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Difficulty: MediumBlack Feminist and Womanist Movements

Read the following excerpt from Mary Church Terrell’s speech, "The Progress of Colored Women" (1898):

> "A white woman has only one handicap to overcome—that of sex. A colored woman has two—sex and race. She is therefore twice as heavily burdened as her white sister, and her progress is correspondingly more difficult."

Based on this excerpt, which of the following statements best describes how Terrell’s analysis contributes to the foundation of Black feminist thought?

  1. A
    It supports the mainstream suffrage movement's claim that gender-based discrimination affects all women in identical ways.
  2. B
    It argues that Black women should prioritize racial advocacy over gender equality until voting rights are secured for all men.
  3. It identifies the distinct, intersecting challenges of race and gender faced by Black women, laying the groundwork for the concept of intersectionality.Answer
  4. D
    It advocates for a separatist strategy that rejects alliance with white women in favor of establishing independent Black female institutions.

Answer

The correct answer is the option identifying that Terrell's analysis highlights the distinct, intersecting challenges of race and gender faced by Black women, laying the groundwork for the concept of intersectionality.
The correct answer identifies that Terrell's description of the 'double burden' of race and sex directly prefigures the modern concept of intersectionality, which analyzes how multiple social identities and forms of oppression overlap.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source excerpt for Terrell's main argument.
Terrell identifies that Black women carry a 'double burden' consisting of both race and sex discrimination, which makes their progress harder than that of white women.
To understand the text's core thesis and the specific nature of the challenges described.
2
Connect Terrell's 'double burden' concept to foundational Black feminist frameworks.
The idea that race and gender cannot be examined in isolation but must be viewed as overlapping systems of oppression is the basis of intersectionality.
To identify the theoretical contribution of the excerpt to the development of Black feminism.

Key Concept

Intersectionality and the Double Burden of Race and Gender
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Topics

Black Feminist and Womanist Movements

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