In The Combahee River Collective Statement, the following quote is stated: “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.” The beginning part of the quote is referring to how black women were always looked down upon or put at the bottom of society. They are the most oppressed and don’t have the freedom that they deserve and need. If black women were free then that means the systems of oppression would be destroyed because it is the main reason as to why they haven’t gained their freedom. For black women to retrieve their freedom, a lot of change would have to be made including sexism, racism, discrimination, and equal rights as well.
The term “identity politics” is briefly talked about in The Combahee River Collective Statement. According to the text, identity politics is a very “repugnant, dangerous, threatening, and therefore revolutionary” concept due to the fact that black women are worthy of freedom. Identity politics is focusing on the oppression of black women and forming their own identity instead of working to stop other’s oppression. This is seen in Paris is Burning because even though everyone has their own dreams, morals, and individualities, they are still apart of a big community. The characters want to create freedom for one another as a group but are still fighting oppression at the same time.
Race and gender are directly related to capitalism in the sense that capitalism is divided into different social classes. Capitalism is an example of being unequal and putting individuals at certain levels based on a category. The same way that certain races and genders are underprivileged and don’t have equal rights as others may have. There is inequality within all of the categories of race, genders, sex, labor rights, and capitalism. Racial and gender oppression all coincide with capitalism, therefore, there wouldn’t be capitalism without any form of oppression unfortunately.
Nadia, I enjoyed your discussion post. Identity politics has been a difficult concept for me grasp and I think it has to do with it developing out of such a different time and place. That there was a time that it would be considered “repugnant, dangerous, threatening, and therefore revolutionary” tonight for the freedom of ones own oppression. Just because the concept being shocking is old, it definitely does not mean the reality has been made right though. And like you said, black women finally started fighting for their own rights instead of just helping others, but there is still so much more to go.