Critical Thinking Lorde Analysis

Lorde criticize her parents how they did not explain to them why they must not trust white people. Lorde illustrate tell us there is one singer weren't allowed to sing for their color and how her father was quite progressive when he told the story. Lorde complete tell us how was the racism had faced in her childhood special at summer because black people weren't allowed to celebrate the Fourth of July and how she feel agony all the summer. And how Lorde see that the racism is more in Washington, DC, than their home in New York City. In addition,Lorde father’s had sensation of history and that what make the trip

Nguyen implies that the model minority myth is acting as a mask covering the truth behind the successful image of Asian Americans. Many people are not aware of the growing poverty rate in this population which includes “more than 11.7% of Asian Americans who are homeless” (Nguyen 1).The social constructs of America are turning the diverse Asian American community into a monolithic group. Due to these social stereotypes, many Asian Americans are facing disparities and unequal treatment when they are asking for help concerning financial issues. Furthermore, with the high rates of high educational attainments, Asian Americans are portrayed to be very smart in education, especially in mathematics.

Have you ever heard the statement that all Asian Americans are good at math and science and they excel educationally? This paper defines the model minority myth, provides historical context in perspective of the Chinese Americans and explains how these Chinese American’s experiences do not fit the model minority myth. The model minority stereotype has various negative assumptions towards Asian Americans and one of them is that it assumes all Asian Americans are a homogenous ethnic group. There are several ways how Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans do not fit the model minority myth. Specifically, the historical context of these Chinese Americans contradicts the model minority stereotype.

Statistics that support this model minority theory can be found in many areas, the first being education. Fifty percent of Asian Americans 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree compared to twenty-nine percent of the white population. Many studies have used standardized tests and school records, such as SAT, GPA, and other measures to compare the academic performance of Asian American students with non-Asian American students. Several studies have indicated that the outstanding academic performance of Asian students might be attributed to their cultural and family values. Another area of model minority success is found in the professional workforce. Asian Americans as a group work in the same place of employment as whites. This alone suggests that they have succeeded. A high percent of Asians are found at the top of professional and managerial positions. This success in the workforce has also lead Asians to hold one of the highest income figures per family by race. On the other hand, the model minority label is also seen as a myth. This label suggests that Asian Americans conform to the norms of society, do well in school and careers, are hardworking and self-sufficient. It follows that Asian Americans are a model for all groups, especially other minority groups. However, a closer look uncovers

For example, Shreya, a middle-class biracial woman. Admits that race is important to how others see her, but not that important. She comes from 2 parents who were different races. Her dad was black and mom white. When she was younger she didn’t fit into neither black nor white. People often even mistaken her as Hispanic. She realized race is how people identified her, but she didn’t let that interfere in the way she saw herself as a feminist first than an activist. She didn’t see race as important. All the three groups down categorized race on their

In an attempt to define Black Feminism, Collins clarifies that it must “avoid the idealist position that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them (Collins 385).” In reality, this forms her basis for why Black Feminism is necessary, and who it serves. Thinking about feminism historically, the concerns of black women were pushed aside in favor of fighting sexism, most notably during the Suffrage movement. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, only prominent feminists were invited to the discussion. What resulted was, and often continues to be, a problem of white women speaking for oppressed people. It’s impossible, Collins argues, to have Black Feminist thought without examining the experiences and positions of African American women. Therefore, Black Feminism must be a movement that “encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women’s reality by those who live in it (Collins 386).” However, such a definition brings about many questions: who’s experiences are valued, how do black women take their voice back, and how can they center feminist thinking on their own unique standpoint?

The idea of feminist criticism began in the 1960s, right around the time Lorde wrote and published much of her work. She used feminist theory as a way to undermine traditional patriarchal systems and unite women in a struggle against discrimination, oppression, racism, sexism, and patriarchy. Her writing aims to examine and promote women’s interests, as well as help women of various backgrounds identify with one another through their commonality of systemic oppression and their desire for basic human rights. In Lorde’s words, "I am defined as other in every group I'm part of". This phrase is a product of our society’s notion that to be different means one can not associate oneself with any given group unless they fit wholly into that and nothing else. As Lorde puts it, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Lorde was known to have criticized some feminists during the 1960s for focusing on the specific experiences of white middle-class women rather than women as a diverse group. Through her work, she has observed that black women's experiences are often vastly different from those of white women, and because being a white woman is considered normal, black women are often marginalized and cast out of the “woman identity”. This is similar to the way lesbians are considered to be against feminism for not fitting the mold of the

Patriarchy’s Scapegoat: Black womanhood and femininity – A critique of racism, gender inequality, anti-blackness, and historical exploitation of black women.

The model minority stereotype suggests that Asian Americans as a group are achieving a higher level of academic, economic, and social success than the overall American population (Hartlep, 2013; Tran & Birman, 2010). This stereotype is very much engrained in the American culture today; however, such acceptance does not reflect the whole truth.

In an attempt to define Black Feminism, Collins clarifies that it must “avoid the idealist position that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them (Collins 385).” This clarification forms her basis for why Black Feminism is necessary, and who it serves. Thinking about feminism historically, the concerns of black women were pushed aside in favor of fighting sexism; a notable example occurs within the Suffrage movement, where votes for white women were prioritized over women of color in order to push such legislation through. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, often only prominent feminists were invited to the discussion. What resulted was, and often continues to be, a problem of white women speaking for oppressed people. It’s impossible, Collins argues, to have Black Feminist thought without examining the experiences and positions of African American women. Therefore, Black Feminism must be a movement that “encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women’s reality by those who live in it (Collins 386).” However, such a definition brings about many questions:

Audre Lorde voices that when white women become the dominant voice for all women, women like me get ignored and separated because of our differences. White women are reluctant to see women of color as different because if they actually listen to women of color they will notice that we go through the same problems. However, if they notice that we go through the same problem, they are afraid to be consider as low as we are due to society. For white women, it is better to ignore than accept. This is why I agree with Lorde's theory of difference, that we must come to together and ignore the difference that all women have.

In order to clearly analyze how the black lesbian experience shaped Lorde, I am going to be focusing

     In “The Fourth of July,” the need of belonging to a society is displayed. Lorde stated, “This wasn’t right or fair! Hadn’t I written poems about Bataan and freedom and democracy for all? (Lorde 204) Lorde’s family was told that couldn’t eat in an ice cream shop because of their color in the one place that has stood for freedom and equality for the last two hundred and twenty-five years, our nations capitol. Lorde’s family was basically treated like they were foreigners because of their color.

I am applying intersectionality and the sociological imagination to my intersecting identities: class, gender, and ethnicity. By employing intersectionality and the sociological imagination, I am analyzing how my positionality affected my personal experiences while connecting those events with society. I also included five peer-reviewed articles as supporting evidence.

In the attempt to gain equality for women across gender barriers in all aspects of society, the battle that women have had to endure throughout history has been anything but peaceful. Particularly in the United States, the women’s liberation movement is an example of how women in the U.S. took a stance to protest for their civil and reproductive rights, domestic violence issues, women’s suffrage, and sexual harassment and gender-based violence that is inflicted upon women on a daily basis. This movement was full of women passionate for gender based equality in the U.S, however this feminist movement was not as easy to join if you were a black woman. A reason for this hardship was because of the racial conflict and tension that is experienced by African American people living in the United States that is dated back to the inhumane implantation of slavery. Racism in America is the result of the white social construction of identity and the perpetrated norm of the “otherness.” The marginalization of disclosing black women from the U.S. women’s liberation movement demonstrates an explicit example of how the attempt to protest for gender equality was overshadowed by a racialized closed-door way of thinking. Therefore, this essay will closely examine the feminist liberation movement in the United States and explain the hardships and racial struggles that black women had to endure in their attempt to join this movement. It will look from a different angle towards this women’s