Week 12
In her speech, Audre Lorde highlights the multi-dimensional nature of oppression faced by women of color. As a black lesbian feminist, she considers herself to be an outsider at the conference and criticizes the racist feminism practiced by white women. Their exclusionary practices are a significant roadblock in the way of women's liberation movement as their "one-size-fits-all" template does not apply to all women. For Lorde, to successfully "dismantle" patriarchal structures, women need to develop new tactics and tools that can deal with multifaceted issues faced by women in the form of sexism, homophobia, and racism. As an activist, she raises essential questions about the means or "tools" required to bring about genuine social change. Her master's house analogy aligns with MLK's ideas as he thinks of non-violence as the only tool to "break the chain reaction of evil" and serve justice to Black Americans. Non-violence is an effective tactic when the goal is to dismantle the oppressive system rather than harming the oppressor. Much like MLK, Lorde is not a proponent of violence; this is visible from the language she uses in the speech. For example, she uses the word "dismantle" rather than destroy it in her example of the master's house.
By using the analogy of the master's tools, Lorde highlights the importance of means that can be used to eliminate patriarchy. She thinks the present tools used by the white feminists are insufficient as they do not account for the internal differences and hierarchies within the feminist circle. The white women choose to use the "tools of racist patriarchy" to "examine the fruits of the same patriarchy." For Lorde, that is a problem because white women refuse to take account of racial differences amongst themselves and only focus on the enemy outside the circle. This approach does little harm to patriarchy as it causes a "diversion of energies." within the feminist circle. In a way, Lorde argues against the principle of "end justifies the means" as not only is it ineffective in this case, but it also isolates black women. As an alternative, she emphasized on interdependence and recognition of internal differences within their group. In Lorde's words, "divide and conquer must become define and empower." MLK uses similar logic in his work, where he highlights the moral dimension of non-violence. It is essential to achieve "moral ends through moral means" as that is the only way the black community can get justice. Much like Lorde, he thinks the tools of oppression used by white supremacists are inadequate as they will breed further unrest. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," he speaks against those who use "immoral means to achieve moral ends," and those who use use "moral means to preserve immoral ends." Just like Lorde, he feels immoral means such as violence and exploitation can only achieve temporary freedom. He also finds himself in the middle of two camps in the black community, where one favors violence while the other favors complacency. He rejects both of them in favor of a third way, which is non-violence. Rather than asking for the black community to "wait" for justice, he asks them to differentiate between "antagonists and antagonisms" and to create a "constructive non-violent tension" to get the other side on the negotiation table.
A similar theme also appears in Lorde's speech, where she differentiates between "passive beings and active beings" and urges the women of color to educate the white women about their "differences" and joint struggle. She feels that white women occupy themselves with the "master's concerns", rather than going to the roots of oppression, which turns them into an oppressor as well. MLK also criticizes the white moderates and clergymen who urge the black community to remain passive rather than take actions against the injustice. For him, the physical force needs to be resisted by the soul force, and not complacency. Moreover, the idea of non-violence rests on self-purification, which implies inner reflection and self-evaluation. For MLK and Lorde, one needs to identify and rectify the mistakes made by their group if they want to dismantle the oppressive system. Lorde looks within the white feminist circle to highlight the problems with seeing differences as causes for " separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change." MLK mentions the importance of self-purification in both of his work and thinks of it as the way people acquire the ability to "separate the evil from the evildoer" and take actions accordingly. He thinks some black radicals tend to blame the enemy rather than realizing the true nature of oppression and see violence as the only way to dismantle the master's house, but that would only guarantee negative peace.
MLK's idea of non-violence rests on the notion of positive peace, which is only possible where justice prevails. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, he recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of oppression faced by the black community, which can only be eradicated by cooperation between various groups. He feels that justice can be acquired if people reach the "majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood" and recognize that they are interdependent. This idea of interdependence within non-violence aligns with Lorde's speech when she says, " difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening." She thinks interdependency and cooperation is required to dismantle the patriarchal structure as any form of oppression is averse to difference. Both Lorde and MLK acknowledge the intersectionality and multifaceted nature of the issues at hand. Audre Lorde raises this point in the other speech when she says, "If we are to keep the enormity of the forces aligned against us from establishing a false hierarchy of oppression, we must school ourselves to recognize that any attack against Blacks, any attack against women, is an attack against all of us who recognize that our interests are not being served by the systems we support."
As a feminist Audre Lorde seeks creative ways to beat the master at his own game and dismantle patriarchy, and her approach can be aligned with MLK's idea of non-violence. He uses non-violence as a moral method and tool for social change as it can dismantle the underlying systems of oppression.
By using the analogy of the master's tools, Lorde highlights the importance of means that can be used to eliminate patriarchy. She thinks the present tools used by the white feminists are insufficient as they do not account for the internal differences and hierarchies within the feminist circle. The white women choose to use the "tools of racist patriarchy" to "examine the fruits of the same patriarchy." For Lorde, that is a problem because white women refuse to take account of racial differences amongst themselves and only focus on the enemy outside the circle. This approach does little harm to patriarchy as it causes a "diversion of energies." within the feminist circle. In a way, Lorde argues against the principle of "end justifies the means" as not only is it ineffective in this case, but it also isolates black women. As an alternative, she emphasized on interdependence and recognition of internal differences within their group. In Lorde's words, "divide and conquer must become define and empower." MLK uses similar logic in his work, where he highlights the moral dimension of non-violence. It is essential to achieve "moral ends through moral means" as that is the only way the black community can get justice. Much like Lorde, he thinks the tools of oppression used by white supremacists are inadequate as they will breed further unrest. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," he speaks against those who use "immoral means to achieve moral ends," and those who use use "moral means to preserve immoral ends." Just like Lorde, he feels immoral means such as violence and exploitation can only achieve temporary freedom. He also finds himself in the middle of two camps in the black community, where one favors violence while the other favors complacency. He rejects both of them in favor of a third way, which is non-violence. Rather than asking for the black community to "wait" for justice, he asks them to differentiate between "antagonists and antagonisms" and to create a "constructive non-violent tension" to get the other side on the negotiation table.
A similar theme also appears in Lorde's speech, where she differentiates between "passive beings and active beings" and urges the women of color to educate the white women about their "differences" and joint struggle. She feels that white women occupy themselves with the "master's concerns", rather than going to the roots of oppression, which turns them into an oppressor as well. MLK also criticizes the white moderates and clergymen who urge the black community to remain passive rather than take actions against the injustice. For him, the physical force needs to be resisted by the soul force, and not complacency. Moreover, the idea of non-violence rests on self-purification, which implies inner reflection and self-evaluation. For MLK and Lorde, one needs to identify and rectify the mistakes made by their group if they want to dismantle the oppressive system. Lorde looks within the white feminist circle to highlight the problems with seeing differences as causes for " separation and suspicion rather than as forces for change." MLK mentions the importance of self-purification in both of his work and thinks of it as the way people acquire the ability to "separate the evil from the evildoer" and take actions accordingly. He thinks some black radicals tend to blame the enemy rather than realizing the true nature of oppression and see violence as the only way to dismantle the master's house, but that would only guarantee negative peace.
MLK's idea of non-violence rests on the notion of positive peace, which is only possible where justice prevails. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, he recognizes the multi-dimensional nature of oppression faced by the black community, which can only be eradicated by cooperation between various groups. He feels that justice can be acquired if people reach the "majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood" and recognize that they are interdependent. This idea of interdependence within non-violence aligns with Lorde's speech when she says, " difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening." She thinks interdependency and cooperation is required to dismantle the patriarchal structure as any form of oppression is averse to difference. Both Lorde and MLK acknowledge the intersectionality and multifaceted nature of the issues at hand. Audre Lorde raises this point in the other speech when she says, "If we are to keep the enormity of the forces aligned against us from establishing a false hierarchy of oppression, we must school ourselves to recognize that any attack against Blacks, any attack against women, is an attack against all of us who recognize that our interests are not being served by the systems we support."
As a feminist Audre Lorde seeks creative ways to beat the master at his own game and dismantle patriarchy, and her approach can be aligned with MLK's idea of non-violence. He uses non-violence as a moral method and tool for social change as it can dismantle the underlying systems of oppression.
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