>Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 17:19:52 -0400 >From: Black Radical Congress <blackradicalcongress@email.com> > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >This is a Press Release/Statement from the Black Radical Congress >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >The World March of Women > >Statement of Support by the Black Feminist Caucus (BFC) >of the Black Radical Congress (BRC) > >October 4, 2000 > >The Black Feminist Caucus (BFC) of the Black Radical >Congress (BRC) unites with our sisters around the globe >who are participating in the World March of Women (WMW) >on October 15, 2000 and are fighting to end poverty and >violence against women. Consistent with the demands of the >WMW, the BFC opposes patriarchy and capitalist exploitation >globally. We envision a holistic approach to the liberation >of women, one that fights on multiple fronts simultaneously. >The BFC also militantly opposes white supremacy, national >oppression, and heterosexism as systems and corresponding >ideologies of oppression that assault the humanity of >millions of women all over the world. > >The BFC unites with the WMW's demands for international >structural changes that will change women's lived conditions >globally, including ending neo-liberal structural adjustment >programs and cutbacks in public services, and the cancellation >of the debt of all Third World countries. The U.S. organizers >of the WMW have focused on the universality of women's >oppression and have proposed three general demands: "(a) >eliminate poverty and ensure a fair distribution of the >planet's wealth between rich and poor, and between women >and men; (b) eliminate violence against women; and (c) >ensure equality between women and men." The BFC supports >these general demands. However, we also believe the >general U.S. demands fail to capture the racial and >national complexities of women's oppression. > >The primary assumption underlying the three core U.S. >demands is that women suffer similarly, regardless of >class, race, nationality, and sexual identity. Yet, there >exist significant power differences among these social and >economic groups. Liberation for all women demands that we >address the unique and intersecting oppressions of race, >class, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality. Complete >liberation also requires a fundamental social and economic >transformation of our society. > >The oppression of Black women in the U.S. is linked to the >oppression of our sisters around the world, and to our Black >male counterparts. A significant number of Black women are >victims/survivors of male violence, and this type of violence >must be eliminated. Male violence is among the various forms >of violence Black women in the U.S. face and resist. Many >Black women and men live together in communities that all >too often are ravaged by poverty, substandard housing, and >environmental hazards. Many of us are locked into dead end >jobs that don't pay a livable wage, and attend substandard >schools. We are subjected to similar structural policies >that reinforce our multiple oppressions, such as drug laws >and legislative and judicial practices that disproportionately >send Black women and men to prison, health care procedures >that ignore and/or reinforce race-gender health disparities, >and educational policies resulting in the subeducation of >our children. > >The BFC asserts that Black women's oppression in the U.S. is >multiply determined by the intersection of four broad internal >and global structures: (a) globalization or global capitalism, >an emerging social structure that pushes increased privatization >and attempts to erode the public sector; (b) patriarchy and >sexism, the beliefs of male superiority and female inferiority >and the institutional subordination of women; (c) white >supremacy, the beliefs of white superiority and people >of color inferiority and the corresponding institutional >discrimination; and (d) homophobia and heterosexism, the >beliefs of heterosexual superiority and normalcy, and >institutional discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, >and transgendered people. These ideological and structural >forms of oppression interact to shape our lived experiences, >and explain the disadvantaged social position of Black women >in the U.S. For example: > >-- Within our political economic structure, work (paid and >unpaid) is both "raced" and "gendered," such that poor and >working class Black women are often relegated to low paying >jobs, and/or left out of the paid job market altogether. >Poor and working class Black women are disproportionately >impacted by the erosion of welfare and the loss of an >economic safety net for the U.S.'s poorest people. > >-- Poor and working class Black women in the U.S. are >grossly over-represented in the prison system. They account >for approximately 12 percent of the general female population, >but are over 50 percent of the women's prison population. Since >the implementation of the "war on drugs" in the mid-1980s, Black >women's drug offense incarceration rate has risen over 800 percent. > >-- In addition to state violence against Black women in U.S. >prisons, Black women also face sexual abuse and domestic >violence which is shaped by class and patriarchal structures. >Poor women, in general, are four times more likely to be >victims/survivors of sexual violence. The stereotypes of >Black women as sexually loose has served to justify sexual >violence against us and has played a negative role in how >Black survivors are treated within health facilities and >by the courts. > >-- One of the most egregious manifestations of globalization >in the U.S. is the link between the rising funding disparities >between prisons and public education; the majority of states >in the U.S. spend nearly 10 times more on prisons than on >early education, and schools servicing urban Black girls >and boys carry the brunt of the cut-backs. > >-- The intersection of class, gender, and social oppression >has had a devastating impact on Black women's health in the >U.S. Black women are more than twice as likely to develop >certain chronic and disabling health conditions compared >to white women (e.g., lupus and heart disease) and/or are >significantly more likely to die from diseases such as >breast cancer. Nearly 25 percent of reported AIDS cases >are women, and Black women are approximately 63 percent >of these cases. > > >In the spirit of the WMW, the BFC of the Black Radical >Congress unites around collective efforts to bring about >structural changes in our world -- changes that will help >to eradicate the disgraceful economic exploitation of workers >and to eliminate the multiple forms of oppression confronting >women. We also offer the following demands that target the >interlocking structures that serve to oppress Black women >in the United States. > >The BFC adds these additional demands to the WMW: > > INCREASE ECONOMIC SECURITY > >1. Institutionalize a national living wage; > >2. Institutionalize public policy to ensure an economic >safety net for poor women, men and children, including >dismantling the Personal Responsibility and Work >Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996; > > END ALL FORMS OF MISOGYNIST AND PATRIARCHAL VIOLENCE > AGAINST WOMEN > >3. Eliminate cultures of tolerance towards violence against >women and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered peoples; > >4. End independent, cultural, and corporate-supported >bigotry and defamation of women in music, television, >film, the internet, etc. > > END HETEROSEXIST AND HOMOPHOBIC BIAS AGAINST LESBIAN, GAY, > BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDERED PEOPLES > >6. Challenge the discrimination of non-traditional families. > >7. End job, housing, and other forms of heterosexist >discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and >transgendered peoples. > > END LEGAL/PRISON INJUSTICES > >8. End drug legislation that requires jail time for >non-violent drug offenders; > >9. End policies that strip incarcerated mothers of their >parental rights; > >10. Revoke Resolution HR 254 and make sure that the United >States keeps its hands off of Assata Shakur. > >11. Reorient the federal budget expenditures away from U.S. >prisons and towards public education; > > CREATE QUALITY, UNBIASED EDUCATION > >12. Substantially increase funding for public K-16 education, >and equalize funding disparities between urban and suburban >schools; > >13. End practices that disproportionately place poor and >working class Black girls and boys in "special" schools >and keeps them locked out of gifted and college preparatory >classes; > >14. Invest in girls' extracurricular activities, including >sports teams; > > PROMOTE GREATER HEALTH AMONG WOMEN > >15. Provide medical insurance to all women, men and children >that includes both prevention and intervention care; > >16. Increase research and medical services to better understand >and prevent the significant health disparities in Black girls >and women (e.g., HIV/AIDS, Lupus, infant mortality). > >17. End toxic dumping and other environmental practices in >poor, primarily people of color communities. > >---------------------------------------------------------------- >---------------------------------------------------------------- >---------------------------------------------------------------- > >BLACK FEMINIST CAUCUS (BFC) of the BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS (BRC) > >Statement of Purpose > >June 22, 2000 > >The Black Feminist Caucus (BFC) is a women-led group working >within the Black Radical Congress (BRC) to build a movement >for the liberation of Black people. We believe that the >Black liberation movement fights for a world in which Black >people and all people are free from economic exploitation, >and all forms of oppression and discrimination. Our history >as oppressed people, the tradition of women as leaders and >militant fighters, and the inclusive definitions of family >that many of us have embraced as survivors of slavery and >colonialism belie the assumption that men are the "natural >leaders" of our community or movement or that male-dominated >families are the best way to raise children. In contrast, >history suggests that it is only when women and men live and >fight side by side that we move closer to a healthy and just >society. We therefore insist that the BRC maximize women's >leadership as a way to guard against chauvinism of the past >and present. > >We ground our analysis in the experiences of Black women >-- women who bear the brunt of multiple oppressions in >this society. Specifically we give priority in our work to >sisters at the very bottom of the economic ladder; sisters >who every day suffer the violence of poverty, sexual abuse, >physical abuse, the criminal (in)justice system, substandard >or non-existent health care, poor working conditions and low >wages -- when work exists, unemployment and inadequate child >care. The people this society places last, we place first. > >We believe that the Black liberation movement will only be >successful and principled when it consciously, consistently, >and aggressively fights against patriarchy (the assumption >that men should naturally dominate the family and by extension >organizations, institutions, and society); misogyny (the >hateful and violent treatment and depiction of women); sexism >(the institutional subordination of women); and rigid and >narrow definitions of masculinity, femininity and family >that compromise the humanity of women, children and men. A >critical part of our Black feminist vision is the militant >opposition to homophobia (fear, animosity, discrimination >and violence against lesbians, gay, bisexual, and trans- >gendered people) and heterosexism (the privileges, recognition >and rights enjoyed only by heterosexuals and the assumption >that heterosexuality is the only "normal" sexual identity). > >As radical Black feminists we see a holistic approach >to liberation as necessary, one that fights on multiple >fronts simultaneously. We oppose imperialism (political and >economic domination of nations and oppressed peoples both >in the U.S. and world-wide); capitalist exploitation (the >exploitation of the majority -- poor and working people >-- for the benefit of the few -- rich, ruling class and >corporate elites; and the commodification of all aspects >of human existence); white supremacy (the belief in the >superiority of "whiteness" as a racial category and the >systemic domination of all people of color under this >hierarchy); and national oppression (the political, economic, >and racial domination of Black people throughout the U.S.), >as systems of oppression that assault the humanity of millions >of women all over the world. We insist that the fight against >patriarchy and homophobia is indivisible from the fight to >eliminate all other systems of oppression and exploitation >that intersect in all of our lives. > >We understand that patriarchy has existed throughout history >in various economic and social systems. We recognize that if >we eliminate just imperialism and capitalist exploitation, >we will not be free; if we only eliminate white supremacy, >we will not be free; if we eliminate only patriarchy and >heterosexism, we will not be free. Our vision is to forge >a radical Black feminist movement which battles on each >of these fronts simultaneously. We unite with our sisters >across the globe who are fighting to eliminate the same >systems of oppression. A radical Black feminist vision >challenges us to root out injustices at every level and >in every crevice of our lives, communities, organizations >and societies. > >The Black Radical Congress >National Office >P.O. Box 490365 >Atlanta, GA 30349-0365 >Phone: (404) 768-2529 >Fax: (404) 614-8563
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