You’d be angry too
Story by RAHWA HAILEMARIAM
Illustration by KATIE ROBINSON
Sassy. Aggressive. Ill tempered. Illogical. Loud. Hostile. Malicious.
Ignorant without provocation.
These are the stereotypes of the “angry black woman.”
I rarely came in contact with white people until I came to college four years ago and was shoved into a dorm where I was the only black girl in the building.
Yes, this is another race talk from another black person.
We can’t help but feel the consequences of being black in Amerikkka when we are constantly reminded of it with glares and whispers in stores, stares in coffee shops, microaggressions, systemic police brutality and the fun new white people activity: calling the police on us.
We, especially black women, get to be angry. Wouldn’t you be angry too?
I moved into Fairhaven complex with three clueless white girls. At first, they couldn’t understand what I was saying because I had “black people slang.” I knew my south Seattle slang was not too difficult to understand; nonetheless, I put on my Caucasian tongue to get along with them.
Then it was questions about my hair: “Is it real? Why is it so crazy?”
Then it was, “Oh but, you’re not really black because you’re from Africa so don’t be offended.”
“Do you know how to twerk?”
“Rahwa, you are too pretty for a black girl.”
One of the girls was persistent with her questions and microaggressions. When I called her out, she always ended up crying.
Suddenly, I was the “angry black woman” making the “poor white girl” cry. It was the inevitable story of black women looking like the villain when white women play victim in situations they created.
After a few more incidents, my Residential Advisor wanted to talk to me about my “anger issues.” I thought he would understand when he heard my side of the story, at least because he was half black.
He didn’t.
He sat across from me, reciting her side of the story making excuses for her. He told me how she never means harm and it was hard for her because she’s always had bad experiences with black people.
I was angrrry.
It is already difficult being a black person in Amerikkka. It is also difficult being a woman. When you’re born black and a woman, you are the “mule of the world.”¹
Wouldn’t you be angry if you had to deal with one form of oppression, only to turn around and get hit with another? Wouldn’t you be angry if no one acknowledged that?
Wouldn’t you be angry if you couldn’t get to be angry like everyone else?
If your genuine emotion was always dismissed as “unnecessary rage?”
A lot of black women suppress their anger even when they have a legitimate reason to be angry because they don’t want to be seen as the “angry black woman.”²
Wouldn’t you be angry if laws were created to police and “tame” your hair? If people always asked to touch your hair for simply wearing it natural or being asked if it is real when wearing a different style?³
Wouldn’t you be angry if you helped fight for equality and no one was there to support you when you needed them? From helping slaves escape through the Underground Railroad, to being the core of Black Panthers, to founding Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement, black women have been pivotal in leading the fight for equality. Yet we are alone when fighting for black women.
Wouldn’t you be angry if society purposefully erased and forgot about you? When innocent black women are victims of police brutality, the media is oddly silent and there is usually no outrage from communities that scream “justice” for other victims. It takes a hashtag movement to #SayHerName.⁴
I am angry because we don’t get to let our black girl magic shine without intimidating other women and being too “emasculating” for men.
I am angry because our intelligence is determined when we “talk white.”
I am angry because the entertainment industry still hires non-black women to tell stories of black women.
I am angry because our hair, lips and hips were degraded but white women profited when imitating them.⁵
I am angry because everyone is a feminist until it is time to fight for black women.
I am angry because we have to work hard to prove our humanity. Yes, black women are humans with feelings and all.
I am angry because someone will ask, “Why are black women so angry?” knowing exactly the things we have to be angry about.
I am angry because I have too much to be angry about.
If you don’t think you would be angry too, you’re not paying attention because you would be furious.
- In the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937),” Zora Neale Hurston says “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.” The meaning is that “black women are the mules of the world,” that they “carry the load that white men, white women and black men refuse to carry; they do the work no one wants to do, without praise or thanks.”
Mule definition: the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.
2. From the 1800s through the mid-1900s, black women were portrayed as “sassy Mammies.” The portrayal of Mammies were happily obedient to their masters: fat, pitch black, asexual and ugly compared to white women who were, fragile, beautiful and valuable to society. That caricature of black women served as a defense for slavery.
The Jezebel stereotype depicted a lighter skinned black woman who is hypersexualized and portrayed as an irresistible temptress to justify the systemic rape of black women.
The “angry black woman” aka the Sapphire emerged to marginalize black women’s intelligence and respectability. The 1928 radio show “Amos ’n’ Andy,” which became a TV show in 1951 due to its popularity, set the tone for Sapphire. The show portrayed black women as aggressive, hot tempered and emasculating. The Sapphire is still present in almost every movie and TV shows like Cookie in “Empire,” Angela in “Why Did I Get Married?” Pam on “Martin,” Teri in “Barbershop” and Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder.”
3. In 1786, when free black women wore their hair in elaborative styles, which drew the attention of white men and the jealousy of white women, black and Creole women in Louisiana were forced to wear head wraps, according to The Tignon Laws. Taming black women’s hair is still present in schools and corporate policies. Dreadlocks, afros, braids and other forms of natural black hair are seen as unprofessional and “unkempt.”
4. See Kardashians.
5. #AuraRosser #JanishaFonville #ShantelDavis #MyaHall #NizahMorris #IslanNettles #RosannMiller #SonjiTaylor #KyamLivingson #ShenequeProctor #FrankiePerkins #KathrynJohnson #TanishaAnderson #ShereeseFrancis #MichelleCusseaux