The Angry Black Woman

Melissa V. Harris-Perry

Sister Citizen

Marcyliena Morgan and Dionne Bennet write: Being an angry black woman has become an essential description of a black women. Therefor the characteristic of black women is not studied because the researchers already except the stereotype. (88) (89

(67)Marcyliena Morgan and Dionne Bennett " Getting Off of Black Women Backs: Love Her or Leave Her Alone,"Du Bois Review3 (2006) 490

A Chicago focus group, asked black women under thirty -five. How did they think other saw them?

Just the as the black women in New York perception of their self were: kind, loving and tender. But friends and family didn't think that way. Instead they were thought of as being Sassy, Mouthy, Attitude aggressive and Harsh by others. This puts a motional strange on black women always trying to separate themselves from the stereotype of character that's been put on them. (89) (90)

(69) Ivy Kennelly, "That Single-Mother Elements": How White Employers Typify Black Women," "Gender and Society" 13, no.2 (1999) 168-192

Moynihan's Research predict 1964 Civil Rights Act. Moynihan accuses the black women of being the decision maker and ruler of the family, destroying the future of their children and having power, she didn't possess. Moynihan dislike was so strong. Moynihan refer to the black women as "the Black Bitches of our cultural imaginations" Moynihan report prompted "Reagan Revolution and Clinton moderation to research the black matriarchy of Black families (93)

(94). Which they sought to discredit the finding on the black family's matriarchy reports

77. James Patterson, Freedom is not enough: The Moynihan Report and America's struggle over Black Family Life (New York: Basic Books,2010)

Harris-Perry viewed Wallace response more than Michele Wallace's "Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwomen"Wallace was point out the black nationalist political movement views where same as his of black women as emasculating and aggressive.

Myth dominated by the interests of white women. " Lurking behind this political tension is the powerful and painful mythology that depicts Look at the image of angry black women on television. Politi- black women as faithful servants of white women's needs. As they cally you have Maxine Waters of California, liberal Demo- resist the lie of Marumy, black women often avoid junior partner crat. She's always angry every time she gets on television. status in white women's movements, choosing instead to focus their Cynthia Mckinney [former congresswoman from Georgia]. efforts on bettering black communities. During the 2008 Democratic another angry black woman. And who are the black women nomination battle, Obama and Clinton stood as embodied represen- you see on the local news at night in cities all over the country. They're usually angry about something. They've tations of these tensions. As one black women's website reported had a son who has been shot in a drive-by shooting. They "All I have to say . . . is that the days of Mammy are over. There will are angry at Bush. So you don't really have a profile of non- be no more of this expectation that black women table their own self- angry black women .. . [except] Oprah Winfrey. interests to support the needs of white women that will not be returning the favor" Thomas's observations invoke a third powerful stereotype of Stephanie Tubbs Jones died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm black women: one that characterizes them as shrill, loud, argumenta- just a few days before the 2008 Democratic National Convention. tive, irrationally angry, and verbally abusive. His statement shows the The convention nominated Barack Obama as the party's first African power of stereotypes to shape public perceptions. In his eyes, black American nominee for the US presidency It did so with the full women normally appear in public space "angry about something." support of Senator Hillary Clinton and most of her loyal primary His first example, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, has been a mem- supporters. During the convention Tubbs Jones was remembered ber of the House of Representatives for more than two decades. She with great revere and fondness by the Ohio delegation and by the is a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus and can claim tocratic Party No mention of "Mammy" or "hanky head" was notable legislative achievements affecting urban areas, education, made in any of the tributes to her career. and economic development. She was an early and sustained critic of the war in Iraq. She led a congressi stigation of covert Amer- Angry Black Women ican government involvement in the urban drug trade. Yet the expec- tation of black women's angry public posture negates the substance On June 18, 2008, Fox News contributor Cal Thomas discussed of her anger. She is just angry about "something." Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Thomas also seems incapable of distinguishing among different Seeking to place her within a larger tradition of angry black women black women. He mentions Waters in the same breath as twice-defeated political figures, he said: former representative Cynthia Mckinney. Both of these elected repre-Myth Myth 89 sentatives are equated with women who are the subjects of evening news stories about urban violence. Thomas seems unaware that the roles a Black woman may be accused of occupying. These stereo- black women viewers most often encounter on their nightly news are, in types are more than representations; they are representations that fact, the local anchors and reporters at network affiliates across the shape realities."67 In other words, it is not studied because many country. These poised professionals are invisible in Thomas's analysis. researchers accept the stereotype. The angry black woman myth renders sisters both invisible and mute. What is the reality that the angry black woman myth shapes? It is emblematic of the misrecognition of African American women. The respondents in my Chicago focus group of black women under thirty-five discussed how others saw them. Their self-descriptions Observers like Thomas cannot see black women unless they conform were like those of the women in New York: kind, giving, and tender; to this narrow conception of black womanhood, and they cannot hear but when they reflected on how their friends and family thought the substantive political claims these women make. about them, a very different picture emerged. The academic literature on stereotyping traces the popular rep- resentation of black women as uniquely and irrationally angry, ob- Sassy, Mouthy, Attitude noxious, and controlling to the 1930s Amos 'n' Andy radio show. 65 Aggressive, Go-getter, and a self-starter The nagging, assertive Sapphire character on Amos 'n' Andy gave Strong, nice, juicy, smart, spoiled, outgoing, friendly rise to an oft-repeated trope in popular culture representations of Crazy, friendly, self-motivated, hard-working black women, from Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son to Pam on Crazy, reliable, friendly, conceited, loud, strong, spoiled, Martin. The brash, independent, hostile black woman rarely shows moody vulnerability or empathy. The myth of black women's emasculating Fun, smart-ass, picky, humorous, bossy, and always having a anger has not been studied in as much detail as the Jezebel and million things to do Mammy images. But the extant literature does suggest that while Stubborn, analytic, outgoing, supportive, brutally honest Sapphire is one name for the myth, the angry black woman has many different shadings and representations: the bad black woman, the These young sisters believe that others see them as considerably black "bitch," and the emasculating matriarch. The relative scholarly harsher, sassier, and more aggressive than they see themselves. invisibility of the angry black woman myth does not mean that it is Women in the Oakland, California, and New York groups showed inconsequential. Quite the opposite is suggested by black feminist the same pattern of assessing themselves as gentle, thoughtful, and scholars Marcyliena Morgan and Dionne Bennett, who write: "The kind while believing that others more frequently considered them stereotype of the angry, mean Black woman goes unnamed not be- aggressive and brash. It is emotionally taxing to have to manage this cause it is insignificant, but because it is considered an essential disconnect between self and others' perception. There are also polit- characteristic of Black femininity regardless of the other stereotypical ical consequences.Worth Charisse Jones and Kamen Shorter-Gooden use data from hun feds of survey responses and doves of interviews to document The wiringhave is a patio black women's pound experience of "shiting" in their pownal Ives vito ay buff to can pre in order to reject perceptions that they are too appen emafrin fiat frey are icafinally a we or comedy arch reveals that many Black women feel pres swed to callirate her direcness and ask aftert. There news and success, to make the men in their lives flack wa comforable wih and onufident in their machord" Athough sun ess at home, they also repored make diem in my focus groups that their friends and family saw them as harsh and independent Even as dey ey to manage their images, they feed haunted by negative expectations We saw in the previous section that one me her ofmy New Int group described herself quite differenty con how de other women Described themselves. Deborah prod ed 1 an boud pusix, on- coling sound offish and Ian a lover And dat is how offer people n ferc see me too." It seems Deborah has Son of agge embracing it as ber cereal identing She feeds and aled abou de dfind pright in the ated roun beca e she is led at the same age Warbe disc ens hat she feels no need to " shit" benz hack woman. When I an at work and I wa aches how she believes obes see her b de gap Puntheard his her us off my mar and as Deborah did have a commanding press But sometimes I have po po heard The I go up be discuss Thing asks. Site had an easy laugh and plenty of opinions. She played the indeper- how are woody, And dis is via ven ned, domi ring black women perfectly but he per- wence was too seamless to be cominging, Deborah never inf- cared doubt or whenhiing auburnes repduly expressed by de adher participants. She may not have been shifting, but I amm oar she has a car can power to make h vinced dat ber ched posture was a distortion of ber full self This face of blat womanhood criss because see on beamLook at the image of angry black women on television. Politi- i diminishing cts cally you have Maxine Waters of California, liberal Demo- psychological and ph crat. She's always angry every time she gets on television. ner Cynthia Mckinney [former congresswoman from Georgia], heir another angry black woman. And who are the black women atic you see on the local news at night in cities all over the en- country. They're usually angry about something. They've ted, had a son who has been shot in a drive-by shooting. They will are angry at Bush. So you don't really have a profile of non- NITY COLLEGE self- angry black women . . . [except] Oprah Winfrey. 65 be Thomas's observations invoke a third powerful stereotype of sm black women: one that characterizes them as shrill, loud, argumenta- on. tive, irrationally angry, and verbally abusive. His statement shows the can power of stereotypes to shape public perceptions. In his eyes, black their worth amongst their white peers that full women normally appear in public space "angry about something." African Americans worked the ary His first example, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, has been a mem- red ber of the House of Representatives for more than two decades. She the is a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus and can claim vas notable legislative achievements affecting urban areas, education, and economic development. She was an early and sustained critic of the war in Iraq. She led a congressional investigation of covert Amer- ican government involvement in the urban drug trade. Yet the expec- tation of black women's angry public posture negates the substance ed of her anger. She is just angry about "something." Thomas also seems incapable of distinguishing among different heels, but I like to give credit en black women. He mentions Waters in the same breath as twice-defeated able to pedal through life former representative Cynthia Mckinney. Both of these elected repre- (Jones 4)