What would you do if you woke up every day facing a world that will condemn you without regard to how hard you try? There’s no sympathy for you .If you try to prove them wrong, you’re guilty, if you don’t, and you’re still guilty. Too bigoted you may say, but this is the reality most black women face .IF a white woman is loud ,aggressive, rude and assertive she is hailed as a feminist, but when a black woman takes on the same characters she is viciously stereotyped as an ‘angry black woman’.
The Slave trade may be over but the slave owners aren’t done yet
This derogatory concept was mischievously cooked up by white slave owners to humiliate their black female slaves. During the slave trade era, all slaves male and female were forced to carry out hard labor under the most grueling conditions .The slave masters knowing full well that females are not particularly suited for this kind of job decided to deliberately emasculate their female slaves, denying her of her femininity so as to make the most of her physical ability. This racial prejudice became popular in the 1830s as white men took to the stage, dressed in black face mocking black women and portraying them as barefaced, ugly and irrational.
The era of slave trade may have long gone but the whites haven’t changed their perception. There is a contorted effort by white, media which is majority of the media, to perpetuate the ‘angry black women’ image despite contrary evidence.
You don’t have to be black to be angry
Anger is a normal human emotion common to all classes, irrespective of race creed or color. Angry is not an adjective peculiar to the black woman .By persisting to use such degrading terms to describe the black woman as if the emotion of anger is not present in other races is dehumanizing. The black woman has the same right as other women to be angry. To now look down on her, insult her and degrade her because of this is absolutely racist and sectarian.
The world is tougher for the black woman
Constantly oppressed for having more melanin than others in addition to the regular abuse due to gender it is not surprising that the black woman is often emotionally stressed. In like manner, the recent spate of violence towards blacks in the US, killing of black males by police, burning of black churches, rape and domestic violence against black females bears down on the optimism of these women. As statistics show, they face lower chances of graduating college, have starting salaries much lower than their white counter parts and are distrusted by law enforcement agencies. Most police sheriff is likely to treat a black as a criminal suspect than they are a white with similar demographics. All these depravations cast a dark cloud on the attitude of black women. They have more negativity to fight off than most people group can ever have. For a change the black woman should e celebrated for braving these and still holding her ground in the world.
Honestly, there is no way this wrong opinion can be changed overnight, the fight to refute this lie will have to be fought and won on an individual bases .For this reason, the black female should see herself as a representative of her race, and this consciousness makes it easier to avoid actions that will trigger hasty conclusion from the world. Furthermore she should take simple but thoughtful actions such as getting involved in the community, volunteering for charity organizations, having a friendlier disposition towards people can contribute to improving her already damaged image.