By: Dr. Brenda Wall
She’s a man.
You’ve heard it said along with the forced laughter that follows in hopes that somebody will agree, the trope will live and the misogynistic myth will find renewed support. Black women continue to defy containment and set parameters of excellence that are troubling to outsiders.
Thus, the laughter flows from the anxiety that white control over declaring beauty, the role of women and the power to define social order is eroding. Think about it. The most conspicuously successful Black women are the ones who become targets of this predictable, racist ridicule.
The comment re-surfaces as a joke among white men who do not see themselves as racist but are merely having some good ol’ fun. Why is this insult the one that re-circulates in the face of Black women of superlative accomplishment?
Consider the source and the system of oppression for the answer.
While we must always rescue Black women and girls from immediate racist attacks which demean and demoralize, it is the systematic story of caste and domination that requires attention. The historical pattern of white men and white society employing hate objects is central to oppression. As we recoil in witnessing the ignorance and antipathy towards Black women who are such prized hate objects, it can become an emotional distraction. And here’s why.
When you hear discussion that a high profile, talented Black woman is not really a woman but a man, it emerges from internalized inadequacy in white male identity. The meanness of the comment is a hiding place for their sexual anxiety and insecurity.
At core is the internal fear that something is missing; missing what it means to be an acceptable man. Domination has been synonymous with the definition of white manhood. It appears as bullying in youth and toxic relationships in adults.
Unfortunately, this compromised identity becomes an increasingly desperate substitute for a well-developed personality. Black women of excellence are a mirror that reflects the missing emotional, spiritual and sexual strengths.
In a season where toxic male behavior has become topical, there is a missing analysis. White supremacy is conflated with sexual dynamics of fear, inadequacy and anger. Power, wealth and domination supersede moral values, spiritual identity and love. This desperate compensation is one dimensional, shallow and it does not work.
The void remains. Yet, this remnant of frustration has a strategic function of maintaining racialized chaos. It provides deniability and fails to address the underlying system of white privilege with its Black targeted victims.
The excellence and authority of Black women persist as four centuries of racial hate, exploitation and name calling are being disrupted. Black women realize that sticks and stones are a distraction and serve as impotent tools of empire.
Brenda Wall, PhD Dr. Brenda Wall is a licensed psychologist who writes from Arlington, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.
