I’d Rather Be Black than Female.doc

I’dRatherBeBlackthanFemaleBeingthefirstblackwomanelectedtoCongresshasmademesomekindofphenomenon、TherearenineotherblacksinCongress;therearetenotherwomen、ebothhandicapsatonce、Ofthetwohandicaps,beingblackismuchlessofadrawbackthanbeingfemale、IfIsaidthatbeingblackisagreaterhandicapthanbeingawoman,probablynoonewouldquestionme、Why?Because“weallknow”thereisprejudiceagainstblackpeopleinAmerica、Thatthereisprejudiceagainstwomenisanideathatstillstrikesnearlyallmen–and,Iamafraid,mostwomen–asbizarre、PrejudiceagainstblackswasinvisibletomostwhiteAmericansformanyyears、Whenblacksfinallystartedto“mention”it,withsit-ins,boycotts,andfreedomrides,Americanswereincredulous、“Who,us?”theyaskedininjuredtones、“We’reprejudiced?”Itwasthestartofalong,painfulreeducationforwhiteAmerica、Itwilltakeyearsforwhites–includingthosewhothinkofthemselvesasliberals–todiscoverandeliminatetheracistattitudestheyallactuallyhave、Howmuchharderwillitbetoeliminatetheprejudiceagainstwomen?Iamsureitwillbealongerstruggle、PartoftheproblemisthatwomeninAmericaaremuchmorebrainwashedandcontentwiththeirrolesassecond–classcitizensthanblackseverwere、Letmeexplain、Ihavebeenactiveinpoliticsformorethantwentyyears、Forallbutthelastsix,hework–allthetediousdetailsthatmakethedifferencebetweenvictoryanddefeatonelectionday–whilemenreapedtherewards,whichisalmostinvariablythelotofwomeninpolitics、Itisstillwomen–aboutthreemillionvolunteers–whodomostofthi