Citation

White AM. Womens Stud. Int. Forum 2001; 24(1): 11-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0277-5395(00)00167-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

African American women and men antirape activists evidenced a combined race and gender political consciousness when their reasons for participating in an antirape protest ad were analyzed for content. Both women and men activists stressed "the need to speak out" about rape and "the need to support Black women" in their responses. However, the activists qualified their answers in gender-specific ways. Women's qualifications emphasized their vulnerability to rape. Men's qualifications emphasized the need to hold rapists accountable. Together, activists' responses conveyed how the problem of rape compromises African American solidarity. Moreover, their responses exemplified the African-derived communal concept "I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am" in both pro-Black and pro-feminist ways.