On behalf of Black women teachers – and for the future of America – let us reject this racket and promote the promise of equality

In her powerful speech “Isn’t IA a Woman?” Sojourner Truth summarized high-profile efforts to decelerate women’s rights efforts in her day. “Well, kids, where there is this much confusion, there must be something wrong.”

It was in 1851. Nearly two centuries later, something is unquestionably flawed again. Today, Black women are bombarded by social media trolls, far-right media juggernauts, MAGA politicians, and conservative judges who’re hell-bent on creating the false reality that each one opportunities and barriers are equal and that equality efforts to advance our constitutional democracy aren’t any longer effective. needed.

This is particularly true in American colleges and universities, where the zero-sum game reflects our country’s polarized political and cultural environment. This game uses misinformation and disinformation – and, frankly, fear tactics – to outpace the truth and undo the progress that Black women have made.

In recent months, faculty, staff and students across the country have been forced to reckon with efforts to weaken or eliminate diversity on campus. ClaudineGay resignation as president of Harvard University, regardless of her actions and their interpretations of good faith and bad faith, emerged after weeks of racial defamations rooted in misogyny. Her audacity as a black woman leading one of the best universities in the world was good enough to make her a goal.

As a black woman, I and countless others are concerned about this terrible trend. Black women – who belong the most educated AND run small businesses at top rates every other group in the country – proceed to interrupt down barriers and climb the ladder: Supreme Court justice, vice chairman, C-level executives and more. Many individuals who profit from systems created and maintained by the white majority feel threatened by this change and are subsequently determined to keep up the established order, which suggests keeping women, especially black women, of their place. But if black women will not be allowed to carry leadership positions without losing their leadership positions, what does that tell us about the American dream, the promise of this great nation?

Education

That it is not for us.

Any try and promote equal opportunity is met with fury and racist attacks that reflect Jim Crow considering. Black women feel uneasy about not supporting who they’re, what they consider in, and what they’ve been taught about the ideals of equal opportunity for all.

Malcolm X told us generations ago, “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.

In 2024, this doesn’t need to be America’s inalienable truth. We know that delivering on our promise of equality to Black women is a victory for our country and the ideals we claim to support. But until we encourage understanding beyond prejudice, holistic social and emotional support as a substitute of pointing fingers, and policies that encourage academic and profession development as a substitute of legislative opposition that ignores a lifetime of achievement, this disturbing trend for Black women will proceed.

A couple of years ago, the nickname “The Future is Female” gained popularity across the country. Unfortunately, for Black women who oppose the established order, the future will not be promised. But in the face of the growing chaos of today, with the memories and motivation of the past, we are going to travel on. We will proceed to consider in the promise of America – even when sometimes every little thing seems flawed – because now we have come too far for anyone to show us back now.