Many times during my journey with social justice I learned to understand the saying “ There is no one more disrespected than a black woman” between sexism and racism black women and now black trans women have endured and suffered many injustices and dehumanization. The quote “We might use our position at the bottom to make a clear leap into revolutionary action. If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression” to me means that even the simple act of existence of black women threatens the structures of the systems that oppress them. The collective liberation of black women including black trans women enables the destruction of those systems because the foundations of these systems ground themselves in the subjugation of black women. The combahee collective “identity politics” explains that the most revolutionary and radical politics exist is one’s own identity. The movie paris is burning is a good example of that, mothers of the houses first take the identity of being unapologetically themselves and it strengthens and inspires other trans and queer people of color to find the strength to also be themselves and feel included and a sense of belonging in a community that celebrates those identities thus challenging and chipping away at societal pressure and structures. Their sheer existence threatens those structures. A Lot of marketing has gone into gendered products from male deodorant to women’s wipes and that’s just a small example of how capitalism benefits from gender and beyond that is benefits from race by the alarming numbers of black men we see in our prisons and how we benefit from their work exploitation while they are in there. Where most communities of color are located in the city , near bridges and highways. The numbers of children of color whom develop respiratory illnesses due to the location of their neighborhoods and the funds that go into their schooling.What do race and gender have to do with capitalism they are closely related because one hand washes the other and they keep each other intact. Systems of oppression benefit from the exploitation of something. Gender benefits from exploiting men and women and confining them. Race exploits anyone who isn’t white. Capitalism exploits the poor. We need to understand that without acknowledging the experiences of the people who are hurt by these systems we wont create a world where everyone is free and that should be our am in any facet of social justice,
3 thoughts on “Discussion 10 Giselle Valentine”
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Hi Giselle, thanks for sharing. Yes, there is oppression happening in gender and race. Capitalism keeps this alive based on the labor given to a specific gender and the race class.
Extremely well said.
I like how you said that exploitation of someone is what capitalism, racism and sexism have in common. This way of thinking makes it easier to understand what capitalism has to do with race and gender. The mention about gendered consumer goods made me recall how many years ago there were chewing gums labeled as “For Him” and “For Her.” They had different flavors accordingly. Even as a child, I was really puzzled by it, and not I can see how this was made for profit.