Tushar P Week 2

A Hair Piece: Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender

- Paulette M. Caldwell

In the article ‘A Hair Piece- Perspectives on the Intersection of Race and Gender’, Paulette Caldwell talks about discrimination and black feminism. Her being a black woman also helps her to understand and write about the problems faced by black women. The community has historically been suppressed and have always been at the receiving end in America. The case of Rogers v American Airline shows that black women were at the bottom of the social hierarchial ladder.even among blacks, they were discriminated for against for being a woman. In this case, the supreme court held that since the company was not dicriminatory towards “women” or “blacks” in particular, they could not be held liable. They had failed to see that the conditions of the black women were distinct and that they were not merely blacks who were woman or woman who were blacks.Black women were further forced to live in accordance to the several pre-existing stereotypes and standards of beauty they were associated with.

The problems faced by them has not ended even though we are in the 21^st century. Infact, only now are their problems being increasingly heard. The main problem I feel is awareness among the masses. Many do not know about the special conditions of the black woman.