Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America

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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America

4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 · rating details · 495 ratings · 87 reviews

Jezebel's sexual lasciviousness, Mammy's devotion, and Sapphire's outspoken anger—these are among the most persistent stereotypes that black women encounter in contemporary American life. Hurtful and dishonest, such representations force African American women to navigate a virtual crooked room that shames them and shapes their experiences as citizens. Many respond by assu...more

Hardcover, 300 pages

Published September 20th 2011 by Yale University Press

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Sister Citizen by Melissa V. Harris-Perry

Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins

Feminist Theory from Margin to Center by Bell Hooks

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker

Black Feminist/Womanist Studies

1st out of 84 books — 17 voters

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Dec 06, 2011 TheFountainPenDiva rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-non-fiction, genre-black-women-non-fiction, genre-feminist-studies, opinions-read-this-book-now, other-emotional, other-provocative

Melissa Harris-Perry pulls no punches with her insightful and scathing indictment of the institutions and the damaging myths about black womanhood that keep them from fully realizing their citizenship and their identity. She explores the genesis of such stereotypes as the promiscuous Jezebel, the self-sacrificing Mammy (once again made popular with the inexplicable success of The Help) and the emasculating Sapphire. The book is filled with anecdotes, but it's also backed with meticulous research...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Bette rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found "Sister Citizen" to be the most comprehensive book I have read regarding the stereotypes plaguing black women. The book is clear and concise. This has helped me to better understand myself as a black woman and how I fit in our country. I felt validated about a lot of personal experiences. Ms. Harris-Perry proves again that she is one of America's most incredible political minds. I appreciate how she is using peer-reviewed sources, empirical data,and recent events to tie her themes togeth...more I found "Sister Citizen" to be the most comprehensive book I have read regarding the stereotypes plaguing black women. The book is clear and concise. This has helped me to better understand myself as a black woman and how I fit in our country. I felt validated about a lot of personal experiences. Ms. Harris-Perry proves again that she is one of America's most incredible political minds. I appreciate how she is using peer-reviewed sources, empirical data,and recent events to tie her themes together. Ms. Harris-Perry says it best: "This book is not a work of history but it relies on black women's history as a frame for understanding contemporary politics. It is not a work of literary criticism, but it relies on literature written by and about black women. It is not a biography...It is not a traditional social science text, but it makes use of empirical data. This book is concerned with understanding the emotional realities of black womens' lives in order to answer a political, not a personal question: What does it mean to be a black woman and an American citizen?" (p.29)Ms. Harris-Perry masterfully gives scenario after scenario of the impact of mis-recognition over the history of African-Americans --using peer reviewed sources. The focus groups she conducted were interesting as well as the story about how black women (including Ms. Harris-Perry herself) struggled to survive during hurricane Katrina. She gives a heart wrenching 'boots on the ground' account of how people experienced hurricane Katrina, sharing the untold human losses and emotional traumas people endured. I cried and caught my breath aloud as I read the story of Ms. Phyllis Montana-Leblanc. You will be changed if you read this book better or worse. Paraphrasing another review "If a discussion about color, race and sexism are subjects you may not be interested then don't read the book, it will only make you angry". Toward the end she talks about Michelle Obama and Shirley Sherrod. Try to read this with an open mind.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 09, 2011 arieswym rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved it and am going to buy it (the copy I read was via the public library)

Skillfully weaves a narrative about the 3 major stereotypes of black women: Sapphire, Jezebel, and Mammy; and the ways that they still impact the way black women view themselves and are viewed/portrayed by others.

Most impactful/resonant to me were the parts on shame and the strong black women, building on what I'd read in When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down and Shifting: The Double Li ...more

9 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2013 heather van de mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sadly did not get to finish this before it was due, but it was a really excellent critical read. Harris-Perry creates a crooked room (society's stereotyping of African American women) and then examines how African American women proceed to live within this room -- do they align themselves with the room and the false stereotypes or do they stand upright against the room and fight the feeling that they are askew? It's a lose lose situation. As a result of this, how African American women are treat...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: my book club

Recommended to Angela by: Colbert Report appearance

Having written a several-paragraph review of "Sister Citizen" before running out of battery and seeing it completely erased, I will attempt to rehash it with slightly more brevity. In her book, Melissa Harris-Perry covers roughly four major topics: the three traditional stereotypes faced by black American women (the promiscuous "Jezebel," the angry "Sapphire," and the nurturing "Mammy"), the more superficially positive stereotype created in response to this of the strong black woman and why it c...more Having written a several-paragraph review of "Sister Citizen" before running out of battery and seeing it completely erased, I will attempt to rehash it with slightly more brevity. In her book, Melissa Harris-Perry covers roughly four major topics: the three traditional stereotypes faced by black American women (the promiscuous "Jezebel," the angry "Sapphire," and the nurturing "Mammy"), the more superficially positive stereotype created in response to this of the strong black woman and why it can also be damaging to individuals, the black church and its role in issues of importance to women, and the interplay of these stereotypes and the effect they have on popular cultural responses to the events of recent African American history, including hurricane Katrina, the Duke lacrosse scandal, Michelle Obama becoming First Lady, and the Shirley Sherrod brouhaha.

With the issues of racial stereotypes having come prominently into the news via Trayvon Martin's death while I was reading "Sister Citizen," it was fascinating to see how a number of the phenomena Harris-Perry describes played into the popular opinions and coverage of the issues. Particularly resonant was the idea that people want to see the world as just and fair, and how this drives people to blame the victims of unlucky outcomes or assume that people whose lives have gone well have acted in a particularly good way. The psychological research mentioned and surveys conducted by Harris-Perry herself are the most interesting parts of the book.

Somewhat weaker is the section on the black church. This seems to be where most of the author's scholarship experience is, but I remained unconvinced that the church has failed its members in the ways she describes. She demonstrates that black women have the same views of gender and politics regardless of their involvement with the church, so while it may not be specifically supportive of the women who comprise 2/3 of its membership, I wasn't convinced that the church has a deleterious effect in this area either. The brief history of the black church did provide an excellent bibliography of resources on learning about it, but I thought that otherwise the section was somewhat awkwardly shoehorned into the book, only making it quite back on track with the response to Tyler Perry's interpretation of Ntozake Shange's play. My other main criticism of the book would be its reliance on examples and excerpts from fictional works, which fortunately lessens as the book goes on.

On the whole, I felt like my understanding and perspective of recent black American women's history was tremendously improved by reading "Sister Citizen." It has, however, increased my reading list by about half a dozen books and exposed gaping holes in my knowledge of American literature. (less)

7 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2012 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

pretty interesting take on social perceptions of Black women and how stereotypes (strength, hyper-religiousness, sexual promiscuity.......) affect their civic involvement, relationships, and personal feelings. A couple quibbles:

1. in terms of method, it was a sometimes awkward mix of survey research, focus group quotes, personal anecdotes, and literary illustration. A Zora Neale Hurston excerpt would bump up against polling data re gov't.'s slow response to Hurricane Katrina and racial implicati...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Alex Templeton rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that I am truly glad I read, because it has taught me valuable things that I feel that I should know as a feminist interested in social justice. Harris-Perry writes convincingly of the stereotypes that shape African Americans womens' lives, personally and politically: the oversexed Jezebel, the caretaker Mammy, the Strong Black Women. Her arguments consist of the ways in which those stereotypes determine behavior (going out of one's way to behave in a way that refutes...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 08, 2012 Micah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, library, social-activism

The last quarter of this book kicks it from four to five stars. This is a thorough look at black women in American politics, but not in the traditional sense. This is more a look at how all the things that go into being a black woman inform how they think and act politically. Even that is an over simplification of what the book sets out to do.
The book is well researched and well documented. That's a plus. I feel like the last part of the book really brought together all the little pieces. The f...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 06, 2011 Tayari Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

The crux of Harris-Perry's argument is that the prevailing stereotypes of black women profoundly affect the ways that black women are seen by America, but also the ways that they see themselves. This misrepresentation shapes and often limits black women's participation as American citizens. While scholars may find some of the ground covered here to be a bit familiar, "Sister Citizen" is written for the benefit of all Americans - sister citizens, brother citizens and anyone else who cares about t...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked up Sister Citizen because I am interested from a legal perspective in the implications that stereotyping of African American women has in the workplace. The book more than rewarded my interest.

The book is a pastiche of literary excerpts, critical essays, news analysis, focus group reporting, and statistical surveys that covers everything from the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the success of Michelle Obama and the shaming of Shirley Sherrod. In...more I picked up Sister Citizen because I am interested from a legal perspective in the implications that stereotyping of African American women has in the workplace. The book more than rewarded my interest.

The book is a pastiche of literary excerpts, critical essays, news analysis, focus group reporting, and statistical surveys that covers everything from the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the success of Michelle Obama and the shaming of Shirley Sherrod. In between it packs powerful statistical analyses of the attitudes of African American women toward everything from themselves to God.

Unifying the work are several potent themes. One is the way in which the expectation that African American women will live up to the image of the "Strong Black Woman" is both a source of strength for African American women and an obstacle to full political involvement in the community. The obverse of self-reliance is inhibition about seeking help from others. A second is that the way in which women are treated is often determined by which of several stereotypes are imposed on them. A third is the way in which community solidarity can turn into community shame.

A particularly valuable contribution of Ms. Harris-Perry's opus is that not only does it reveal the results of introspection on the part of the women it studies, but it also reflects their attitudes toward the larger white community. As such, it shines a spotlight on some common ground between the two, but also reveals significant gulfs in understanding.

African American women occupy a unique place in the Black Community and in society at large. They are among our most vulnerable citizens both in terms of resources and negative stereotyping, At the same time, the word they used most often to describe themselves was "strong," and they are pillars of their families, churches, communities, and society at large. The aim of this book is to point the way toward their fuller integration into American society, both so that their contributions will be more fully realized and so that they can lay claim to the broad support of the society to which they contribute.

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5 likes · like · see review

Jan 22, 2012 Andre rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love the analogy that undergirds this book, "trying to stand up straight in a crooked room." Ms. Harris-Perry does a remarkable job of explaining this challenge that is often mis-diagnosed by all. She provides history mixed with present day situations that make hers analysis clear and insightful. The discussion of myths and stereotypes and the effects of them on Black women is instructional. I hope that not only Black women embrace this book, but my fellow Black men do so as well. There is no...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Msladydeborah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sister Citizen is a book that calls a thing by its proper name and makes it real!

Melissa Harris-Perry did a very nice job of using fictional characters to deal with the subject of Black women's oppression within the American society.

I found myself waving my hand and nodding my head in agreement over the issues that are pointed out in this work.

Even though the body of work is supported by research results, I found the overall book to be a good read. Harris-Perry's writing style has a nice flow of...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 09, 2012 Robert Hunton rated it 5 of 5 stars

A well-documented, researched, and respectfully balanced expose on Black women's social and political experience in America. Authored by Melissa Harris-Perry, a political science professor at Tulane University. Harris-Perry describes with both eloquence and emotion the 'crooked room' in which Black women find (and have found)themselves; badly skewed in terms of how they are perceived, must act to survive socially, politically, financially, etc., in the face of other power segments of American so...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Krista, Ambassador of Shimmy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, bookclub

As someone who believes women face a great deal of shaming and misrepresentation in (at least) American society, I was intrigued by this book's premise of looking through the lens of shame and stereotypes from an African American woman's perspective. A vantage point to which I am generally not privy.

This thorough and well researched examination of black women in America incorporates historical experiences (slavery, care-taking, etc.) with well known literature (Their Eyes Were Watching God, The...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was refreshing to read a book on gender and ethnicity written by a black woman, about black women's personal and political experiences and identities. Too many books on gender fall flat when it comes to discussing intersectionality, and truly paying attention to the multi-faceted experiences of women from various backgrounds.

Everyone should read this book! : )

1 like · like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Alison rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a powerful, thorough account of what it means to be an African American woman in the US, both historically and in the present. The intersectionality embodied by women of color is an important and poignant viewpoint from which to see our culture, society, and political landscape. Melissa Harris-Perry does a wonderful job of making this viewpoint clear and accessible, and shows us how it feels to live in the mind, body and soul of a black woman in the US - the struggle for recognition as a...more

6 likes · like · see review

Feb 16, 2013 Lilmissbookworm rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: school-books

I had to read this book for my sociology course on Poverty and Social justice, so I most likely wouldn't have read this book on my own. However I am glad to have read it. First Dr. Harris-Perry uses comparisons to frequently showcase her point in two settings. When she reviews the empirical or survey data it can be quite taxing and you can loose the point, or maybe that's just me. Anyways it was enlightening to read about the "crooked room" which essentially is how our culture stereotypically po...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Siria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: by-poc, current-affairs, feminism, politics

In Sister Citizen, Melissa Harris-Perry sets out to examine what it means to be a black woman who is also an American citizen, melding a more empirical political science approach with discussion of literature and popular culture. She argues that the prevailing stereotypes about African-American women—the promiscuous baby mama, the asexual Mammy who's there to teach white folks, and the Angry Black Woman—trap them on both sides. African-American women have to deal with the structural and cultural...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Sara rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to love this book. I picked it up because I saw Dr. Harris-Perry on the Steven Colbert show and I sensed that she had so much more to say than he allowed her to express in between his comedic shtick. Instead, I struggled to stay awake. Sister Citizen reads more like an academic thesis than a work for the masses. Yet, I kept plodding through it hoping to glean some great insight or knowledge that I didn't have. It wasn't that I disagreed with the author. I understand and agree with her o...more I wanted to love this book. I picked it up because I saw Dr. Harris-Perry on the Steven Colbert show and I sensed that she had so much more to say than he allowed her to express in between his comedic shtick. Instead, I struggled to stay awake. Sister Citizen reads more like an academic thesis than a work for the masses. Yet, I kept plodding through it hoping to glean some great insight or knowledge that I didn't have. It wasn't that I disagreed with the author. I understand and agree with her on many points. There's too much to wade through to get the information.

What I was able to take away is this: while everyone experiences racial and sexist stereotypes, the African-American woman continues to struggle against those that throughout history have defined her. Through that struggle the "strong" black woman stereotype has emerged and although on the surface, being strong appears to be a positive image, being superwoman has many negative effects on the individual particularly health wise. In contrast, I, a white American female have never thought about the stereotypes of the white woman. As women, regardless of race, we fight many of the same sexist battles, but I had to do some research to determine how white women are viewed, as a collective. While the black woman consciously fights NOT to be defined by historical racial stereotypes, the white woman may be unaware of, therefore disregarding the existence of, racial stereotypes.

I could write my own book of responses to Sister Citizen, but I won't. My final disappointment, however was a lack of suggestion in regards to change. Dr. Harris-Perry mentions the need to have structural change rather than individual change, but she doesn't elaborate on how to create that change. How do we make society see the truth when talking about race still creates anger? What's the next step in America's battle against racism? How do we enlighten those, typically white people, that racism still exists?

Regardless, of my problems with the book, I know that it did impart some knowledge to me. Coincidentally, while reading Sister Citizen, I had tickets for the stage performance of The Color Purple. I found myself applying much of what I had been learning from this book to the characters and the plot of the play. All of which made the play that much more enjoyable. It is only due to difficulty of reading Sister Citizen that I am rating it only two stars.

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Apr 10, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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Mar 18, 2013 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, feminist, movie-tv-related-or-tie-in-non-sf, history-american

What I really like about this book, besides the fact that Harris-Perry is one of the most honest authors I have ever read, is the fact that it is about women and politics, and not about women and media.

However, the most distrubing section (and most powerful in some cases) is the brief paragraphs were Harri-Perry mentions a desire by a certain group to errect a Mammy monument on the National Mall, right near the Lincoln Memorial.

It is a very powerful book, though at times very analytical. Yet, c...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Meepspeeps rated it 4 of 5 stars

I like the progression of this book. The author describes stereotypes of black women using empirical and scientific studies, but adds the real life impact of these stereotypes by telling the stories of Hurricane Katrina, Shirley Sherrod and many others. I felt a call to action when I have some control over the space where a black woman could be herself, or could adjust to the "crooked room" that peeps in the USA generally offer her. It will take many many white peeps recognizing and admitting th...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Noor rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I enjoyed most about this book was how Harris-Perry presented her findings in a very statistical manner. She called upon tangible data as proof, illustrating that she understood the stigma behind social politics and it's lack of evidence. While being factual Harris-Perry still never lost sight of her audience, ensuring her findings were put in layman's terms. She also emphasized and re-emphasized throughout Sister Citizen that she wasn't making blanket statements nor was her data 100% corol...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Leahpatrice rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I've read on few books on similar subjects in the past and this was by far the easiest read. The first half of the book (4 stars) was decidedly better than the second (3 stars). MHP's use of literary works throughout was genius and inspired me to read/re-read many books and authors. The second half relied much too heavily on statistics (she describes several focus groups and surveys that she used to come to her conclusions). It was understandable since this is technic...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Phillip Rhoades rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction, politics

The second book I have read in the category of "representation" of women in American history and culture. Harris-Perry provides a survey of historic representations of black women as well as new emperical research regarding how those ideas impact women of color personally and politically. The book is well written and a compelling exploration of a demographic that has historically lacked the privilege and access to media and self-representation. I would recommend this book to anyone curious enoug...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: truth

"African American women face specific, damaging, and deeply embedded race and gender stereotypes that make it difficult for them to enjoy accurate recognition in the public sphere. The crooked room created by these stereotypes has psychological consequences for individuals and social and political consequences for black women as a group. The strong black woman ideal is an attempt to straighten these crooked images. But even though the strong black woman is a more positive image than Jezebel, Mam...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Tasasha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris Perry, is a wonderful book about how the 3 main stereotypes of Black women (mammy, Jezebel and angry black women) and how we either resist or acquiesce to those stereotypes influences our political choices. For example, the Jezebel stereotype posits that black women are immoral hyper sexual women. One way that we have resisted this stereotype is to create this "politics of respectability", whereby we try to assimilate into white created norms in the areas of dres...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Jarrah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: culture-social-science, feminist, race-colonialism, woman-author, politics

Melissa Harris-Perry's Sister Citizen is a book that covers a wide ground: black American women's misrecognition by society and how that misrecognition affects their subjectivity and participation as citizens. Luckily, Harris-Perry's framework is really helpful and she does a great job weaving together analysis of literature and film with findings from academic and census research with actual black women's voices, stories, and experiences.

She carefully balances discussing problematic aspects of...more

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May 21, 2012 Gary rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Sister Citizen, Melissa Harris-Perry proposes the notion that black women in America are pigeon-holed into one of three sterotypes: Jezebel, Mammy or Saphire. Ms. Harris-Perry further suggests that while these sterotypes are promoted by the dominant white culture, they are also perpetuated by black women's racial brothers and their own churches and are deeply rooted in history.

This is an important, well-documented book. While it may not be comprehensive enough to be a core text, it most cert...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Melissa Harris-Perry’s latest book, Sister Citizen, takes a look at the traditional stereotypes that have affected Black women throughout history: the oversexed and oversexualized Jezebel; the asexual, loyal and nurturing Mammy; and the matriarchal Sapphire (the Angry Black Woman). It describes the origin of each of these stereotypes and the ways in which these stereotypes have affected Black women not only in their personal lives, but also in their political lives. Harris-Perry uses statistical...more

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About Melissa V. Harris-Perry

Melissa V. Harris-Perry is professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. She previously served on the faculties of the University of Chicago and Princeton University.

Harris-Perry is author of the eagerly anticipated new book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in Amer...more Melissa V. Harris-Perry is professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. She previously served on the faculties of the University of Chicago and Princeton University.

Harris-Perry is author of the eagerly anticipated new book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (Yale 2011) which argues that persistent harmful stereotypes—invisible to many but painfully familiar to black women—profoundly shape black women’s politics, contribute to policies that treat them unfairly, and make it difficult for black women to assert their rights in the political arena. Her first book, Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and 2005 Best Book Award from the Race and Ethnic Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.

Professor Harris-Perry is a columnist for The Nation magazine, where she writes a monthly column also titled Sister Citizen and contributes to the group blog The Notion. She is a contributor to MSNBC. She regularly provides expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender concerns for both The Rachel Maddow Show and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. Harris-Perry appears as a bi-weekly guest in her own segment titled Sound Off during the 11AM MSNBC dayside show with Thomas Roberts. She is a regular commentator for many print and radio sources in the U.S. and abroad.

Her academic research is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges. Her work is published in scholarly journals and edited volumes and her interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology.

Professor Harris-Perry's creative and dynamic teaching is also motivated by the practical political and racial issues of our time. Professor Harris-Perry has taught students from grade school to graduate school and has been recognized for her commitment to the classroom as a site of democratic deliberation on race.

She travels extensively speaking to colleges, organizations and businesses in the United States and abroad. In 2009 Professor Harris-Perry became the youngest scholar to deliver the W.E.B. Du Bois Lectures at Harvard University. Also in 2009 she delivered the prestigious Ware Lecture, becoming the youngest woman to ever do so.

Professor Harris-Perry received her B.A. in English from Wake Forest University, her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and an honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School. And she studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. She lives in New Orleans with her husband, James Perry, and is the mother of a terrific daughter, Parker.(less)

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Quotes from Sister Citizen: Shame,...

“The disobedience if Eve in the Genesis story has been used to justify women's inequality and suffering in many Christian traditions. Thus, what is understood as women's complicity in evil leads much traditional theological reflection on suffering to offer the "consequent admonition to 'grin and bear it' because such is the deserved place of women." Similarly, when Jesus is seen as a divine co-sufferer, the potentially liberating narratives of Jesus as a revolutionary leader who takes the side of the poor and dispossessed can be ignored in favor of religious beliefs more interested in Jesus as a stoic victim. Christ's suffering is inverted and used to justify women's continued suffering in systems of injustice by framing it as redemptive.” — 5 people liked it

“Citizenship is more than an individual exchange of freedoms for rights; it is also membership in a body politic, a nation, and a community. To be deemed fair, a system must offer its citizens equal opportunities for public recognition, and groups cannot systematically suffer from miser ignition in the form of stereotype and stigma.” — 3 people liked it

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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America

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