Audre Lord, the noted radical social activist, once commented that she had four strikes against her: She was black, female, socialist and a lesbian.

In the United States, most black women have two strikes against them as soon as they are born. In U.S. culture, where it has been a top-down social construct from the beginning, women have been historically marginalized. The women’s movement that began in the early 19th century with the Seneca Falls Convention had, by the end of the Civil War, accommodated the built-in marginalization against those of color in our society.

The women’s suffrage movement criticized the 15th Amendment that extended the voting franchise to black males, saying former slaves, by virtue of their educational limitations, were not deserving of the vote. The women’s suffrage movement also went out of their way to exclude black women from their ranks to accommodate racist sentiments of the time. The question is, have black women benefited from the feminist movement that began in the 1960s?

The women’s movement of the 1960s was launched from the shoulders of the civil rights movement, using its momentum to fuel its direction. The feminist movement took its cue from the civil rights movement in creating the idea of their victimization at the hands of the white male construct. This was very successful and helped propel white women past black males in the pursuit of opportunities at the top of the food chain in the corporate world. But what about black women’s progress in the same time frame?

Black women faced stiff resistance from the black male community of the civil rights struggle, who wanted to keep them in a subordinate position. Black males were focused on gaining parity with white males, not at having black women rise beyond their traditional roles. This mindset was prevalent in the black mainstream civil rights organizations, but not common in groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where black women, like Fannie Lou Hamer, played key roles.

The feminist movement of the late 20th century was made up of affluent white women who were forceful in articulating the message of change, but it was made in the context of applying to white women only. Black women who spoke out, like Lord, were marginalized by the mainstream culture as being caricatures of a deviant lifestyle.

Poor black women were totally left out of the discussion, as they became the symbols of a failed welfare state with multiple children by multiple partners to “game” the system. This was constructed primarily by the right wing who opposed the social programs of a society based on compassion, even though poverty in the United States has always had a “white face.” Thus, the image of a successful woman pushed by the feminists was that of a white female professional and didn’t even try to connect with white females in industrial settings.

Black women have gained traction, achieving success in the collegiate world as they surpass black men in graduating with degrees. According to “The Growing Gender Gaps in College Enrollment and Degree Attainment in the U.S. and Their Potential Economic and Social Consequences,” prepared for The Business Roundtable in Washington, D.C. in 2003, “In 1999-2000, for every 100 degrees awarded to black men, black women were awarded 188 associate degrees, 192 bachelor degrees, and 221 master’s degrees.”

According to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in February, the educational advantage has not translated into broad gains for black women; 8.2 percent of blacks with a degree remain unemployed compared with 4.5 percent of whites with a degree being unemployed and 5 percent of overall degree holders being unemployed. This translates into diminished earning potential for black women graduates.

The Journal of Blacks in Education reports, “Black women have a median income that is 93 percent that of white women.” Black women are at a serious disadvantage in the current economy as the BLS numbers for February show black women who are heads of households have an unemployment rate of 15 percent compared to 11.6 percent for all women heads of households and 8.5 percent for all women. Black women, as part of the population, have an unemployment rate of 13.1 percent compared to 8.6 percent for all women.

These numbers translate into a dilemma as the unemployment of black women who are heads of households mean a large number of children are at risk in terms of educational prospects. The idea of last hired, first fired, which has impacted black men for the last two decades, is now crushing black women.

So has the feminist movement benefited black women? I think not.

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