Date of Award
Fall 2018
Document Type
Thesis
Terms of Use
© 2018 Tiauna Lewis. All rights reserved. This work is freely available courtesy of the author. It may only be used for non-commercial, educational, and research purposes. For all other uses, including reproduction and distribution, please contact the copyright holder.
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History Department, Black Studies Program
First Advisor
Robert Weinberg
Abstract
In this paper, I argue that Dr. Anita Hill was subjected to countless stereotypes of Black women during her 1991 testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Committee and a majority of the American public denied Hill her right to be her own witness and instead faced a panel of white men and millions of onlookers who were ignorant to the importance of looking at the case through an intersectional lens. While Judge Clarence Thomas called upon the trope of a wrongfully-accused Black man, Hill was made out to be akin to a white woman who accused an innocent Black man of sexual assault. I contend that the way Hill was treated because of the controversy reflects the disenfranchisement of Black women on account of stereotypical understandings of their identities.
Recommended Citation
Lewis, Tiauna , '19, "Speaking Power: Analyzing the expectations of 20th-Century Black Womanhood Through Thomas vs. Hill" (2018). Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards. 610.
https://works.swarthmore.edu/theses/610