Skip to main content

Dr. Kaila Story "The White Man’s the Devil~ The Black Man is King: Intraracial Sexual Politics and the Consequences for Black Women"

Date:
-
Location:
MLK Center
Speaker(s) / Presenter(s):
Dr. Kaila Story

The White Man’s the Devil~ The Black Man is King: Intraracial Sexual Politics and the Consequences for Black Women

On Wednesday September 11, 2013, The R&B Divas LA part two premiered. All of the women on stage discussed how they had been previously been beaten, sexually molested, and raped throughout their lives while in intimate relationships. On August 12, 2012 NFL player Chad Ochocinco Johnson was charged with “head-butting” his wife Evelyn Lozado. On February 8, 2009, singer Rhianna was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable by singer Chris Brown in a relationship dispute. All of these incidents have sparked huge debate within black communities. Unfortunately, the overwhelming response to these incidents has been to engender sympathy and forgiveness to the perpetrators, and to demonize these women for speaking their realities publicly. This in many ways, has given the message to young Black women and men that when Black women suffer abuse, whether physical, emotional, and/or sexual, at the hands of a Black man, the Black community historically and presently has not supported those women.

However, when Black women have accused White men of these same political ills, the black community has been overwhelming supportive, even if those incidents are found out later to be fabricated. Using the voices of the R&B Divas LA, and using the cases of Tawana Brawley, Crystal Magnum, Anita Hill, Deseree Washington, Rhianna, and Evelyn this presentation, will explore the historical and present intraracial and sociopolitical dynamics that are in play when a Black woman accuses a black man and/or white man of sexual impropriety and how the Black community has responded to such incidents.