Racism and Women's Studies ARGUMENT

 
      This article, by Barbara Smith, discusses racism in women's studies from the point of view of a black, lesbian woman. I wasn't sure how to feel about the article, and I reread it 3 or 4 times. Some of her points were really confusing to me, and I almost took some of it as her being racist towards white women! I'm sure thats not what I was supposed to get out of it, and I'm really interested to see what the other people that read this article felt about it.
     In the article she refers to herself and to other black women as "Third World Women". The fact that she refers to herself as a Third World woman really struck me. I searched her on wikipedia, and she was born in America, a "First World" country. She might be referring to her ancestors when she calls herself this, I don't know, but it doesn't seem right to me for someone who is demanding to not be generalized and put into a category when she is doing that to herself. I don't AT ALL mean this to say that being from a third world country means that you are worth less than anyone else, but it seems like she is putting herself down and trying to get the audience to pity her, which I personally don't feel is the right approach when trying to establish yourself as being equal.
     Another part in the article that bugged me was when she says that, "it's not white women's fault that they have been raised, for the most part, not knowing how to talk to black women, not knowing how to look us in the eye and laugh with us...what is your fault is making no serious effort to change old patters of contempt- to look at how you still believe yourselves to be superior to Third World". I am a white woman, and I was certainly raised to accept people of all different backgrounds. Talking to black people doesn't make me feel any more uncomfortable than I feel talking to white people, or anyone for that matter. She is stereotyping white women to say that all white women are racist towards black people, and she is stereotyping black people to say that they should be talked to "differently" than others, like its a skill or something that should be specifically taught.
     I agreed with her definition of feminism saying that it is "the political theory and practice that struggles to free all women," which is the same thing that we are learning in class about intersectionality. In the next paragraph, however, she says to white women that "racism affects your chances for survival too". I have no idea what she means by this. Is she saying that white people are in danger if they are racist? Who are they in danger from?
     The last piece that bothered me was when she says, "I feel at this point that it is not only about getting Third World women's materials ion the curriculum, although this must be done/ This has been happening, and it is clear that racism still thrives, just as the inclusion of women's materials in a college curriculum does not prevent sexism from thriving... we are at a stage of having to take some frightening risks." This is really pessimistic to me, and I feel like she basically saying, "oh, good try teaching people about racism and sexism, but its never going to change anything. Sure you can teach it more, but white people are still racist and people are still sexist, so whats the point?" This just seemed really negative, and like she feels there is no hope for change, but at the same time demanding change. What are the frightening risks she is talking about???
    I feel that she contradicts herself way too much and in very subtle ways. For example, a tiny detail that I noticed is that "white women" is never capitalized but she always chooses to capitalize "Black women" and "Third World women". That is such a little detail, but it sent me a pretty clear message. I personally didn't enjoy this article very much, and I feel like I got a different message than what was intended for this assignment, but I can't help how I understood it. I'm really curious to hear how others feel about it in class.