This post is a part of a continuous series on Woman and Beauty you can see others you have missed here. Throughout this series on woman and beauty I have looked not only into myself but the world around me. I have went on a journey of deconstructing and then reconstructing my idea of beauty
About 15-20 years ago there was a shift in social commentary about the black man. The shift could be attributed to a many things from misogyny in hip hop to Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale. During this time there was a submergence in songs, books, and movies that talked about how black men were dogs, not needed, not shit, etc. Some of those tags were justly labeled on black men but mostly it was the exception not the rule. I was always a believer that activities such as these were a forms of the hegemony working against African-Americans. There was a strange occurrence though a few years ago in cultural criticisms. The whole concept of the “single educated black woman” and what the “definition of beauty is” has been thrown around constantly on TV, magazines, newspapers, books, and blogs. This constant bombardment of images of propaganda may seem like it is giving the black woman knowledge, power, and maybe even shitting on the black man. The truth of matter is all of this that is an attack on the black woman now or as I like to call it COINTELPRO on the Black Woman.
What the hell is COINTELPRO?
COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. The FBI used covert operations from its inception; however, formal COINTELPRO operations took place between 1956 and 1971. The FBI’s stated motivation at the time was “protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order.”
According to FBI records, 85% of COINTELPRO resources were expended on infiltrating, disrupting, marginalizing, and/or subverting groups suspected of being subversive,[4] such as communist and socialist organizations; the women’s rights movement; militant black nationalist groups, and the non-violent civil rights movement, including individuals such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Congress of Racial Equality, the American Indian Movement, and other civil rights groups; a broad range of organizations labeled “New Left”, including Students for a Democratic Society, the National Lawyers Guild, the Weathermen, almost all groups protesting the Vietnam War, and even individual student demonstrators with no group affiliation; and nationalist groups such as those “seeking independence for Puerto Rico. (source)
The COINTELPRO program was able to destroy many of these organizations from the outside but also surprisingly from the inside of the organizations by inciting dissention within the organizations, planting evidence, informants, spies, and sometimes downright lies. COINTELPRO was used to destroy the Black Panther Party by killing Fred Hampton, Bunche Carter, and John Huggins. COINTELPRO would also wrongfully imprison, harass, and disrupt many Civil Rights movements. You may ask what the hell COINTELPRO has to do with beauty and black women. Just follow along and keep in mind this knowledge I have given you about COINTELPRO.
The Educated Black Woman
This whole concept of the educated black man or woman is something I have always had a problem with. I don’t know when the term was coined or developed but we need to dead it with the quickness. The whole topic or idea is a misnomer and a backhanded compliment. What is an educated black woman? Is a black woman suppose to be not educated? Why is that used as a description? You never hear Asian woman or Caucasian woman describe themselves in that way. The propaganda makes black woman(and men) think it’s a badge of honor to be listed as such when it really denigrates the culture.
Many women may point out the hard statistics of black women not being married. I understand the WHO-HAing and ranting about “crisis” of the black women on the dating scene. I know the statistics, been there, got the T-shirt and a souvenir. Jay-Z said, “Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don’t”. Yes, Jigga was correct in his statement to an extent but incorrect as well. Numbers and statistics can be skewed times to support what every theory you are trying to prove. I am not saying numbers don’t mean a damn thing but interpretation of those numbers can be incorrect. For instance the notions of more black men are in jail than are college. Yes, this statistic is correct on a core level but the statistics doesn’t show you how a black man who is college only counts while he is in college not black men who are 4-year college graduates. Let me make it a little clearer to you. I am a college graduated but do not count in that statistic but a black man in jail for murder counts for 20 years while I only count for 4-5 years. See how the numbers can be confused somewhat as truth?
Here is another one for you to think about. Kanye said on the song Gold-digger “And they gone keep callin and tryin. But you stay right girl. But when you get on he leave yo a** for a white girl.” We all know the whole black becoming successful and leaving sistas behind for white women. The funny thing about the concept is that black successful mean have being doing this since powerful black men have got paid( see Jack Johnson, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, etc.). One can point to the numbers of the increase of black men marrying out of their race which is true but Asians statistically date more interracially than any other culture. Why aren’t their Asian summits on ABC about this problem? Why aren’t the brothers who love black women congratulated?
Has anyone thought about how this constant talk of the black woman’s so-called woes doesn’t necessarily diss the black man like many think? Maybe it is really trying to say that the black woman herself is not beautiful or worthy enough to be married. The media machine that is putting out this propaganda against the black woman is controlled by the hegemonic order but it is initiated by the black populace just as COINTELPRO was in the 60s and 70s. I am personally tired of hearing about the bullshit that supposedly black men do to black women and vice versa. I am only down to hear solutions to make the black family stronger. I cannot front I have been very critical of the way black men have been dogged in the media but just as much as I call society out on the black man’s images I have to do the same when black women are under attack.
The COINTELPRO machine is constantly working to create dissention within our culture by getting us to fight against each other over this(see Willie Lynch letters? Why is there such a state of emergency on black relationships all of a sudden? Is it because they don’t want us working together in unison to make this a better stronger nation? Does the machine want us to become so engulfed in titles and the MEism that we neglect the struggle, black love, and our families?
Checkout War of the Beauty: COINTELPRO on The Black Woman Pt.2
Related articles
- Racialicious Crush Of The Week: Son Of Baldwin’s Robert Jones, Jr. (racialicious.com)
- War of the Beauty: COINTELPRO On the Black Woman Pt.2 (ashy2classy.net)
- Anti-COINTELPRO demonstration at Nebraska State Capitol for the Omaha Two (moorbey.wordpress.com)
- Black Brazilian Woman Claims She Was Barred From School Because of Her “Black Power” Hairstyle (innerstandingisness.wordpress.com)
- Celebrating my Angry Black Womanhood –
(travelingblackchicks.com) - Yes It’s True…Black Guys Can Like White Girls AND Black Girls Too (verysmartbrothas.com)
- The Black Woman In America (theobamacrat.com)
Excellent D! I’m glad to see that someone else understand the “educated black man/woman” piece. I mean really are we expected to be anything less? Keep them coming!
Definitely puts everything into perspective. I never thought of it that way before. Yet I did and still question why we (intelligent folk) must have that adjective ‘educated’ placed in front. Great insight! Can’t wait to read the next parts.
Yo!! This is the freshest post. I am going to forward this to all the women in my family! Very thought provoking!!
A huge eye opener for our Black people D…I love it!!!
Great write up here!! Never thought of it from this angle. Intellegient writing right here! I’m down with this!
Very powerful!
And there you have it. Feed the needy mane.
I an of 2 minds about it. COINTELPRO was a reality and there is a hidden hand in many media images, but there is also the reality out there for quite a long time of the unmarried, educated black woman. Back in the 1990s it was much talked about too. It is not recent. I think it is less a malignant anti-black COINTELPRO style movement and more the influence of the white feminist culture, and the ORPAH style worry-wartims and anxious therapeutic self-absorption of the day. The notion also of the black woman herself not being beautiful or worthy enough has also been around a long time and is one the “black power” movement and some black feminists has fought against continually. If there is any uptick in what you mention, I more lean to linking it with ORPAH, feminism and the therapeutic culture. See link below:
http://www.google.com/search?q=fear+anxiety+culture+Orpah&btnG=Search+Books&tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1
But the black community also is spinning its own myths.. For example, the notion of “leaving for a white girl” is mostly myth. The cold fact is that most white women are not interested in black men per se as SERIOUS dating or marriage material because for the most part, white women have plenty of attention from white men who are much better situated and much more credible prospects than black men overall. COntrary to what many like to beleive, there really is no army of white women out there waiting with bated breath for black men to “leave” – no matter how may ludricrous shows “Maury” runs about “baby daddys.”
Black-white interracial marriage rates are less than trivial overall- weighing in at LESS than 1% of total marriages. All the sound and fury about “white women taking our best men” is a lot of noise about a trivial reality. And the biggest interracial action involves Hispanics and Asians not blacks. Another source of myth is the white media with its perennial stories about the “browning of America”. This trend too is trivial statistically with impressive looking numbers looking impressive because of the low initial starting basis for analysis. It makes liberal whites feel good about themselves- see how enlightened we are- while masking another trivial reality.
Yet this myth finds ready currency among blacks, particularly regarding celebrity and sports figures who data and marry “outside”. But such figures too are a trivial reality for most black folk. The place where most credible black-white marriage are taking place is the military, among the ordinary troops, not among alleged “high powered black men” who want a “trophy blonde” as stated a few years ago by news columnist Cynthia Tucker in yet another piece on this issue gushing with disinformation and myth.
Actually black male-white female pairings are on the DOWN-SLOPE currently. The fastest growing “segment” of the market is black woman-white men/other, and has been for at least a decade, although you don’t hear it talked up about in the media or black media as much as the perennial “black men” going “outside” old saw. See:
http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/02/05/mixed/
And get this, the most stable interracial marriages, the ones that hold together the most are black women-white men. See:
“Guess Who’s Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the 20th Century” by Roland Fryer
Per your observation, see: http://awkwardblackgirl.com/
Also, the Asian community has strong feelings about inter-cultural dating. They are less concerned about Asian women dating white men because they believe the children will be raised in conservative Asian tradition. They go into a quiet panic if one of their sons starts seriously dating a non-Asian woman. Believe that.
You know I am down with awkward black girl! I highlighted it on a past post about web series
Pingback: War of The Beauty: COINTELPRO on the Black Women Pt. 2 « From Ashy to Classy·
Yo! I had to revist this post after reading the new one!! Dude these need to be in essence magazine or sumthin!!
Pingback: War of the Beauty: Cointelpro on the Black Woman (Part 1)·
Wow… Powerful information. A moment of black history. However, this isn’t surprising but neither, a black man or black woman, should be held completely responsible for their past trangressions. Yes, we should begin, however, to identify a…nd address how we can begin to unify the black family, again. I suggest this… Firstly, a person has to understand where they come from, who they are (morals and values), and have a desire for success (family unification, education/skill, peace, and spiritual admiration). Our women and men should understand their roles and stop competing against one another, but work as a team. Marriage should no longer be viewed as a way to “tie me down”, but as a golden opportunity to express undying, respectable love, overcoming injustice and edifying the body, spirit, and mind. Our women shouldn’t be viewed as protege’s but instead, as queens. Our men shouldn’t be viewed as rare commatities, but as kings who serve as the head, the provider, the protector, the chief. Children need to be taught respect as it once was, and shown love (giving and recieving). Also, the breakdown in communication is a hindering barrier, that, if you just say something respectfully, can be overcome. If we work together as a team, the white mans slave master mentality (especially in the workplace), would become ineffective. Men and women are being forced to spend more time working, than praying, eating, playing, communicating, as a family. Breakdown in family structure- the golden rule to the failure of black people! Preshes
Pingback: Yo CNN! We Ever Gonna Get a “White in America” Special?? « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: Yo CNN! We Ever Gonna Get A “White In America” Special??·
Pingback: War of the Beauty: Cointelpro on the Black Women Pt. 2·
This is a deep ass write up!! You taught me a few things on this one brother
Pingback: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread…From Ashy to Classy Turns One Year « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: Death of the Relationship Experts…(D.O.R.E.) « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: Death of the Relationship Experts…(D.O.R.E.)·
Pingback: Sistas, Who’s Checkin For You? « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: War of The Beauty: COINTELPRO on the Black Women Part 2 « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: The War Between Black Women and White Women | Interrace Today·
Pingback: Black Will Always Be Beautiful by Ayana Ellis | NovaGiovanni.com·
Pingback: The 40 Most Beautiful Black Women of All Time (Top 20) « From Ashy to Classy·
Pingback: Dear Black Twitter (Everything Aint Funny), « From Ashy to Classy·
i think black men are in cahoots with cointelpro and any other movement to destroy black women. why? it benefits black men, that’s why. it’s called patriarchy. black men want the wider “mainstream”m(i.e. white) power structure to continue its demeaning propaganda against black women, thus facilitating and justifying their quiet abandonment of black women and exit from the community. or rather their entrance into OUR black communities with their other-than-black women and anti-black mindsets.
I just ventured over to you blog–i know i’m late–and some of your posters sound utterly disappointed that there is no marriage crisis within the Black community—in fact a simple glance at history will reveal that Black people had the highest marriage figures after the Civil War and on through WWII…
The difference between now and then is that MOST Americans are waiting much later to get married because it costs like never before to start and maintain a family so many childbearing Black men and women are simply finishing up graduate degrees or working in their respective fields for a longer period of time trying to financial stability.
All the hoopla over Black women in the media is none other than the white world’s fear of Black women and our reproductive health. White women in Europe and America suffer high rates of infertility and “science” has yet to be honest about why. It was once believes by whites that the lifting on interracial marriage laws would “Blacken” and Brown their genes out of existence, but it won’t be that. It will be a phenomena that they have realized in the last 40 years that is more realistic–the rising Black family. All it takes is for the majority of Black men and women to marry, start families and keep economic flow within the community before their numbers are severely compromised the world over–and that is already happening, most symbolically with the Obamas (even if you are a die hard Obama hater) one can’t deny the symbolism of his election.