1. Alexa Kleinberg WORK, FAMILY, AND BLACK WOMEN’S OPPRESSION BY PATRICIA COLLINS

2. The Effects of Slavery Defined the Role of Black Women in Society Effects of slavery has had a detrimental effect on the woman’s place in the black family and her standing in society overall “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see” - Zora Neale Hurston (379) Photo of Zora Neale Hurston

3. Family and Work: Challenging the Definitions “In general, everything the imagined traditional family ideal is thought to be, African-American families are not.” – Patricia Collins (381) The idea of a wage earning father, and a stay at home mother raising their children, was not typical in many black families. A stereotypical White Family Consisted of a: A Black Family Consisted of a: Father Wage earner who lived with wife and children Mother Stay at home mother who take care of her own children Father Earned poor wages and often lived apart from children and their mother Mother Needed to work and had to depend on kin to care for their children

4. The Process of Enslavement Under slavery black families were often torn apart, hence, the “typical” family unit could not exist African Americans recreated the African ideas of family as extended kin units made up of brothers and sisters Communal childcare replaced individual motherhood Photo of Communal Childcare

5. The Transition Between Emancipation and Migration to the Cities Due to low wages paid to black men, black woman were forced to work and the idea of a stay at home mom never took off in black society. Woman continued to work in the fields or as domestics and was subject to constant sexual harassment by their white owners or by their white employers and their black equals

6. The Transition Between Emancipation and Migration to the Cities (cont.) “ Denying U.S. Black men a family wage meant that the Black women continued working for pay. Motherhood as a privatized, female “occupation” never predominated in Black civil society because no social class foundation could be had to support it”- Dill (386)

7. Comparison of Wages Could earn HIGHER wages Had UNSTABLE jobs Could earn LOWER wages Had STABLE jobs BLACK MENBLACK WOMEN

8. Post World War II From the 50’s through the 70’s, Black’s received unprecedented access to education, jobs, and housing as well as the benefits of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 By the 1980’s, black manufacturing jobs disappeared and drugs became a major source of employment for young black men, who young black woman looked to for financial assistance

9. The New Working Poor: Black Single Mothers Many Black Woman of today constitute a group of woman called the working poor Black Woman of today find themselves working in fast food restaurants, cleaning as home healthcare aids, nurses, and for cleaning services, which are relatively low paying jobs As a result of the economic stress, black working mothers could not support the emotional needs of their daughters

10. The Structure of Black Families Due to the high volume of black families without a father, black mothers have taken the charge of keeping the family unit together Facing challenges of inadequate healthcare, lack of education, and little money, it is a difficult task for urban mothers to breakout of the poverty cycle that they were born into.

11. Challenges of Today a Black Mother has to Face with Regard to her Children After listening to an interview the mother of Philando Castile, where he was innocently shot by a police during a traffic stop. His Mother’s interview was very moving and really dramatizes the fear that Black Mothers have for their children, even in today’s society.