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Black Women In The 1960s

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In early times, women were viewed inferior to men and were not given equal opportunities in the household, workplace and society. However throughout time, women have led to a change in traditional gender roles and fought for equality. The 1950s were viewed as a period of conformity, where men and women recognized gender roles and followed society’s views. The 1960s were a period of uncertainty, disturbance and social revolution. After the turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s, the 1980s were represented as a period of optimism and vision. In the past decades, women began to find their voice and drastically change their position in society, politics, education and leadership. During these times, the racial divide and unfair treatment of women were …show more content…
In the accounts of Rosemary Bray, Patrice Gaines and Jill Nelson, they all openly reflect on their journey to black womanhood. Each woman has a unique path marked by many hardships and triumphs yet they all seek to find the power within themselves and others. Although Bray, Gaines and Nelson walk different paths in life, each of these inspiring accounts convey the strength in the community of black women and reveal common themes in race, class and gender. Throughout time, black women were challenged and mistreated by the color of their skin which often made them question their identity. Bray reflected on her fathers aggressive nature, envious demeanor and his rage on white peoples superiority which made Bray reexamine who she was. “In our schooling the ideas by Black people about Black people were often marginalized or simply unacknowledged…the hope that their lives would shed light on the pathway to how we can better practice freedom …show more content…
According to Lewin,“The story of black America is, in a sense… a bourgeoning middle class but a much larger poverty class. Even though the absolute size of the black middle class is growing rapidly, the numbers of black poor are increasing so quickly that the increase in black affluence has little effect on black America’s demographic profile” (7). In the 1960s, a black family on the welfare system usually was assumed a future of little hope and success. Despite the many demeaning criticisms of welfare, Bray embodies an African American woman born and raised on welfare yet never returned to the system. Bray connects her dream job of being an editor at the New York Times Book Review and her education at Yale University to the public programs that sustained her family while she was growing up. Bray conveyed admiration for her mother as she radiated strength while ensuring her children were feed with the help of food stamps and the little income from her father. Bray also expresses the security and comfort she felt while having her mother as a present figure in her life. She delivers a message of compassion for future welfare generations and speaks out against the 1996 welfare bill. Bray strongly believed that the federal welfare programs that allowed women to care for their children was more valuable than the programs that forced

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