist as, fo r exa mple, in a
job situation .
"
/
./
The Hispan ic rape victi m often finds herse lf in it
sit ua tion where disc ussing a rape may jeopardize no t
onl y her self 'esteem but her residency status, job
;l l1d famil ial relations. Small wonder she prefers to
remain sil ent.
T hroughout his tory not only Hispallas but all
women h~ vc been th e objects of sex ual an d economic ex ploi tat ion. In our prese nt socie ty, reco rd compan ies, cigarette manu fact urers and th e liqu or industry heav il y explo it female sex uality in widespread
advertis ing cam paigns. Our legal sys tem is clearly
stru ctured to maintai n women in a position subserv ien t to men. Economic con trol of the society
is firml y in masculine hands. We live in a society
tha t heaps reward s to the winner, particularly fo r
eco nomi c success, with little atte ntion pa id to the
mca ns of ach ievin g that victory. This exploitation constitutes a form of in sti tution al violence
aga inst womcn th at is tolerated, especially when it
is profitable, thus implicitl y co nd oning violence
ag~inst women on an individual leve l in the for m of
rape .
Thu s rape is th e enrage d expression of a vio lent
society. It is an ac t conscio usly perpetrat ed against
anothe r hum an being for the sale pu rpose of de·
grading and dehumanizing anoth er. Nevert heless,
th e socia l biases th at deny the vio lent nature of rape
arc we ll engrained in th e Hispanic co mmun ity and
tlll o f Wes tern cul tu re.
When an Hispa na becomes a vic lim of this violence in the form of a rape she reacts to the anguish
o f th e experience in her own way. Her reactions are
co nsiste nt with her cultural herit age and her ow n
persu nal belief system. But the fo rm a vi ctim 's reac ti on em bodies is only a vehicle for expressing a
universal reality: ra pe is a horrible and devasta ting
ac\. IIS effec ts are felt equall y by al l who arc victims.
When this article was written, fhe authors were
associaf ed wilh Ill e East Los Angeles Rape Hotline.
Chris Garcia \·\lOS a member of fh e Board of Direc101"5, Connie Desisto Guerra and Irene Mendez were
Hotline founders and counselor/ trainers, and Marian
Mercado was a counselor.
The unique historical roots of black wom·
en's oppression in th is country, particu larly
rega rding sexua l vio lence, are ana ly zed in the
fol lowing excer pts from an art icle wr i tten by
Deb Friedman and published in the July / August 1978 issue of FAAR and NeN News.
Reprinted with permission from the Sept'/Oct.
79 78 issue of Agenda , publication of the National
Council of Lo Raza, 7725 I St., N. w., Suite 270,
Washington, DC 20006.
G]@pe, J@cismaILd R!:ality
by Deb Fried man
oYR CULTURE
/) REBORN
IN O'I R,If ILDII E ~
Dealing with the re lat ionship between racism and
rape has not been a significant part of the fe mini st
analysis o n rape . Primarily, feminist organizers have
addressed racism through exposure of my th s conce rning inter rac ial rape and through prog rams designed to clo outre ac h to Bl ack, Hispani c, Chi ca no,
Indian or Asia n women. These have often co me
about in response to pressure, or as an outgrowth of
our desire to mee t th e needs of all, not ju st some
warnell. They are not the re sult of a un ified ana lytic position o n racism and rap e.
We recogni ze that rape and racism are part of the
same o pp ressive structure, and that th ey are mutualIy supportive. This recognition leads us to concl ude
( that perspectives on racism must become part of our
analysis of rape. This article was written to begin
drawing toge ther a comprehensive ana lysis o f rape
th at coordi nates anti-rape with anti-racism perspec·
tives. It is focused on authors who have been critical of th e anti-rape move ment for failing to include
perspectives o n racism in our views of rape, beca use
they express so me of the concerns that we fee l need
parti cular hist ory Ofj he rII,a lionShiP between raci sm
and rap e in th is co ntry and second, beca use (lny
view o f rape mu st a cou . t for the fa ct that rape affec ts women of different races (classes, et hni c
groups, etc.) in differen (~w ays .
Perspectives on rape re levant to black women
can't be se parated from the experience of raci sm.
This in clu des racism toward black men, as well as
women.
Beginning with Anne Brade n ("Ope n Letter to
Southern White Wo men," 19 72), a number of autho rs have ex pressed concern about the racist potential of th e anti-rape movement in ignor ing the parti cular ex perien ce of bl ack men and women with
rape. Braden focuse s specifically on th e rac ist application of rape laws aga in st black men and exhorts while womcn to exa mi ne how they have bee n
used by white men to he lp kee p black men in their
place . Braden bases her argum ents on th e history of
racism and rape in this coun try . Hi story docs not
show rape laws to have been adopted 1. 0 protect
women. What hi story docs show is how rape and
laws agai nst it, were used by white men to o ppress
black pe o pl e .
HI STOR Y OF RAC ISM AND RA PE
Innumerable efforts were made dur ing slave ry to
deg rade the dignity o f black people. According to
A. Leo n Higginboth am Jr. in an art icle in the Washington Post , degradati on of slaves was incorporated
into the legal codes of th e south ern colonies in or·
der to institutionali ze the distinction betwee n white
indentured se rvants - those who rece ive d their freedom after a certain number of yea rs - and black
slaves .
Sex ual double standards were also codified so
that th e offspring of a white man and a slave woman
could not by law be recogni zed as free. Neither
white men no r white women were per mitt ed to
marry blacks. Th e law also crea ted stri ct pcnalities
for a while woman who gave birth La th e child of a
to be addressed.
The parti cular expe rience o f black peo ple in thi s black man; however, there was no law aga in st a
country inex tric abl y links racism with th e act of while man having sex ual relatio ns with a blac k
rap e. Th e discriminatory prosec ution of black men woman and it was not a crim e if a black woman
for the crime of rape and the gross lack of"sanctio ns bore a white man's child)
Rape laws were
maintain the pro per·
aga inst th e rape of black wome n (by white men par·
ac s. he
ticularly), co nstitutes the rea lity through which ty ri g lt S 0 white men and to contra
law made rape a ca pital o ffense on ly for a bl ack
black men and women view rape .
Any view of rape is limited if it fails to incorpor- man found guil ty of raping a white woman . A
ate a perspec ti ve on racism - first, beca use of the white man who rap ed a white woman co uld rece ive
25
24
(