Reflections of a Black Woman Professor: Racism and Sexism in Academia

Patton, Tracey Owens

doi:10.1080/10646170490483629

Cited by 66 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…I wanted to know how they theorized and what they felt. I was warmed and warned by the transparency of Davis (1999), Jones (2003, Patton (2004), and Harris (2007), who politicized and publicized the ways that racism and sexism infiltrate their experiences as Black women in the academy. Then a cherished mentor introduced me to Joni Jones and D. Soyini Madison, both of whom enriched my perspective on how to understand Black feminism as an embodied practice that had been, could be, and needed to continue to be written into our field.…”

Section: R a Griffinmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Looking back to move forward, the anger that I feel is not inventive, since Black women have furiously contested injustice in education and elsewhere for centuries (Allen, 1998;Cooper, 1995;Davis, 1998;hooks, 1981;Houston, 1992;Jones, 2003;Lorde, 1984;Madison, 1994Madison, , 2009Patton, 2004;Shange, 1975;Stewart, 1992;Truth, 1992). While I find a fierce sense of hope in the power of repetition, my hopefulness feels tender up against the grim reality that past calls for equality voiced by Black women have yet to genuinely resonate with the hearts of most.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

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I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance

Griffin

2012

Women's Studies in Communication

167

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Section: R a Griffinmentioning

confidence: 97%

mentioning

confidence: 94%

I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance

Griffin

2012

Women's Studies in Communication

167

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“…Researchers have examined the narratives, dialogues, and interactions of Black women faculty members and colleagues (Alexander-Snow & Johnson;Bova, 2000;Burke et al, 2000;Wright Myers, 2002) that may serve to enhance and encourage the awareness and understanding of inequities and the complexities of the experiences of our lives. Black women faculty members often painfully recount race, gender, and their intersection as sources of oppression that shape our experiences within the academy (e.g., Burton et al, 2000;Fries-Brit & Kelly, 2005;Patton, 2004b). Consequently, we summarized some of the tensions associated with African American women's outsider within status: (a) inequality without reverence to credentials, expertise, and professional experiences, (b) the mammy-sapphire continuum of existence, and (c) the unacknowledged influences of White privilege and the interlocking nature of race and gender oppression within the academy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Not as a member of a domestic class within the intimate confines of White families, as so many of our mothers before us, but as tentative and often transient members of the academy and fraternity of scholars within predominantly White universities. The African American female professorate, the metaphorical Black domestic (Harley, 2008), is an experience marked with marginalization and subordination rather than privilege and domination (Harris, 2007;Patton, 2004b). Marking our difference as well as our contributions through research, instruction, and service, our narratives document how we are received (or not) by students and embraced (or not) by standard-bearer journals.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Outsiders within the Academy: Strategies for Resistance and Mentoring African American Women

Henderson¹

2010

Michigan Family Review

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Black Feminist Thought is used to identify some of the tensions experienced by African American women faculty holding positions in predominately White institutions: (a) the mammy-sapphire continuum of existence, (b) inequality without reverence to credentials and expertise, and (c) privilege and dismissing intersectionality. Peer mentoring is discussed as a tool of resistance. Other forms of resistance include: using counter narratives, identifying the issue, defining and evaluating self, relinquishing representations offered by others, seeking and using work-life resources, and securing required resources.Key words: Black Feminist Thought, Gender, Mentoring, Peer Mentoring, Race, ResistanceWe, African American women professionals in higher education, make visible the continued presence of race and gender oppression, and the hegemony that supports systems of oppression within the academy (Dillard, 2000; Patton, 2004ab). Race and gender differences in patterns of employment, rank, and personal experiences within academic units are illustrative of the interlocking nature of race and gender oppression that have multiple influences (Combs, 2003;Wright Myers, 2002), including pathways to doctorate studies, institutional hiring practices, tenure and promotion processes, organizational behavior, and professional relationships. Further, Black women are more likely to report organizational barriers to advancement and have more negative views of academic or departmental climates. They also are less likely to indicate that their scholarship is valued, that they are respected by their colleagues, and that they are OUTSIDERS WITHIN THE ACADEMY 29Michigan Family Review, 14(1), 28-41, 2010 © Michigan Council on Family Relations viewed as legitimate scholars compared to White women, men of color, or White men (Thomas & Hollenshead, 2001).Because career advancement and greater retention rates are among the most reported benefits of mentoring, mentoring is one form of resistance to systems of oppression, organizational barriers, and other negative dynamics experienced by Black women faculty. Mentoring also reduces social isolation and helps one to manage different academic roles (Bova, 2000;Holmes, Land, & Hinton-Hudson, 2007), making it one of the most viable coping and resistance strategies. Yet, a discussion of mentoring without acknowledging the intersections of race and gender, their implications within predominately White institutions, and forms of resistance would not address fully the needs of Black women in the academy, beckoning the use of a cultural-inclusive approach to working with African American women in the academy.Therefore, to frame the current discussion on mentoring, we use core themes of Black Feminist Thought (Hill Collins, 1986;1991) to situate Black women faculty in the academy. Part of our framework includes three sites of tension and resistance: (a) the Mammy-Sapphire continuum of existence, (b) inequality without reverence to credentials, expertise, and professional experiences, and (c) White ...

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“…Alcoff (2003), Calafell (20082010a), Hu-DeHart (2000) have given testimony to the ways in which issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality permeate the academy. We follow a methodological vein forged by scholars such as Alexander (1999), Calafell (2010a, Patton (2004), and Taylor (2000), who have each used their own experiences to offer complex critiques of the academy by unpacking moments of rupture, in which they have been forced to examine how we are implicated and situated within what Hill Collins (2000) terms the matrix of domination. Further, we engage in self-reflexivity, as a tool through which those of us marked as Other can begin to intervene in our own complicity of the perpetuation of the status quo by unpacking the politics inherent in our lived experience-in our narratives.…”

Section: Personal Narrative and Intersectional Reflexivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Contesting Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy, Intersectional Reflexivity, and Personal Narrative: Queer Tales of Academia

Jones

Calafell

2012

Journal of Homosexuality

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In this essay, we use personal narrative to explore allies and alliance building between marginalized people working in and through higher education, with an eye toward interrogating the ways in which ideologies of neoliberalism work to maintain hierarchy through the legitimation of Othering. Inspired by Conquergood (1985), who calls scholars to engage in intimate conversation rather than distanced observation, we offer our embodied experiences as a way to use the personal to reflect upon the cultural, social and political. Our narratives often recount being out of place, moments of incongruence, or our marked Otherness. Through the sharing of these narratives, we will demonstrate the possibility for ally building based in affective connections forged through shared queer consciousness, paying particular attention to the ways in which neoliberal ideologies, such as individualism and postracism, may advance and impede such alliances.Key Words: alliance building, feminist theory, intersectional reflexivity, neoliberalism, personal narrative, queer pedagogy Jones, R. G., Jr., & Calafell, B. M. (2012). Contesting neoliberalism through critical pedagogy, intersectional reflexivity, and personal narrative: Queer tales of academia. Journal of Homosexuality, 59(7), 957-981. neoliberal policy recommendations include "deregulation of business, privatization of public activities and assets, elimination of or cutbacks in social welfare programs, and reduction of taxes on businesses and the investing class" (p. 65). Writing before the "great recession" he continues, with eerie accuracy, to note that "the neoliberal model creates instability on the macroeconomic level…by loosening public regulation of the financial sector. This renders the system more vulnerable to major financial crises and depression" (p. 66). Even though these claims clearly make a case for neoliberalism's culpability in our current economic downturn, neoliberalism's suspicion of government intervention in economic regulation can be seen in current negative reactions to continued government spending to try to invigorate the economy. In short, Kotz argues that suspicion of government intervention is based on the "grounds that such intervention is likely to create more problems than it solves" (p. 64). In fact, neoliberal economic 3 policies will likely not create more problems for big-business or the wealthy; however, the very voters who elected leaders, like Boehner, who taut these policies are not as likely to benefit.Slaughter and Rhoades (2004) explain: "The benefits of the neoliberal state [tend] to accrue less to the broad citizenry and more to large corporations, the wealthy, and the upper middle class"(pp. 309-310). These policies once again disenfranchise queers of color, and others, who are not represented within this upper middle class status.Neoliberal politics have also created a backlash against higher education as we face the growing problem of state budget crises and higher education and public employees in general, rather large corp...

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Reflections of a Black Woman Professor: Racism and Sexism in Academia

Cited by 66 publications

References 15 publications

I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance

I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance

Outsiders within the Academy: Strategies for Resistance and Mentoring African American Women

Contesting Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy, Intersectional Reflexivity, and Personal Narrative: Queer Tales of Academia

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