Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism

385 Pages·2013·2.74 MB·English

BLACK
SEXUAL
POLITICS

BLACK
SEXUAL
POLITICS
AFRICAN AMERICANS, GENDER,
AND THE NEW RACISM
PATRICIA HILL COLLINS
Routledge
New York & London
Published in 2004 by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street
New York, New York 10001
www.routledge-ny.com
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
www.routledge.co.uk
Copyright © 2004 by Routledge
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or here-
after invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage
or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Collins, Patricia Hill.
Black sexual politics : African Americans, gender, and the new racism / Patricia
Hill Collins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-93099-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. African Americans—Social conditions—1975- 2. African American men. 3.
African American women. 4. Sex role—United States. 5. African American—Sexual
behavior. 6. African American—Race identity. 7. Racism—United States. 8. United
States—Race relations. 9. Sexism—United States. I. Title.
E185.86.C58167 2004
306.7'089'96073—dc22 2003022841
ISBN 0-203-30950-2 Master e-book ISBN
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION: NOTURNINGBACK 1
PART I
African Americans
and the New Racism
1 WHYBLACKSEXUALPOLITICS? 25
2 THEPASTISEVERPRESENT: RECOGNIZING
THENEWRACISM 53
3 PRISONSFOROURBODIES, CLOSETSFOR
OURMINDS: RACISM, HETEROSEXISM,
ANDBLACKSEXUALITY 87
PART II
Rethinking Black Gender
Ideology
4 GETYOURFREAKON: SEX, BABIES, ANDIMAGES
OFBLACKFEMININITY 119
5 BOOTYCALL: SEX, VIOLENCE, ANDIMAGESOF
BLACKMASCULINITY 149
6 VERYNECESSARY: REDEFININGBLACKGENDER
IDEOLOGY 181
vi
PART III
Toward a Progressive
Black Sexual Politics
7 ASSUMETHEPOSITION: THECHANGING
CONTOURSOFSEXUALVIOLENCE 215
8 NOSTORYBOOKROMANCE: HOWRACEAND
GENDERMATTER 247
9 WHYWECAN’TWAIT: BLACKSEXUALPOLITICS
ANDTHECHALLENGEOFHIV/AIDS 279
AFTERWORD: THEPOWEROFAFREEMIND 303
NOTES 309
GLOSSARY 349
BIBLIOGRAPHY 353
INDEX 367
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I begin by thanking students from the University of Cincinnati
for their support of this project. Special thanks go to the
students who enrolled in “Seminar in Black Sexual Politics”
and in “Introduction to Black Gender Studies,” two new
courses in which I explored many of the ideas in this book. The
issues in their lives convinced me of the need for this book.
Undergraduate students also greatly helped my thinking about
contemporary hip-hop culture. Several University of
Cincinnati undergraduate student majors and minors in
African American Studies assisted me as student researchers on
various parts of this project. Adetra “Quay”Martin and Tanya
Walker helped me to complete research on films and popular
culture. Special thanks also go to Eric Styles, Kyle Riddle, Terri
Holland, Erin Ledingham, Keith Melson, Khalila Sanders, and
Torrie Wiggins for their insights.
Graduate students in Women’s Studies and Sociology also
provided important help. Valerie Ruffin made invaluable con-
tributions to this project, both as my research assistant when
she was a student at the University of Cincinnati and as a keen
editorial eye concerning early drafts of this project. Special
thanks also go to Stephen Whittaker for his thorough research
in the literature of masculinities and for reading early drafts of
some of the chapters. Jennifer Gossett, Sarah Byrne, and Jamie
McCauley also shared ideas that improved the final quality of
this manuscript. Vallarie Henderson and Tamika Odum
assisted me with final manuscript preparation.
My University of Cincinnati colleagues also provided
much-needed support for this project. I want to thank Patrice
L. Dickerson for assistance with demographic material and
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
William Jackson for his suggestions and critical eye concerning Black film.
I also enjoyed co-teaching “Introduction to Black Gender Studies” with
Marla Frederick and benefited from the insights of Regina Langley. Both
helped me think through ideas concerning race, gender, and religion.
Sharing the ideas in this project with colleagues greatly strengthened
this book. I especially appreciate being invited to participate in two excit-
ing conferences on Progressive Black Masculinitiesheld in 2001 and 2002 at
the Baldy Center at the University of Buffalo Law School. Organized by
Professor Athena Matua, these conferences helped me think through
issues of Black masculinity. Teresa Miller and John Calmore greatly stim-
ulated my thinking on the prison industry and the treatment of African
American men within it. Special thanks to Devon Carbado, Kendall
Thomas, Thomas Glave, Mark Anthony Neal, Beverly Guy-Sheftall,
Bahati Kuumba, and many other conference participants whose thinking
greatly enriched my own. I also want to thank colleagues at other institu-
tions who invited me to present chapters from this manuscript. A partial
list includes Rebecca Walter at George Mason University, Tom Greaves at
Bucknell University, Jeff Schulz at Arcadia University, Diane Vaughn at
Boston College, Gerald Early at Washington University at St. Louis,
Tukufu Zuberi at the University of Pennsylvania, and Tariq Modood at
the University of Bristol, U.K., where I spent a total of four weeks as a vis-
iting professor in January and June of 2002.
In 2002–2003, I spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of
Kentucky, Lexington. The intellectual stimulation that I encountered
there enabled me to finish the manuscript. The support that I received
from everyone was wonderful. My deep thanks go to Mike Nietzel from
the Provost’s Office, Joan Callahan and Debra Harley in Women’s Studies,
and Gerald Smith in African American Studies. University of Kentucky
graduate students read parts of this manuscript and gave me helpful com-
ments. In this regard, special thanks go out to Yaphet Bryant for her edi-
torial comments on chapters dealing with Black popular culture and to
John Youngblood for his insights concerning the Black Church as well as
issues that face gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Black people. I
also want to thank Rachel Clark, my phenomenal graduate research assis-
tant for the year who gave new meaning to the term “stealth feminist.”
The University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati both
helped defray costs associated with this book. The Provost’s Office at the
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
University of Kentucky provided support that helped with the costs of
manuscript preparation. At the University of Cincinnati, the support pro-
vided by the Taft Fund for costs of travel and manuscript preparation has
been invaluable over the years. I also wish to thank Provost Anthony
Perzigian for his tireless support of my scholarship during lean financial
times. The three deans of the College of Arts and Sciences who held
tenure while I completed this project—Joseph Caruso, Chuck Groetsch,
and Karen Gould—also provided encouragement and support.
Administrative and secretarial support also made my life much easier. I
wish to thank Josephine Wynne for her professionalism and her ability to
manage the Department of African American Studies during my tenure as
chair of the department.
This project would not have come to fruition without the support of
the terrific team at Routledge. Ilene Kalish, my tireless editor at Routledge,
has been with me through this entire project and her enthusiasm (and
energy!) has not waned throughout. I would also like to thank the entire
editorial team who worked on the manuscript, with special thanks to
Kimberly Guinta, Mark Lerner, and Danielle Savin for their invaluable
contributions during the production process. I would also like to thank
Tricia Rose, who read and gave helpful suggestions on the final manu-
script, as well as the anonymous reviewers provided by Routledge.
I also wish to thank my family for their continued backing. My spouse,
Roger and my father, Albert Hill, have been among my strongest and most
consistent supporters. I also want to acknowledge the unconditional love
offered by my two senior cats who kept me company as I wrote.
Finally, I dedicate this book to Valerie, my beautiful and talented
daughter. May the world come to see her and others of her generation as
the hope of our future.