Essay by Wendy Brown-Scott
The cases and events discussed in this Essay involve African-American women who have confronted oppression in the civil and criminal courts, and other arenas, in both celebrated and unsung victories: victories not only for Black women, but for women and men of all hues who seek social justice. I will use these cases and events to illustrate the relationship between stereotypes and myths, born during the antebellum and Jim Crow era, and contemporary manifestations of sexual harassment and other forms of sex-based exploitation. I will go on to discuss the means used by women, in the workplace of chattel slavery, to resist racial oppression and sexual exploitation based on myths and stereotypes.
Before embarking on this task, I ask that you come with me as I detour into the first-person past to illustrate the enduring effects of myths.
About the Author
Wendy Brown-Scott. Associate Professor of Law, Tulane Law School. B.A., Harvard University; J.D., New York University Law School.
Citation
70 Tul. L. Rev. 1921 (1996)