What is Eurocentrism? It is everywhere, from the high school to the university classroom, from the six o’clock news to the morning newspaper. Eurocentrism dictates how everyone thinks. The idea behind this is a point of view from that of white men that is presented to the world as being for everyone. This paper will focus on three areas that will explore the implications of Eurocentrism on the black woman. The first area of discussion will be on the development of the self, and the direct effect a Eurocentric standpoint has on the shaping of the black woman identity. Secondly, the ramifications of this identity formation for black women based on difference. This second area will specifically delve further into the historical experience of black women, which is intertwined with issues of point of view, meanings and interpretations. Finally, the experience of black women in contrast to that of white women will be explored. Of particular interest in this final area will be the extent of which much of feminist thought is said to be all encompassing to the lived experience of all women, but in fact, by its very nature excludes black women.

The self is something which has a development; it is not initially there, at birth, but arises in the process of social experience and activity, that is, develops in the given individual as a result of his relations to that process as a whole and to other individuals within that process (Mead, 1934:135). It is knowledge of the self as a continual process, as something that is constantly changing and as something that works in relation to other selves within that process, which provides crucial insight into how one forms an identity. In the social world, as Herbert Blumer (1969:82) notes, "each individual aligns his actions to the actions of others by ascertaining what they are doing or what they intend to do – that is, by getting to the meanings of their acts." When people experience racial slurs, derogatory comments and outright hatred at a young age before one can fully grasp the meanings behind these experiences, their view of themselves and of others can be forever affected. Just as people learn to hate, people also learn to react to hate. When "human interaction is mediated by the use of symbols, by interpretation and by ascertaining the meaning of one another’s actions" (Blumer, 1969:79), understanding the experience of black women means understanding the developmental experience of ones self-image and self-perception.

There are several questions that need to be addressed when talking about the self. Namely, what is it like to experience one’s self as an alternative to the norm? In what way does the structure of society perpetuate negative self-images for black women? Thirdly, what are the effects of Eurocentrism – in terms of defining situations for everyone – on the black woman’s view of the world?

What is it like to experience one’s self as an alternative to the norm? As a black person, my view of the world is not an inclusive view, but one that is specific to my conception of others, and my conception of myself in the world. As Goffman (1959:1) notes, "information about the individual helps to define the situation, enabling others to know in advance what he will expect of them and what they may expect of him." When one is viewed as a minority or alternative to the ‘norm,’ there is a constant definition process that occurs; that is, one must constantly define who they are in this situation and who they are not in another situation. Being viewed as a "minority" means that amongst other "minorities" one feels less need for impression management because of the agreed upon definition of the situation by other group members. Conversely, when one’s "minority" status is defined in situations by those who a part of the majority, impression management and definition processes are at their most salient point. As a black person, awareness of my racial status changes depending on my social surroundings, as a result of social interaction. It is the social process itself that is responsible for the appearance of the self; it is not there as a self apart from this type of experience (Mead, 1934:142). Those who have defined the terms of "normal" interaction scrutinize others interacting in the social world who do not fit the guidelines within this group. It is only through such an experience that one cognitively develops a sense of self as opposite to the dominant group.

How does the process of aligning one’s behaviour with those around you work? According to Goffman:

. . . when an individual appears before others his actions will influence the definition of the situation which they come to have. Sometimes the individual will act in a thoroughly calculating matter, expressing himself in a given way solely in order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from them a specific response he is concerned to obtain. Sometimes the individual will be calculating in his activity but be relatively unaware that this is the case. Sometimes he will intentionally and consciously express himself in a particular way, but chiefly because the tradition of his group or social status require this kind of expression and not because of any particular response (other than vague acceptance or approval) that is likely to be evoked from those impressed by the expression (1959:6).

This is a fairly large quote but I think it contains valuable insight into the dramaturgical process that racial minority groups go through living in a society that has created labels denoting "other." It is hard for those who are a part of the dominant group in society to see the extent of which they rarely ever experience themselves as "other" or "alternative" to something. Sometimes a person of colour is consciously aware of their behaviour and an asserted effort is made to present a certain image, which will not convey that they struggle with feelings of difference. They also feel as though they must align their behaviour with the assumed and expected behaviours of their racial group. The reality for a black woman is constant expression management; that is, presenting a certain self when the situation is such that being seen as a "minority" conjures up the responsibility of representing the entire group, and therefore ones awareness of not belonging to the dominant group is heightened.

How do social institutions create the perception of one’s self as "other"? People do not act toward culture, social structure or the like; they act toward situations . . . . Social organization enters into action only to the extent to which it shapes situations in which people act, and to the extent to which it supplies fixed sets of symbols which people use in interpreting their situations (Blumer, 1969:88). Seemingly, this quote appears to have nothing to do with social institutions but on the contrary, it has everything to do with such things. For example, in the education system, people do not act towards it because it is a structure that exists outside of the human self. However, people do act towards individuals who make up the education system and interpret the meanings in their behaviour as well as align their behaviour accordingly. As a black woman, who is the "minority" in the education system, the self that is ultimately constructed is one that does not feel a part of the system, but very much outside of the system. Ultimately, the effect of this socialization process is that covert symbols in the education system, to continue with this example, maintain an image of one’s self as "other" and this image transcends into other areas; it becomes the way a black person interprets themselves and others in social interaction.

The black experience is very different compared to the white experience. This point can be explained through the work of Alfred Schutz (1978:261) who writes, "all the socially derived knowledge is to begin with, accepted by the individual member of the cultural group as unquestionably given, because it is transmitted to him as unquestionably accepted by the group and as valid and tested." Arguable, most white students do not question the definition of the academic situation presented by a professor in a lecture. It can also be argued that most white students do not feel culturally or socially underrepresented in their experience with the education system. The point being made here is that the experience of being black is an experience that requires one to question definitions, reinterpret situations, and recreate symbols. This is necessary to combat the presumed and taken-for-granted acceptance of knowledge by white men as "truth" that should transcend every racial and ethnic group in society.

What effect does the Eurocentric pattern of defining situations for everyone have on the black woman? This question leads into another important area of discussion, that being the notion of common sense. A Layman understanding of this term is that it denotes something that seems obvious to most people for logical reasons that it must then be common sense. In particular, Antonio Gramsci (1971:325-326) argued that ". . . there is not just one common sense, for that too is a product of history and a part of the historical process." But is such a conclusion ever truly possible? Western society consists of many diverse racial and ethnic groups and many different points of views, and lived experiences. Yet, under the mask of democracy, society is permeated with the white male perspective on almost everything, and in fact, this point of view is often presented as though it were a universal form of truth or at least an agreeable accepted point of view. There is not just one common sense, nor is there just one point of view. However, when only one is presented the vast majority of the time, feelings of exclusion become embedded into the psychological makeup of those whose opinions, feelings, histories, perspectives and point of views are not only devalued but are not heard.

When one lives in a society with a voice that is never heard, and live through other people defining their history, their struggles, what is and is not, what should and should not be important, the effects are deeply felt. It becomes not only important to view one’s self as outside the dominant group, but ultimately it is essential to do so. Not so much to hold on to the past or to resist assimilation, but to maintain a sense of self that is not distorted by the saturation of the dominant group’s Eurocentrism. To maintain a sense of self the content of what is known, familiar, believed and unknown is seen as therefore being relative: for the individual relative to his biographical situation, for the group to its historical situation (Schutz, 1978:262). The experience of being a black woman means carrying the baggage of oppression, marginalization, and degradation; it is important to maintain a sense of these struggles to maintain a sense of touch with the experience of the past and the present. A white male point of view cannot represent these experiences because as noted earlier through the work of Alfred Schutz’s, each group has an experience that is relative to the individuals within that group. This raises the question of why it is believed that the historical experience of white people would be relative to the historical experience of everyone else. This is Eurocentrism.

The Historical Experience of Point of View, Meanings & Interpretations

To begin, while there is a rich historical past for black women in North America, such experiences have been and continue to be overlooked. It is important to note, as French historical sociologist Roland Monsnier (Abrams, 1982:3) put it, ". . . how we behave now – whether we throw a bomb or go on a peace march, whether we protest about inequality or thrive on it – is very largely a matter of what previous experience has made possible and meaningful for us." Black women still feel as adamant today over issues of segregation, white-elitism and racism not so much because of what has happened in the past but more so because of what continues to happen in the present.

Although African slavery resulted in the disruption and dispersal of black people to various other parts of the world, as Black feminist Patricia Hill Collins (1991:206) notes, "Black societies reflect elements of a core African value system that existed prior to and independently of racial oppression . . . . Moreover, as a result of colonialism, imperialism, slavery, apartheid, and other systems of racial domination, black people share a common experience of oppression." It is ultimately knowledge of this truth amongst black people that creates a different point of view to that of white people. It is not about being acted upon, but making attempts to become active and assert our black point of view, through the eyes of those who put a face to the historical experience without which would go unheard. A sometimes forgotten truth is that if history is anything it is point of view. When one belongs to the dominant group they believe that the world is as they see it, however when one belongs to an oppressed group, the world is seen for as it really is. The way history is taught in schools illustrates the relevance of this point. We learn about the discovery of the Americas from the perspective of the conquerors not the conquered – now imagine how this effects the Aboriginal point of view. We learn about slavery from the eyes of the enslavers not the enslaved – now imagine how this effects the black point of view.

One of the ways of capturing point of view and expressing what situations mean to black women, in particular, has been through music, the beginnings of which stem from the blues. The importance of point of view, meanings and interpretations become clear through the work of white blues critic Samuel Charter. In his 1963 study, The Poetry of the Blues, Charter writes:

There is little social protest in the blues. There is often a note of anger and frustration; sometimes the poverty and the rootlessness in which the singer has lived his life is evident in a word or a phrase, but there is little open protest at core social conditions under which a Negro in the U.S. is forced to live (Davis, 1999:92).

This point shows the inability of a person to fully grasp what a people experience unless they walk in their shoes, see what they see, and hear what they hear. Angela Davis (1999:92) assertively critiques Charter’s work by noting that "Charter’s argument fails to consider the interpretive audience to which the blues is addressed and treats potential protest as necessarily constructed in terms established by an imagined white oppressor." The black experience exists in and of itself as separate to that of the white experience yet too many times it is assumed that the former only exists because of the latter – that is not the case.

How does one form some sense of an identity out of feelings of not belonging? First and foremost it must be realized that descriptive phrases have deeply rooted effects on those that they are directed towards. As Himani Bannerji (1995:24) writes, "expressions such as "immigrant," "alien," "foreigner," "visible minority," and so on, denoting certain types of lesser or negative identities are in actuality congealed practices and forms of violence or relations of domination." What does this really mean? Bannerji (1995:24) notes further that "this violence and its constructive or representative attempts have become so successful or hegemonic that they have become transparent – holding in place the ruler’s claimed superior self, named or identified in myriad ways, and the inadequacy and inferiority of those who are ruled." This experience results in the need, if not want for black people to articulate a point of view that is intertwined with meanings and interpretations that justify the black experience. To understand the black experience it also becomes a matter of understanding the construction of difference and the content of this difference, and in being able to think through how these differences are implicated in social organization and relations of ruling and resistance (Bannerji, 1995:28).

First and foremost, an historical fact that still remains true today is the lesser status of all women in society. Arguably, women have come along way in terms of life expectations and aspirations. However while women might consider themselves on an equal playing field with men in terms of attaining an education, the reality is that women are still treated differently than men; and therefore, the educational achievements of women do not necessarily carry over into equitable employment comparable to men. But this experience of being a woman is not inclusive to all women. For example, in the past, "the overwhelming majority of black women cooked, cleaned house, did the laundry, or engaged in some other form of domestic service for well-off white people" (Davis, 1999:98). The point is that black women have an experience that is quite different to that of white women, and very distinct from other groups. Clearly though, each group in society has a unique historical experience but I would assert that the black woman experience has been hindered by marginalization, which is embedded in Eurocentric society. Since the vast majority of feminist thought is focused on ‘women’ achieving equality, greater injustices faced by black women are ignored; for instance, the fact that black women earn substantially less than men, but also less than white women is rarely if ever discussed. As a result, while a university degree might remove a black woman from domesticated work, her status is still at the bottom of the social hierarchy, no different than in the past. For instance, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics for 1999 the median weekly earnings for white women were $746 compared to $684 for black (May: 2000). The point being made here is that while all women must fight to overcome many forms of systemic injustices embedded in this patriarchal society, the battle is not being fought on equal grounds. The simple fact of being a woman does not mean that there is a shared level of struggle. Race, gender, and ethnicity are the obvious areas of difference, but it must be duly noted that class, as noted by the wage gap, further contributes to a different experience for women of colour as opposed to white women, and this truth must be recognized.

The non-inclusive nature of feminist thought can be understood further by the work of Angela Davis. In Women, Race and Class, Davis writes:

. . . black women, being treated by slave masters as equally productive workers as men on the ground of their "race" and slave status were "sexed" rather than gendered. Thus they fell outside of the purview of "gender" in the sense of the Southern slave owner’s ideology of the feminine or notions of chivalry and protection. Instead, they worked equal number of hours with men . . . and were seen and treated as "breeders" rather than mothers, and as labour and commodities rather than as members of families (Bannerji, 1995:33).

As Bannerji (1995:33) astutely notes, "Davis’ presentation of gender, "race" and class makes it impossible to think of an identity for Afro-American women which does not integrate the three and does not relate to history – the history of slavery." Any paradigm of thought, including Feminism, which does not address the issues that Bannerji notes, can be seen as articulating a Eurocentric point of view. Considering this historical experience of black women, a theory that does not address these issues, excludes the story of black women, which history, emotions and feeling are an essential part.

The lived experience of black women can and has only been addressed through black feminist thought. As Patricia Hills Collins (1991:201) writes, "black feminist thought, like all specialized thought, reflects the interests and standpoints of its creators . . . black women’s experiences with work, family, motherhood, political activism, have only been routinely distorted in or excluded from traditional academic discourse." While this is not necessarily a critique of white feminist thought, the point is that everything looks different depending on where one is looking from in society. Because white women are a part of the dominant while-male Eurocentric point of view, they are only aware of the position of white women in comparison to white men within that patriarchal social structure. As a result, although not blatantly thought, feminist theory presents a point of view that inadvertently excludes the lived experiences, interests, issues, and oppressions of black women. Collins (1991:208) further writes that "living life as a black woman requires wisdom because knowledge about the dynamics of race, gender, and class oppression has been essential to black women’s survival." To get at the experience of black women, it means validating these issues, which clearly are all encompassing to the lived experience of black women.

As a black woman, the way I see the world is very unique to my experience. In describing differences separating African-American and white women, for example, Nancy White (Gwaltney in Collins, 1991:208) invokes a similar rule: "When you come right down to it, white women just think they are free. Black women know they ain’t free." Point of view is very much an issue of position, where one is standing in the world.

On certain dimensions black women may more closely resemble black men; on others, white women; and on still others black women may stand a part from both groups . . . the act of being simultaneously a member of a group and yet standing a part from it, forms an integral part of black women’s consciousness (Collins, 1991:207).

Ultimately, to see the world through the eyes of the disempowered, disadvantaged, and from those who live on the periphery of society is to see the world for what it is, and perhaps even to see the world for the first time.

The implications of Eurocentrism and point of view stem primarily from the taken-for-grantedness of group membership in this society. It would be ridiculous for someone with sight to tell a person without sight what it is like not to have sight, because that experience is not within their cognitive imagination. So why then is it not seen as equally ridiculous when those with privilege, power and position tell people who lack such things, what they should think and how they should feel? It has been the intent of this paper to express, as Jenn Baker Miller writes:

A dominant group, inevitable, has the greatest influence in determining a culture’s overall outlook . . . thus, legitimizes the unequal relationship and incorporates it into society’s guiding concepts . . . . It then becomes ‘normal’ to treat others destructively and to derogate them, to obscure the truth of what you are doing by creating false explanations and to oppose actions towards equality (Oakley, 1981:39).

The lived experience of black women stems from this Eurocentric realization. According to Bannerji, being aware of this point of view shows how:

Histories, cultures, ideologies of Europe constructed a "European = White self," in relation to whom the "others," now called "people of colour," "visible minorities," "immigrants," "third world people," are "different," the inferiority of whose "difference" is signaled physically-materially by skin colour, a nose shape, a mouth, or other symbols of danger and domination (1995:101).

In social theory, symbolic interactionism adheres to the belief that "human interaction is mediated by the use of symbols, by interpretation, and by ascertaining the meaning of one another’s actions" (Blumer, 1969:79). This knowledge equips one to understand the reasons why things mean what they mean to different people and for different reasons. Everything in life comes from somewhere; being educated in a school system, which continuously presents a white-male point of view, does influence a non-white person and exacerbates feelings of exclusion. What gets internalized into the belief systems of those who deviate from the white-norm is that they are ‘wrong’ and those who are the majority are ‘right’. As Bannerji (1995:108) writes through her experiences, "they (white majority) never considered their ideas irrelevant, their lives marginal, because they so happily were the centre, the creators/subjects of their discourse." To a large extent, this lack of awareness by the dominant group builds a wedge between moving on, or as many people say, "just getting over it."

When people say, "why can’t they (meaning black people) just move on and stop using racism as an excuse," it seems like a legitimate claim, but it is wrong. Goffman (1959:1) writes, "information about the individual helps to define the situation enabling others to know in advance what he will expect of them and what they may expect of him." If almost every situation a black person encounters with another white person is defined by that white person it creates an adversarial relationship that continues to perpetuate expectations of not being heard, or not being understood. It is not a matter of using race as an excuse, but from a black point of view race is an essential part of self-identity. This is especially true when it is expected that a Eurocentric point of view, which is void of oppression and void of struggle will be presented and implicitly assumed to be the only view of importance. Conversely, white people who hold this Eurocentric point of view fail to realize their false all encompassing nature, and as a result, leave people of colour no choice but to feel distinctively different.

To illustrate the extent of which Eurocentrism is embedded in theoretical knowledge, Blumer (1969:84) writes, ". . . the situations encountered by people in a given society are defined or "structured" by them in the same way. Through previous interaction they develop and acquire common understandings or definitions of how to act in this or that situations." It is this white-male Eurocentric point of view that excludes and lessens the experience of those who are not white. Not everyone can define situations the same way because each person brings a different experience, point of view, advantage or disadvantage. We do not develop common understandings of how to act in situations because for black people this means common "white" definitions that are not relevant to the black experience. Because of this difference it is important for black people to have separate forums where issues of relevance for black people are exclusively presented. But "if these acts of representation threaten white people it is their own task to think through why they feel so . . . . Their fury at not being central to every project – a furious feeling of exclusion when they have never noticed the absence of others in their world unless forced by others to notice it . . ." Bannerji (1995:37) is part of the systemic reality of white privilege that is largely taken-for-granted.

The plight of the black woman to gain "a voice in the languages of silence and speaking, of writing and reading, and of volition and freedom" (Bannerji, 1995:21) has been and continues to be a hard fought battle. Especially within feminist theories themselves, which are presented as being inclusive to all women, but in reality by their very nature exclude women who are not white. In writing about her experience in the education system, Bannerji (1995:108) writes, "not one of the feminists I taught with, in those hey days of the discovery of patriarchy thought that "race and class" mattered. And this "no one" was not me. It was "them," the shapers of courses and the destiny of something called Women’s Studies, . . . never thought about my absence from their courses." This experience rings true for so many women of colour, across the board. But it is especially relevant in the North American context, taking into account the historical relationship between white people and black people. When every institution in society is deeply embedded with people who are blind to their exclusionary belief system, it creates an atmosphere of disgust among those who have been and continue to be excluded.

In sum, Blumer (1969:87-88) writes:

Structural features, such as "culture," "social systems," "social stratification," or "social role," set conditions for one’s action but do not determine their action . . . social organization enters into action only to the extent to which it shapes situations in which people act, and to the extent to which it supplies fixed sets of symbols which people use in interpreting their situations.

This society is bombarded with Eurocentric white-male symbols of what is right, what is wrong, how things are, and how things should be; and because of this, social organizations reflect this perspective and maintain the belief that this is the way the world is supposed to be. As Marxist Maurice Conforth (Middleton, 1978:245) writes, "from the very nature of their class position, exploiting classes always have, in theory, to try to cover up the fact of exploitation and class struggle. They cannot recognize the fact of their own way of life, which consists in exploiting and oppressing others. They have to conceal this fact from the exploited . . . ." Being a black woman is to struggle against being ignored and feeling oppressed; for all these reasons it is essential to understand the implications of and the taken-for-grantedness of a Eurocentric point of view in order to see the ‘true’ realities of this society. Patricia Hills Collins astutely writes:

Living life as a black woman requires wisdom because knowledge about the dynamics of race, gender, and class oppression has been essential to black women’s survival. As members of a subordinate group, black women cannot afford to be fools of any type, for our objectification as the ‘other’ denies us the protections that white skin, maleness, and wealth confer (1991:201).

One cannot know what another person has lived until they have walked in their shoes. Karl Marx (Bannerji, 1995:106) once asked, " who will educate the educators?" In the end, the educators will only become educated when there is a realization of the experience of ‘others’ as being equally as important an experience as their own. A lesser social status does not mean one is a lesser human being because knowledge without wisdom is adequate for the powerful, but wisdom is essential to the survival of the subordinate (Collins, 1991:208).

Abrams, Philip. 1982. Historical Sociology. Sommerset: Open Press

Bannerji, Himani. 1995. Thinking Through. Toronto: Women’s Press

Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall

Collins, Patricia Hills. 1991. Black Feminist Thought. New York: Routledge

Davis, Angela. 1999. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. New York: Vintage

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday

Anchor Books

Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. Selection From the Prison Notebooks. New York: International

Publishers

Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Middleton, Hannah. 1978. Inside the Whale. Oxford: Pergamon Press

Oakley, Anne. 1981. Doing Feminist Research. London: Routledge

Schutz, A. 1969. Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology. Harmondsworth: Penguin

The Bureau of Labour Statistics. May 2000. "Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 1999."

Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Labour, Retrieved September 1, 2000

(http://stats.bls.gov/pdf/cpswom99.pdf)