The Intersection of Race and Gender: An Examination of Black Feminist Consciousness, Race Consciousness, and Policy Attitudes^*

Abstract

Objective. In this article, we investigate black feminist consciousness, its relationship to race consciousness, and its impact on policy attitudes. Unlike scholars and activists who argue that black feminist consciousness detracts from race consciousness, we argue that the two go hand in hand. Methods. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we examine public opinion survey data from the 1993 National Black Politics Study. Results. We find that both black women and men have fairly high levels of support for black feminist ideals. Also, we provide evidence that black feminist consciousness is positively related to the components of race consciousness and demonstrate the influence of black feminist consciousness on support for abortion rights. Conclusions. Our research is important because it uses a measure of black feminist consciousness true to its theoretical origins.Black feminist consciousness stems from the understanding that black women are discriminated against on the basis of both their race and gender. This recognition of the simultaneity of oppression faced by black women is not captured by the dominant conceptualization of group consciousness, which tends to focus on either race or gender consciousness (Gurin, 1985;Conover, 1988;Klein, 1984;Shingles, 1981). As a result, the empirical study of black feminist consciousness has been neglected. In contrast, there is a compelling body of theoretical literature on black feminist consciousness. Similarly, black academics, intellectuals, and activists have devoted significant energy to debating the relationship between black feminist consciousness and race consciousness, yet social scientists, for the most part,

Trends in Abortion Attitudes by Race and Gender: A Reassessment Over a Four Decade Period

“…This relationship is found in studies of adolescent males (Boggess & Bradner, 2000), and individuals of both sexes who are Hispanic (Ellison, Echevarria, & Smith, 2005), African American (Clawson & Clark, 2003;Simien & Clawson, 2004), and college students (Misra & Hohman, 2000).…”

“…Political affiliation is also related to abortion attitudes, with Democrats being more likely than Republicans to support abortion (Sahar & Karasawa, 2005;Simien & Clawson, 2004). This is clear in the media, as political battles are fought publicly around this issue, and is also supported by research (Hess & Rueb, 2005;Jelen & Wilcox, 2003).…”

“…Race alone began to disappear as a predictor of abortion attitudes in the late 1990s (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004;Wilcox 2000), but is related to religion and education (Kaplan, et al, 2001;Simien & Clawson, 2004).…”

“…Consistent with past research, we also include two variables from the GSS assessing respondent's political viewpoint (Combs & Welch, 1982;Lynxwiler & Gay, 1996;Sahar & Karasawa, 2005;Simien & Clawson, 2004). We use a variable that asks respondents whether they think of themselves a liberal or conservative.…”

Counterstories : educational resilence of adult African American women attending an urban predominantly White university.

“…This was something CRT alone could not offer (Donovan, 2011;Patton & McClure, 2009;McCandless, 201;Simien, 2004;Smith, 2009;Souto-Manning & Ray, contribute to African American women's educational resilience may be revealed through use of their counter narratives. To add to the understanding of how adult African…”