Question

Explore the impact of black women’s clubs in the late 19th to early/earlier-20th century. In other words, how did they challenge racism and sexism? What were their preoccupations? How did their programs and agenda help and/or hurt black women?

Answer 1

Answer:

They challenged sexism because they showed that women had the ability to think rationally in the search for political improvements in their communities, they challenged racism because they showed intellectual, educated and sufficient black women. The concerns of these clubs were to seek changes in public policies and social concepts aimed at the black female population.

These groups helped black women to break stereotypes and achieve equality in certain parts of their communities, however, they also raised prejudice within the black community itself, mainly in relation to male clubs.

Explanation:

Black women’s clubs had as main objective to unite black women in causes that sought to break stereotypes harmful to black women and seek social and political equality for them. These clubs started out as literary clubs, where they brought together intellectual women to discuss subjects related to literature. Over time, clubs have evolved and started to discuss political facts and to work directly with communities seeking redress and equality for the country's black populations.

Although they did a good job for this cause, these clubs caused great prejudice on the part of white women's clubs and male clubs, even within black communities.