Comments on: Our Only Black Senator Steps Down

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:49:19 +0000

Melissa, thanks for generating good argument here. The interview studies of Black women show the same pattern you suggest, with most accenting the racial discrimination they face more than the gender discrimination they face. As Adia points out, they do face both and both systems of oppression hurt great numbers of people. There is no useful political point to ranking one with the other. Both need complete eradication.

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By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:16:53 +0000

I said racism is a bigger issue because I think it have a bigger, first influence on people’s opinions, then the gender is second. I agree they are all interrelated. Maybe I said it because where I work and live I see more overt racism, mainly directed towards Black men, than I see sexism or a combination of racism and sexism. I know my personal experiences of being a woman, but when I talk to my Black friends and they actually share things they experience, they talk about what happens to them because of their skin color, not because of being a woman.

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By: adia

adia — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:46:13 +0000

Melissa, I see your point–that people do in fact assume white women are less qualified for certain posts–though this is likely because of their gender rather than their race. However, I disagree with your claim that racism is more pervasive than sexism. As Jessie and I have argued on several posts here, this type of binary either-or thinking actually obscures more than it reveals. If racism is more pervasive than sexism, then how do we explain the experiences of Latinas, Black women, Asian American women? Is racism a “bigger” factor than sexism in contributing to their labor market disadvantage, poorer access to health care, etc? Both factors–racism and sexism–are operating simultaneously to shape their experiences. Another way to think of it is that racism is always gendered and sexism is always racialized. So when people assume that you, as a white woman, are the secretary, this is not just because you are a woman but because you are a *white* woman. (Were you Latina, people might rely on racist stereotypes and assume that you’re the janitor.) I think it’s extremely important to avoid thinking of these -isms as “separate silos” (to borrow a phrase from Jessie), because when we do so we risk ranking oppressions when they are all interrelated and that much more damaging.

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By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:08:31 +0000

No, I’m not less qualified, but I am perceived to be less qualified because I’m a woman. (Not sure how you are seperating that from being hated on because of being a woman.) I know it’s not the same thing as what Blacks experience, but I was trying to answer your question. It seems like the comments on that article were that people thought Black doctors were less qualified because of affirmative action, not because of any actual evidence they used or benefited from affirmative action nor what what those doctors qualifications were.
I realize that as a woman with degrees in fields that don’t have many women in them, I benefit but it does make me nervous that people won’t feel I’m qualified and that I was merely hired to fill a quota.
I’m assuming you are male and haven’t had the experience where when you ever use power tools or something sharp you are told “Don’t hurt yourself.” If you worked in tech support and answered the phone, people won’t assume you are the secretary/receptionist. There are area that woman are thought of being less qualified in because of their gender. (Larry Summers anyone?)
I’m not sure of your race but if you are Black, I know that I don’t know what it’s like to be judged on race. Sexism still exists, racism still exists. Unless you are a White male, people start making negative assumptions about your abilities based on the way you look. Racism is more pervasive than sexism, though.

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By: GDAWG

GDAWG — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:00:43 +0000

Actually, the more I think about it, it seems to me, that the “creation of the American Black” has had a therapeutic aspect to it in terms of the sustenance of the “white ego,” when you think about it. That is, in order to sustain the American version of its racial hieararchy, with its inherent exploitation and institutional marginalization of ‘da Blacks, BO’s recent feat as the newly elected POTUS, has shaken to the core these crazy beliefs of plenty of marginally existing white folks. When you examine all of the racial hostitilites since the election, its clear that this has been a paradigm shift in their perception of Blacks for some folk.
Dis-orienting, of sorts.

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By: GDAWG

GDAWG — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:08:20 +0000

Okay. But does that mean you are less qualified? Or, does that mean or translate into that they’re hating on you because you are a women, solely?
My point is that for Blacks, regardless of their background, just because they are black, they are perceived to be less qualified, generally, Even president-elect BO has to deal with this perception among whites, for the most part. Yet strange as it seems, it’s been whites, for the most, who has benefitted the most from government set-aside programs etc,.

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By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:09:06 +0000

GDAWG: As a white women, I would say that some people do think women are less qualified. I’m saying this a woman with a computer and engineering degree who has had people request men when she worked in tech support because they didn’t think I knew anything…because I was a woman. People underestimate my abilities because of my sex. I’m not thought of for certain jobs at work because I’m not a male and I’m not a member of the “boys club”.

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By: GDAWG

GDAWG — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:53:57 +0000

Because White women, as a group, have benefitted the most from AA, does that mean they are also less qualified, too?

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By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:34:45 +0000

Thanks for the tip, LaSmartOne. We will look into it. US medical institutions, in my experience and research, are among the most discriminatory and racialized institutions in the US.

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By: LaSmartOne

LaSmartOne — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:36:28 +0000

This is off-topic, but someone should write an entry about the “The Color Of Medicine” article on nytimes.com (health section). The comment stream is especially revealing, many of the comments suggesting black doctors are underqualified because of affirmative action and that whites’ apprehension of using black doctors is “rational”.

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