Killing Rage: Ending Racism

hooks begins by quoting Ida B. Wells on the defamation of Black women, adding that the “[d]evaluation of Black womanhood is central to the maintenance of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (78). hooks states that Black women have challenged both racism and sexism and Black men consider women who speak out about sexism to be race traitors. The media further perpetuates stereotypes of Black women regarding their sexual and immoral nature. hooks cites the example of Anita Hill, who was defamed during the Clarence Thomas hearings, and the instance where former President Clinton insisted Joycelyn Elders resign as surgeon general.

Then, hooks focuses on media by Black men, such as Orlando Patterson, who argues that feminism is detrimental to the Black community. He and others believe that Black men are more important than Black women to the Black liberation movement. hooks discusses the film Sankofa, in which a Black woman has to redeem her betrayal by submitting to a Black man. Various media outlets like The New York Times, as well as President Johnson’s war on poverty campaign during the 1960s, blame Black women for the poverty, unemployment, and violence of Black men.

hooks refers to an anthology called The Coming of Black Genocide, which criticizes Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s participation in the war on poverty and his sexism. hooks then states that the scapegoating of Black women plays a key role in denying them welfare benefits. Single Black mothers, however, often teach their sons “to embrace patriarchal notions of masculinity” because they believe that the capitalist patriarchy is necessary for Black people to succeed (84). hooks calls on her readers to challenge negative perceptions of Black womanhood, even when they come from Black men. She says that Black men who have feminist politics need to call out the sexism of other Black men as well.

hooks observes that, while Black men acknowledge that sexism is an issue in Black communities, they are not motivated to challenge sexism. Rather, they frame their sexism as “an outcome of racist victimization” (86). As an example, hooks quotes Nathan McCall, who argues that Black men subjugate Black women because Black men are subjugated by white people. In response, hooks asserts that some Black men can access power and privilege that Black women cannot. hooks also argues that Black men frame fighting for racial equality as more important than fighting for gender equality and they want Black women to focus on improving the lives of Black men.

Then, hooks argues that white communities respond positively to Black men who only discuss racism in terms of masculinity. Racism, to them, is “unrealized wounded black manhood” (88). hooks points out that the media describing Black men as endangered animals is dehumanizing. Black men who echo this sentiment about manhood reinforce the idea that Black men need to be good patriarchs to survive. In this way, both white and Black men uphold the white supremacist patriarchy.

Next, hooks examines the arguments surrounding schools for only Black boys. These single-gender schools have patriarchal curriculums that focus on the obedience of the students, as well as their discipline. hooks advocates for more liberatory teaching methods that do not focus on control and punishment. She notes that men who succeed in the militaristic schools and succeed in changing their social class treat Black women as inferiors. Black men who have obtained some financial privilege will abuse and dominate Black women, as well as each other. hooks observes that homophobia also plays a large role in Black men rejecting feminist thought.

hooks states that, throughout the feminist movement, Black men have opposed feminism. For example, these men had sexist commentaries about Alice Walker’s work. When hooks published her book in the 1990s, Black men gained the approval of white men by flaunting their heterosexuality. hooks offers the example of rap music that is misogynistic and capitalistic. Sexism must be challenged, argues hooks, in order to dismantle patriarchal thinking. The “anti-feminist perspective is the only voice [...] that most intimately addresses black folks across class” (95). To counter this, more Black men who oppose sexism need to raise their voices. hooks quotes Malcolm X about seeing each other differently. Overcoming sexism will aid all Black folks in obtaining self-determination and redemptive love. 

hooks distinguishes between feminism that helps privileged white women and feminism that is revolutionary. White feminists settle for gaining status within the capitalist patriarchy, rather than challenge the system itself. hooks includes the example of how only some white women in women’s studies programs have the socioeconomic means to obtain doctoral degrees while other women, despite founding these programs, are let go. hooks adds that white women don’t acknowledge the academic work of Black women and are only interested in accessing upper-class status and wealth. hooks refers to this as “white power-feminism” (100). These privileged people link feminism with whiteness, which makes Black people dislike the feminist movement.

In response to this, hooks advocates for feminist thought. She criticizes Black men who call Black feminists race traitors, stating that it is privileged white women who reject the intersection of anti-sexist and anti-racist work. Some Black women, however, are also only interested in gaining more power within the capitalist patriarchy, rather than challenging the system. hooks refers again to The Coming of Black Genocide, which argues that the women’s liberation movement could have sabotaged white supremacy had it not become focused on whiteness and consumerism. hooks note that she wrote about this issue and other issues discussed in the collection, but the authors do not give her or other Black women credit.

hooks claims that white women who practice intersectional feminism need to raise their voices and use them to center the work of Black women. hooks quotes Mab Segrest who criticizes competition between women. hooks advocates for replacing competition with “a communal ethic of collective benefit” (105), arguing that it is competition that causes white women to not give Black women credit for their work in the feminist movement. hooks observes that the systems of sexism and racism have an “interlocking nature” and that both must be combated together (107).