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Home , Aileen Hernandez, Feminist movement

Women of Color in the Feminist Movement: An Invisible Subgroup?

By: Carolyn Friend Problem z Do women of color have a strong presence in the feminist movement ? z How did feminist organizations for women of color take off ? Are there connections between their rise and the rise of general feminist and general women’s organizations? z Does there seem to be a connection to historical events and other social movements? Theories and Hypotheses z Organization dynamic model: growing density of civil rights organizations promoted women’s and organizational activity. (Minkoff 1997) z Most ethnic/racial minority rights struggles spawn separate women’s movement (Garcia 1989) z There should be a steady increase in cumulative women’s organizations from 1848 with sharper increase in the late 1960s. Hypotheses z Organizations for women of color are out there, but they don’t have the bodies and $ to be as strong as general feminist organizations. z Due to institutional racism and the whiteness of mainstream , organizations for women of color struggle to catch on. Background on Feminist Movement z Feminist movement- industrialization, urbanization, displacement of female functions out of the home, further education, changing values of women z 1830-1865: Women wanted to get involved in abolitionist movement but couldn’t because they weren’t allowed to speak in public

(Freeman 1975) Background z First Wave of feminism- centered around women’s movement (1890-1920) z “like White men, many White women wanted the power of the vote—exclusively for themselves.” (Taylor 1998, 237) z African American women were pushed out by white suffragists but still remained active in the start-up of the civil rights movement Background z Second Wave of feminism- centered around women’s liberation movement: mid 1960s-70s z Kick started by civil rights movement: 1954- 1965 (Taylor 1998, 239) z “frustration with the contradictions between progressive politics and practice led [women of the civil rights movement] to organize independently against male-dominated institutions” (Minkoff 1997, 783) Second Wave & Women of Color z 1966- National Organization for Women is founded by , Aileen Hernandez, and Pauli Murray (Taylor 1998, 242) z Portions of NOW were modeled after NAACP z In 1974 10% of NOW members were of color z Prior to 1973 black women’s groups dealt with problems in the black community. Black Women Organized for Action National Black Feminist Organization (Freeman 1975) Black Feminist Organizing z 1973- NBFO held their first conference and were very particular about the attendees z Worked to change beliefs that feminism was only advantageous to white women z Pressured NOW to include issues of women of color and poor white women z Most influential group in the struggle were lesbians (Taylor 1998) After the protests… z Late : sharp increase in density of organizations z Mass membership associations z Specialized groups z Single-issue groups z Traditional women’s groups z “Unobtrusive” mobilization (Katzenstein 1990)

(Minkoff 1997) Methods z Associations Unlimited z Subject descriptor “women” & “feminism” z Only national organizations z 627 total z 362 feminist z 58 women of color z Coded for founding date, staff size, budget, what racial group the org focused on, and whether or not the org was feminist Codebook z 0=general feminist z 1=Black z 2=Hispanic z 3=Asian z 4=Middle Eastern z 6=general minority focus z 7=American Indian z Feminist: promotes equity; physical, mental and emotional wellbeing; integrate into church; women’s health policy; advocacy Minority Focus Women's Organizations

25

20

15

10

5

0 Af-Am Hispanic Asian Middle General American Eas ter n Minority Indian All Women’s Groups: N=566

Cumulative Women's Groups Women's Group Foundings

600 35 30 500 25 400 20 300 15 200 10

100 5

0 0

4 3 5 8 8 7 5 4 1 0 8 5 2 9 6 4 3 5 8 8 7 5 4 1 0 8 5 2 9 6 4 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 4 8 9 0 1 2 5 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 93 94 9 96 96 97 98 98 99 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 General Feminist: N=324 Women of Color: N=49

Feminist Foundings Women of Color Foundings 6 5 4 20 3 18 16 2 14 12 1 10 8 6 4 2 0 1858 1935 1952 1969 1972 1975 1977 1980 1982 1984 1986 1991 1993 1995 1858 1890 1899 1916 1921 1928 1938 1946 1951 1956 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 Aggregated Budget Aggregated Staff Size

Entire Sample $434,482,143.00 4,746

Feminist $203,403,556.00 2,564

Non-Feminist $231,078,587.00 2,182

Women of Color $14,788,230.00 237 z Feminist Organizations z 47% of aggregated budget z 54% of aggregated staff z Average Org: $562,000; 7 staff members z Women of Color Organizations z 3.4% of aggregated budget z 5% of aggregated staff z Average Org: $255,000; 4 staff members Women's Org Budgets

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 under $25,000 $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000

Feminist Budgets Women of Color Budgets

40 8 35 7 30 6 25 5 20 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 under $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over under $25,000 to $100,001 to $500,001 to over $25,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 $25,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,000,000 Staff Sizes, Women's Organizations

300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than missing 10

Staff Sizes, Feminist Staff Sizes, Women of Color

180 160 140 120 100 35 80 60 30 40 25 20 20 0 15 Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than 10 missing 10 5 0 Zero or One 2-4 5-7 8-10 More than missing 10 Analysis part 2 z Chose around 15 large women of color organizations to profile z Encyclopedia of Associations – every 5 years (1970- present) z Membership z Staff z Budget z Issues z Goal was to see how issues changed over the course of the organizations history Why it didn’t work z Needed to work forward in time instead of backward z High mortality rate of organizations when looking back z Insanely time consuming z Many entries that did show up in many editions also stayed exactly the same Other Issues z Founding black women’s organizations aren’t in the Encyclopedia so I wonder what else is missing z I would have liked to do the same sort of analyses with civil rights organizations z Out of all feminist organizations, 230 are missing budget information and 157 are missing staff information z There is no research on this topic Interpretations z All the literature backs up that the civil rights movement opened the door for the women’s liberation movement. I couldn’t separate them if I tried. z Women’s organizations do begin increasing in numbers after Seneca Falls z Feminist organization foundings also seem linked to historical events- 19th Amendment, Civil Rights Act, founding of landmark organizations z Organizations for women of color increase after the Second Wave of feminism begins. In response to racism within the movement? Further Interpretations z It appears that women of color organizations do actually have the staff to keep the orgs running, they just lack funding z Women of color are less likely to have the time and $ to devote to worrying about social issues (Freeman 1975)

z Donors tend to be wealthy whites (Ostrander 1999) z Since my part 2 analyses didn’t quite work it is obviously that women of color organizations do struggle to keep going Conclusions z Feminism is a very white movement z Organizations for women of color are out there, they follow similar patterns to general feminist organizations, but they encounter more roadblocks z It would be very interesting to trace how major feminist organizations issues have changed. z Perhaps issues concerning women of color have been incorporated more recently? Hence the mortality of many organizations. Bibliography

Associations Unlimited Online Database. 2003. Gale Research Co. http://www.galegroup.com/. Resources and Tools. 2003. OSU Women’s Studies Dept. http://www.womens- studies.ohio-state.edu/pedagogy/Teaching/timeline.html. Freeman, Jo. 1975. The Politics of Women’s Liberation. : David McKay Company, Inc. Gale Research Company. 1970-2002. Encyclopedia of Associations. Vol 1, National Organizations. Detroit: Gale Research Co. Garcia, Alma. 1989. “The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse, 1970-1980.” and Society 3: 217-238. Hunter, Andrea. 1998. “Feminist Attitudes among African American Women and Men.” Gender and Society 12: 81-99. Katzenstein, Mary. 1990. “Feminism within Institutions: Unobtrusive Mobilization in the 1980s.” Signs 16: 27-54. Minkoff, Debra. 1997. “The Sequencing of Social Movements.” American Sociological Review 62: 779- 799. Ostrander, Susan. 1999. “Gender and Race in a Pro-Feminist, Progressive, Mixed-Gender, Mixed- Race Organization.” Gender and Society 13: 628-642. Scott, Ellen. 1998. “Creating Partnerships for Change: Alliances and Betrayals in the Racial Politics of Two Feminist Organizations.” Gender and Society 12: 400-423. Taylor, Ula. 1998. “The Historical Evolution of Black and Praxis.” Journal of Black Studies 29: 234-253.