To Ida B. Wells,
There’s something beautifully ironic
about the way you managed to turn the racialized concepts of gender and the
gendered concepts of race in America on their heads and exploit them to fight
against oppression of all kinds. It’s easy to look at an inherently oppressive
structure and want to destroy it, and much harder to figure out how to subvert
the system and use it against itself. Still, I have to wonder – did you ever want
to stop appealing to extant ideas of manhood, to stop worrying about appearing
scrupulously ladylike, to stop being forced to play into the hands of your oppressors
in order to help overturn them? It’s hard to imagine you didn’t sometimes get
frustrated with the stubborn and virulent racism and sexism of your audience,
so all I can do is find one more thing to applaud you for in not only having
the genius to fight lynching like this, but the tenacity and self-control to
stick with it despite the obstacles and exasperation that must have come with
it.
No comments:
Post a Comment