Authors address race

Jamie Dawson was upset.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This school sucks,’she said. ‘Yesterday there was an… Jamie Dawson was upset.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This school sucks,’she said. ‘Yesterday there was an article in [The Pitt News]with people complaining about diversity. And now there’s noone here.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Dawson is the education chair ofTheta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority Inc., and the ‘here’was in the Cathedral of Learning on Friday night, in a room thatthe society reserved for a lecture on the nature of friendshipsbetween black and white women.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Slated to speak were Kathy Russelland Midge Wilson, co-authors of the books ‘The ColorComplex’ and ‘Divided Sisters.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Russell and Wilson began theevening by talking about how they got together to write their firstbook, the ‘Color Complex.’ The book was Russell’sidea; she had wanted to write a book about’black-on-black’ discrimination for some time becauseshe saw that there did not appear to be a significant piece ofresearch on the subject. Through working on the book together, theybecame friends and are, as they said, proof that a black woman anda white woman can do so.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ That is what their second book,’Divided Sisters,’ deals with, and also had to do withwhy Theta Nu Xi asked the women to speak — to promotecultural and ethnic understanding on Pitt’s campus. Otherthan the sorority sisters, only about eight students showed up forthe event.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But the small turnout did not stopthe group from engaging in a lively conversation about the variousissues facing women within their own respective cultures andbetween races.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ After Russell and Wilson discussedthe ideas of critical race theory and social inequality, theyopened the floor, and a discussion about the experiences that thewomen in the room had had with friends or acquaintances of otherraces quickly became the topic of discussion.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ One young woman spoke about herbest friend in high school, saying, ‘She used to tell me thatI was the whitest black girl that she knew. I don’t think shereally understood what that meant to me.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ That comment led to a discussionabout the stereotypes people of various races have about eachother. Among the topics discussed were intelligence, sexuality andclothes.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Many of the black women in theroom expressed a concern about black people being discriminatedagainst, in terms of intelligence, by other black people and whitepeople alike. One talked about how she was afraid to take honorsclasses in high school for fear of being labeled uppity by herblack friends and being looked down upon by the mostly whitestudents in the classes.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Just because I’mAfrican American doesn’t mean I’m stupid,’Russell said in response, ‘or that I’m what you see onthe five o’clock news. It’s horrible that blacknesscannot be associated with smartness.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ According to Wilson, despite thesestereotypes, or perhaps because of them, black women ‘tend tohave a much higher level of self-esteem than whitewomen.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Russell then related a story aboutlistening to a radio call-in show when women’s cattiness wasbeing discussed. A black woman called in to say, ‘Idon’t hate. Girls be hatin’ on me,’ and when theDJ asked her why, she replied that it was because she made goodmoney and was fine.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I thought she was gonna sayshe made like six figures or something,’ Russell said.’And then she says, ‘I make $45,000 a year, I’mfive-foot-six, and I’m a size 18.’ Only a black womancould say that.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Although the two speakers hadlittle to offer by way of solution to the problem they discussed,they appeared to find power in simply remaining conscious of thedifferences that exist.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We just have to talk aboutthese things so that [the situation] becomes manageable,’Wilson said.