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Subject: US: 1945-1973 (1945-1973), U.S. Women's HistoryI’d Rather be Black than Female

Shirley Chisholm

DOI: 10.1093/acref/9780199794188.013.0182

Abstract and Keywords

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005) became the first black woman to beelected to Congress. She served the New York 12th District until 1983 andwas one of the founding members of the Democratic Black Caucus. In 1972she became a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, thefirst woman and the first African American to contend for that honor. As apioneering black female politician, Chisholm faced considerable prejudiceand resistance. In this article, published in McCall’s magazine, Chisholmoutlines her struggle for recognition and legitimacy in the Democratic Partyand in Congress, and argues being a woman was a greater obstacle to hersuccess than being black.McCall’s Magazine (August 1970), 6.

Document

Being the first black woman elected to Congress has made me some kind ofphenomenon. There are nine other blacks in Congress; there are ten otherwomen. I was the first to overcome both handicaps at once. Of the twohandicaps, being black is much less of a drawback than being female.

If I said that being black is a greater handicap than being a woman, probablyno one would question me. Why? Because “we all know” there is prejudiceagainst black people in America. That there is prejudice against women isan idea that still strikes nearly all men—and, I am afraid, most women—asbizarre.

Prejudice against blacks was invisible to most white Americans for manyyears. When blacks finally started to “mention” it, with sit-ins, boycotts, andfreedom rides, Americans were incredulous. “Who, us?” they asked in injuredtones. “We’re prejudiced?” It was the start of a long, painful reeducation forwhite America. It will take years for whites—including those who think ofthemselves as liberals—to discover and eliminate the racist attitudes they allactually have.

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How much harder will it be to eliminate the prejudice against women? I amsure it will be a longer struggle. Part of the problem is that women in Americaare much more brainwashed and content with their roles as second-classcitizens than blacks ever were.

Let me explain. I have been active in politics for more than twenty years.For all but the last six, I have done the work—all the tedious details thatmake the difference between victory and defeat on election day—while menreaped the rewards, which is almost invariably the lot of women in politics.

It is still women—about three million volunteers—who do most of this workin the American political world. The best any of them can hope for is thehonor of being district or county vice-chairman, a kind of separate-but-equal position with which a woman is rewarded for years of faithful envelopestuffing and card-party organizing. In such a job, she gets a number of freetrips to state and sometimes national meetings and conventions, where herrole is supposed to be to vote the way her male chairman votes.

When I tried to break out of that role in 1963 and run for the New York StateAssembly seat from Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, the resistance was bitter.From the start of that campaign, I faced undisguised hostility because of mysex.

But it was four years later, when I ran for Congress, that the question ofmy sex became a major issue. Among members of my own party, closedmeetings were held to discuss ways of stopping me.

My opponent, the famous civil-rights leader James Farmer, tried to projecta black, masculine image; he toured the neighborhood with sound trucksfilled with young men wearing Afro haircuts, dashikis, and beards. Whilethe television crews ignored me, they were not aware of a very importantstatistic, which both I and my campaign manager, Wesley MacD. Holder,knew. In my district there are 2.5 women for every man registered to vote.And those women are organized—in PTAs, church societies, card clubs, andother social and service groups. I went to them and asked their help. Mr.Farmer still doesn’t quite know what hit him.

When a bright young woman graduate starts looking for a job, why is thefirst question always: “Can you type?” A history of prejudice lies behind thatquestion. Why are women thought of as secretaries, not administrators?Librarians and teachers, but not doctors and lawyers? Because they

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are thought of as different and inferior. The happy homemaker and thecontented darky are both stereotypes produced by prejudice.

Women have not even reached the level of tokenism that blacks arereaching. No women sit on the Supreme Court. Only two have held Cabinetrank, and none do at present. Only two women hold ambassadorial rank. Butwomen predominate in the lower-paying, menial, unrewarding, dead-endjobs, and when they do reach better positions, they are invariably paid lessthan a man gets for the same job.

If that is not prejudice, what would you call it?

A few years ago, I was talking with a political leader about a promising youngwoman as a candidate. “Why invest time and effort to build the girl up?” heasked me. “You know shell only drop out of the game to have a couple of kidsjust about the time we’re ready to run her for mayor.”

Plenty of people have said similar things about me. Plenty of others haveadvised me, every time I tried to take another upward step, that I should goback to teaching, a woman’s vocation, and leave politics to the men. I loveteaching, and I am ready to go back to it as soon as I am convinced that thiscountry no longer needs a woman’s contribution.

When there are no children going to bed hungry in this rich nation, I maybe ready to go back to teaching. When there is a good school for everychild, I may be ready. When we do not spend our wealth on hardware tomurder people, when we no longer tolerate prejudice against minorities, andwhen the laws against unfair housing and unfair employment practices areenforced instead of evaded, then there may be nothing more for me to do inpolitics.

But until that happens—and we all know it will not be this year or next—what we need is more women in politics, because we have a very specialcontribution to make. I hope that the example of my success will convinceother women to get into politics—and not just to stuff envelopes, but to runfor office.

It is women who can bring empathy, tolerance, insight, patience, andpersistence to government—the qualities we naturally have or have had todevelop because of our suppression by men. The women of a nation moldits morals, its religion, and its politics by the lives they live At present, our

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country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politicsthan anywhere else.

Review

1) Why does Shirley Chisholm say that being black is less of adrawback than being female?2) What sorts of prejudice did Chisholm face when she decidedto become a political candidate? How did her status as a womancompare to her status as an African American?3) According to Chisholm, what could women contribute to thepolitical and social life of the nation?