An excerpt from a short “journal entry” I wrote today for my Women of Color class:
I am thinking of the fuss over Condoleezza Rice, the new Secretary of State under the Bush administration. Republicans like to make a big to do over the fact that she’s an African American women and they are convinced that her appointment shows how non-racist and diversity-embracing the Bush administration is. To these conservatives, those who dare criticize Rice are themselves the racists. However, I find it telling that in our racist, patriarchal, and exploitative culture, the first black women to hold such a powerful political position is one who acts in lock-step with an administration that exults in the racist, patriarchal, and exploitative nature of our culture.
There are a few parallels between Rice’s position and the role of professional black women that Collins describes in her book (Black Feminist Thought). She quotes Barbara Omolade: “Black professional women are often in high-visibility positions which require them to serve white superiors while quieting the natives” (65). As Secretary of State, Rice’s job is to travel the world acting as a diplomat and intermediary between foreign heads of state and President Bush. Bush’s policies for the past four years have caused a lot of consternation among foreign leaders; therefore it is not surprising that he would choose an intelligent black woman to “serve” his agenda while “quieting” the protest that arises from other nations’ leaders and citizens.
I often wonder how one can be part of an oppressed group and then act as an agent of oppression. How can Secretary of State Rice wax enthusiastic during her confirmation hearings about the implementation of free market economies in South America where the inequality gap has grown obscenely as a result? How can Jews whose parents died in the Holocaust be Neocons who advocate wars to spread American empire? Why did Irish Americans 100 years ago beat up on Chinese and Italian immigrants when they themselves had been the victims of immigrant violence years before? How can millions of Latinos in this country vote for a president whose policies discriminate against Latin American immigrants? The only explanation is internalized oppression coupled with an intense conditioning to aspire to the privileged position of the dominant strata.
A strong antidote is a profound sense of self-worth and dignity that rise above any “goodies” those with privilege may offer. “When Black slave mothers taught their children to trust their own self-definitions and value themselves, they offered a powerful tool for resisting oppression.” (Collins, 51) This reminds me of a quote by Stephen Biko: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” True success for oppressed peoples comes when personal integrity and authentic wishes lead the way, not what society dictates.