Race And Gender:
The Double Jeopardies
Of African-American Women
February 1, 1991

National recognized experts from across the nation gathered in the & Kathleen Bryan Center, Research Triangle park, N.C. on Feb. 1, 1991 for a live broadcast of the 13th program in the Black Issues Forum series "Race And Gender: The Double Jeopardies Of African-American Women". Taped at North Carolina Public Television's Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Center, the program explores the strategies that enable African-American women to control their own lives, to become self-defined and capable of coping with and transcending this dual discrimination with which they are confronted. Options regarding education, economic and social obstacles that the African-American woman must deal with are explored with a variety of possible solutions offered.

Examining the educational process, Congresswoman Maxine Waters states, " If I had believed what America taught me about me, I would probably be in the housing projects still wondering why I was doomed to a certain kind of fate." Dr. Audreye E. Johnson adds, "You will either define yourself in positive terms, or let other people define you, misuse you, and abuse you."

The role of the family unit is examined with the consensus that the African-American woman is greatly in debt to the generations of women who previously faced the numerous incidents of racism and sexism, in addition to the struggles found today.

Dr. La Francis Rodgers-Rose, President and Founder of the International Black Women's Congress, says, " It was those African women, those mothers, who knew that the only way for us to survive was to keep a continuity of the socialization process."

Dr. Hasel N. Duke agreed that maintaining a common ground for AfricanAmerican women to meet on a social basis is extremely important. She says, " We, in our community, do have a strength and a foundation, and we need to come together and interact with each other."

Addressing the need for African-American women to pass on to their children information regarding the struggles of the past in order to prepare them for the struggles of the future, Wanda Henry-Coleman, Chairperson of North Carolina Equity, Inc., states, " It's all right to focus on ourselves as women, as long as we do it with the spirit of passing it on" as a way for children to learn from our past experiences.

PANELIST:

Ms. Maxine Waters, Congresswoman, Democrat-California.

Dr. Audreye E. Johnson, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

Dr. La Francis Rodgers-Rose, President and Founder, The International Black Women's Congress.

Dr. Hasel N. Duke, President, National Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP).

Wanda Henry-Coleman, Chairperson of North Carolina Equity, Inc.

The panel discussion was moderated by Valeria L. Lee, Chair of The North Carolina Center for Public Television and Program Development Officer for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The Executive Producer is Dr. Paul Vandergrift.