Will whites always have dominant power? Cooper and Wells-Barnett construct a sociological analysis of society as a dynamic of power and difference. Their focus is on a pathological interaction between difference and power in U.S. society. These women were not colleagues or intellectual intimates, but responded to the same social forces and have many themes in common. The contributions made by both of these women help us understand the intersection between race, class, and gender in the late nineteenth and early-to-mid twentieth centuries. Their ideas were shaped based on the experiences they had in the African American Community. Before reading this book I was unaware that Anna Julia Cooper brought the concept of intersectionality to the forefront of feminism. Whether we realized it or not, Cooper and Wells-Barnett have had a strong influence on the way we view domination.
For Cooper and Wells-Barnett, domination is a system of oppression and privilege patterned by five factors—history, ideology, material resources, manners, and passion. The central issue in their theory is the nature of domination. According to Lengermann & Niebrugge (2007), “Understanding domination is a prerequisite to undermining a system bent on destroying the African American” (p. 165).
Cooper and Wells-Barnett describe a situation of domination as one in which social diversity is organized in terms of a matrix of oppression and privilege. Race, class, gender, color and geopolitical location intersect to privilege the white males. White men are often born into a life of resources and family income that have been provided to them from birth. If white men feel that the African American men are gaining success or catching up to their status they often feel threatened. Domination rests on emotion and desire for absolute control. The dominant is afraid that the situation may be reversed and the subordinate will assume dominance over him. Therefore the white man will not only use material deprivation, but brutality, torture, killing and terrorism if their authority is threatened.
This leads me back to my opening question; will whites always have dominant power? Events taking place in the world today can help relate to Cooper and Wells-Barnett’s theory of domination. Our first black president, Barack Obama, was in office from 2009 until 2017. During his presidency there was little racial controversy that was reported in the media. When Donald Trump became president in early 2017, white supremacists became alarmingly emboldened.
I can relate this to Cooper and Wells-Barnett’s theory of domination because the whites are seeking to regain full control. For centuries, white supremacists have relied on violence to promote their hate-based agenda. While Obama was president I think the white supremacists felt powerless. Their authority was threatened, but now that Trump has been inaugurated they are seeking to take back full control. As sad as it is to think about, the US was founded as a white supremacist nation. When the Founding Fathers composed the Constitution, they did not request input from women or people of color. From the beginning white men had dominance and privilege over others. Whether we are looking at the past or the present, Cooper and Wells-Barnett’s contributions are relevant in society.
Lengermann, P.M., & Nievrugge, G. (2007). The Women Founders: Sociology and Social Theory, 1830-1930. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.