White abolitionists opposed interracial sex to save white men’s souls, not black women

Evidence

It was difficult for abolitionists to discuss the rape of black women for fear of offending audiences, so they concentrated on the theme of prostitution. But the use of the word prostitution to describe mass sexual exploitation of enslaved black women by white men not only deflected attention away from the prevalence of forced sexual assault, it lent further credibility to the myth that black females were inherently wanton and therefore responsible for rape. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 101 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: White abolitionists opposed slavery but never supported racial equality. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 363; White female abolitionists were motivated by saving white men’s souls, not black women’s welfare. — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 80; Even white abolitionists could not imagine black people as equals — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 53 (+1 more)

Related

• White female abolitionists were motivated by saving white men’s souls, not black women’s welfare. (similarity 0.91)
• Abolitionist ‘prostitution’ language reinforced the myth of Black female wantonness (similarity 0.89)
• White abolitionists opposed slavery but never supported racial equality. (similarity 0.88)
• Abolitionists who condemned rape still blamed enslaved women as accomplices. (similarity 0.83)
• White women, not white men, were slavery’s most direct beneficiaries (similarity 0.81)
• Nineteenth-century sexual morality taught mistresses to blame enslaved women for rape (similarity 0.81)
• White men were encouraged to exploit black women but not marry them (similarity 0.81)
• Calling enslaved Black women prostitutes misdescribed their coerced sexual exploitation (similarity 0.80)
• White mistresses usually sided with their husbands against enslaved women (similarity 0.80)
• Rape of black women was ignored because they were seen as sexually permissive (similarity 0.80)
• Sexual exploitation dehumanized black women more than labor exploitation did (similarity 0.79)
• Devaluation of black womanhood licensed exploitation and prostitution (similarity 0.79)
• Enslaved people also absorbed the view of women as temptresses (similarity 0.79)
• Rape of enslaved black women devalued black womanhood beyond slavery’s end. (similarity 0.79)
• Historians have normalized and minimized the rape of enslaved black women. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Abolitionist ‘prostitution’ language reinforced the myth of Black female wantonness #complicates (0.70) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 101