Labeling black women as sexual savages enabled their rapes by denying their humanity.

Evidence

Since woman was designated as the originator of sexual sin, black women were naturally seen as the embodiment of female evil and sexual lust. They were labeled jezebels and sexual temptresses and accused of leading white men away from spiritual purity into sin. One white politician urged that blacks be sent back to Africa so that white men would not fornicate or commit adultery. His words were “remove this temptation from us.” Although religious white women, white men, and black men argued that white men were morally responsible for sexual assaults on black women, they tended to accept the notion that men succumb to female sexual temptation. Because sexist religious doctrines had taught them that women were the seducers of men, they believed black women were not totally blameless. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 99 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

When I began the research for Ain’t I A Woman, my primary intent was to document the impact of sexism on the social status of black women. I wanted to provide concrete evidence to refute the arguments of antifeminists who so loudly proclaimed that black women were not victims of sexist oppression and were not in need of liberation. As the work progressed, I became increasingly aware that I could arrive at a thorough understanding of the black female experience and our relationship to society as a whole only by examining both the politics of racism and sexism from a feminist perspective. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 47 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Black women suffered quadruple exploitation as laborers, domestic workers, breeders, and rape targets; Rape of black women was ignored because they were seen as sexually permissive; Devaluation of black women was a deliberate method of social control — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 191 (+8 more)

Related

• Historians have normalized and minimized the rape of enslaved black women. (similarity 0.90)
• Rape of black women was ignored because they were seen as sexually permissive (similarity 0.89)
• Sexism and racism were twin oppressive forces in black women’s slave experience (similarity 0.89)
• Devaluation of black women was a deliberate method of social control (similarity 0.88)
• Sexual exploitation dehumanized black women more than labor exploitation did (similarity 0.88)
• The jezebel stereotype blamed Black women for white male sexual assault (similarity 0.88)
• Black women suffered quadruple exploitation as laborers, domestic workers, breeders, and rape targets (similarity 0.88)
• Black women bore the brunt of slave-ship terror because they could not retaliate (similarity 0.87)
• White male sexual power over slaves redirected white women’s anger onto black women (similarity 0.87)
• Nineteenth-century sexual morality taught mistresses to blame enslaved women for rape (similarity 0.86)
• Devaluation of black womanhood licensed exploitation and prostitution (similarity 0.86)
• Understanding black women’s status requires analyzing race and sex together (similarity 0.86)
• Black men asserted dominance over women to compensate for losing to white men (similarity 0.85)
• Sexism made the black female slave’s lot harsher than the male’s (similarity 0.85)
• Abolitionists who condemned rape still blamed enslaved women as accomplices. (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Rape of black women was ignored because they were seen as sexually permissive #expands (0.85)
• The jezebel stereotype blamed Black women for white male sexual assault #corroborates (0.85) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 99
• Black women experienced sexist oppression distinct from racism #expands (0.60) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 47
• Devaluation of black women was a deliberate method of social control #expands (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 191
• Black women under slavery were doubly enslaved by race and sex #corroborates (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 26
• White women feared black women’s perceived immorality threatened their own status #expands (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 384
• White male sexual power over slaves redirected white women’s anger onto black women #expands (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 451
• Slavery-era myths branded black women masculinized to defend patriarchal ideology. #expands (0.50) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 210