Race and Class Statements

Replacing sexism with racism or classism is not a proper Holla Back. Due in part to prevalent stereotypes of men of low socio-economic status and men of color as predisposed to violence, HollaBackBoston asks that contributors do not discuss the race or class of harassers or include other stigmatizing commentary. If you feel that race or class is important to your story, please make sure its relevance is explained clearly and constructively in your post. Initiatives combating various forms of sexual harassment and assault have continually struggled against the perpetuation of racist and classist stereotypes. There exist widespread fictions regarding who perpetrators are: the myth of racial minorities, particularly Latino and black men, as prototypical rapists as well as more prone to violence is quite common. This stems in part from a tragic and violent history, where black men in the U.S. were commonly and unjustly accused of assaulting white women as well as lynched by mobs and "tried" in biased courts. In addition, the myth of homeless or poor men as more prone to sexual harassment and assault is inaccurate. On the contrary, street harassment perpetrators are people from all: racial, socio-economic, professional, national, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Because of the complexity of institutional and socially ingrained prejudices, HollaBackBoston prioritizes resisting both direct as well as unconscious and unintentional reinforcement of social hierarchies. Simultaneously, HollaBackBoston aims to highlight the interrelations and intersections of sexism, racism, classism and other forms of bias and violence. Further Reading: A Black Feminist Critique of Same-Race Street Harassment by Hawley Fogg-Davis African-American related links and materials from University of California Hastings College of the Law Professor C. Keith Wingate Increasingly Vicious Laws Push Out Homeless by Catherine Komp Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw National Coalition for the Homeless The Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots in the United States, 1880-1950 by Robert A. Gibson Responding to Violence: Barnard Center for Research on Women Strange Fruit: Comparing the Struggles of African-Americans for Civil Rights with the Struggles of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Peoples by Poppy Dixon White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh