"BLACK WOMANIST ETHICS" (KATIE G. CANNON).   Term Paper ID:25188 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Critical review of essays on post-feminist moral philosophy. Race, justice, socioeconomics, heroism, religion, literature.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Critical review of essays on post-feminist moral philosophy. Race, justice, socioeconomics, heroism, religion, literature. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine issues and questions associated with black womanist ethics, especially as put forward by Katie G. Cannon. The plan of the research will be to describe the background for Cannon and the outline of ideas contained in her collection of essays on the subject, to provide a brief synthesis of her ethical approach, emphasizing her major contributions to the field of ethics, and then to provide a personal critique of the strengths and weaknesses of Cannon's arguments. This is all based on two major areas: (1) Cannon's own work, and (2) ideas and criticisms of her ideas. Cannon's view of black womanist ethics can be traced to Alice Walker's definition of the terms womanism and womanist. Walker's definition of womanism contains four areas of concern: outrageous or willful, grown-up behavior by black feminists or femin Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The plan of the research will be to describe the background forCannon and the outline of ideas contained in her collection of essays onthe subject, to provide a brief synthesis of her ethical approach,emphasizing her major contributions to the field of ethics, and then toprovide a personal critique of the strengths and weaknesses of Cannon'sarguments. It may be social or group oriented.It may be personal, as in the case of an individual from the dominant group--for example the white "Godmother" patron of the Harlem Renaissance, whocontrolled what black artists wrote and created. .always in the making--it is not a closed fixed system of ideas but one thatcontinually evolves through its rejection of all forms of oppression andcommitment to social justice" (Collins 15). Blackwomanist ethics in general is connected to ways of living "in situations ofoppression" (Cannon 159). Cannon uses three main literary figures of black culture to make the"story" of black womanist ethics clear: Zora Neale Hurston, Howard Thurman,and Martin Luther King, Jr. The connection is, of course, the livedhistorical experience of oppression as the basic fact of life. The excerpts from Hurstonstories imply that this was because Hurston wrote dialogue in black dialectand not (for example) in the educated language of Richard Wright. This feistiness is "invisible dignity" (Cannon 159). [and] a modified version of racial integrationpremised not on individual assimilation but on group integration" (Collins14). . Personalstories make an immediate connection with where black women fit in thepicture of unfolding events. This critique cannot be overestimated. Kay's idea is that an "adequate," or realistic picture ofhumanity limits the internalization of oppression. It only creates them-usconfrontation. Black womanist ethics filters established ethical principles throughblack women's "facticity of life" to form ethical judgments. Thus white men arethe only gender problem. Collins says black nationalism lets womanismdeal with gender oppression without attacking black men. . The strongest method Cannon has to argue her case is to use blackwomen's fiction and oral histories to dramatize feistiness. . This too ispicked up by Kay. Hurston was criminally accused,by blacks and not whites, of child sodomy. Indeed, an important way in which black womenlearn ethical behavior is from the oral transmission of stories and ideasfrom their elder family generations: "I am most aware of the rich lore Iinherited from my mother's garden" (Cannon (b) 28), says Cannon. According to Cannon, stories by Hurstonand other black woman writers show both the oppression and the characterswho are put to this moral test because of it. That is another irony. Black Womanist Ethics. It sets those principles beside blackwomen's actual strategies of coping with oppression reality, and of passingthose strategies down through the generations. Womanism, Black Feminism, and Beyond." Black Scholar 26 (Winter 1996): 9-17.Kay, Judith W. In theblack womanist view, oppression is the basic fact of life for black women.Thus the ethical challenge is to survive oppression while keeping dignityand moral sense in place. This is all based on two major areas: (1) Cannon's own work, and(2) ideas and criticisms of her ideas. . (b)Collins, Patricia Hill. The ethical response comes with "practicesthat sustain the acquisition of skills appropriate to surviving the . Unlike them, she did notwrite about blacks suffering injustice in white America in the way theydid. The ideas of black womanist ethics have been challenged by somecritics. It does not allow for the possibility of universalcommunity. But they do not descend into retaliation that makes the cycle ofhate survive too. Kay also cites Cannon as one of the "African-American womanists[who] . Thisinvolves "challenging inherited traditions for their collusion withandrocentric patriarchy as well as a catalyst in overcoming oppressivesituations through revolutionary acts of rebellion" (Cannon (b) 23).Cannon's moral vision is related to her membership in the Presbyterianclergy (Cannon (b) cover). The strongest idea that Cannon has, is that of feistiness in the faceof oppression. According to Cannon, Hurston's stories, did not get warm receptionfrom (male) members of the Harlem Renaissance. Even whitefeminism left black women out of its equation--just one more example ofwhite oppression in general. But in the case of Hurston'srelationship with male writers of the Harlem Renaissance, so areestablished black writers who "used their privileged positions and monopolyof power [in the black community] to identify, nurture and promote theartists who best represented their interests" (Cannon 1 8). Therefore, black womanist ethics questions the authority ofestablished ethical principles. Instead, she wrote about suffering "not as a moral norm nor as adesirable ethical quality, but rather as the typical state of affairs. Hurston was a figure in the Harlem Renaissance,a contemporary of such figures as Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, andCountee Cullen. However, unlike those figures, Hurston had an erraticliterary career after reaching success. . The black womanist moral test is how much feistiness, dignity,spirit can be retained by a character despite that oppression. That is thesource of narrative power. Blacknationalism implies that womanism is hostile to white culture. Cannon's view of black womanist ethics is that these areasof definition can be expressed in terms of female moral agency. According to Collins, Cannon's womanism andwomanist are not exactly like Walker's. The point isthat those who are members of a dominant culture bring the power andpresumptions of that culture to encounters with others and to accounts ofthose encounters. The main contribution of Cannon to the field of ethics is her startingpoint for analysis. . Like other figures of the HarlemRenaissance, Hurston benefited from white patrons. .. Howard Thurman's theology is a model for black womanist ethics in theidea of mystically experiencing God in the midst of oppression: "ForThurman, the awareness of potential is the greatest source of hope" and thebasis for "moral agency" (Cannon 161). . Or it may be expert.Doctors and lawyers are an example of this. have protested being treated as complete victims" (Kay 31). It is not a response of anger andmurder, but on the other hand black womanist ethics does not dwell onreceiving oppression without responding. "Politics Without Human Nature? Reconstructing a Common Humanity." Hypatia 9 (Winter 1994): 21-52. That moral truth was feistiness--seizing joy in the midst of despair. . Cannon's view of black womanist ethics can be traced to Alice Walker'sdefinition of the terms womanism and womanist. Additionalconcepts are related to this, "quiet grace" and "unshouted courage" (1 4).These concepts are connected to the idea of finding social justice despiteoppression and remaining "steadfast" despite oppression (144). The stories thus become anillustration of ethical choice and dignity. Hurston,says Cannon, did not let herself "be defined by others or limited inexchange for male endorsement and support" (Cannon 1 9). New York: Continuum, 1995. She died in obscurity and poverty. despite destructive patternsthey encountered in others and which had been imposed on them" (Kay 31-2).This is where Cannon's main method of responding becomes important. . Kay agrees with Cannon that the reality of the situationhas to be seen for what it is. The framework here requires that every group . But Cannon'sinterpretation of moral agency focuses on overcoming oppression. Dr. King's approach is also connected tolove. "What's in a Name? That vision does not include astrategy for responding to oppression. This is connected to Cannon's work--again, because of thewomanist starting point of the critique of social reality as oppression,and again, because out of that critique comes a way of coping with reality.Kay's idea is for feminists to realize that they are part of a wider humancommunity, not just stereotyped receivers of oppression from thatcommunity. This is a difference between quiet dignity ofcoping strategies in the midst of oppression and the response of (forexample) Bigger Thomas in Native Son. What Thurman and King share, however, is the idea of the"dignity of all Black people grounded in God, precisely the starting pointof Hurston's vision" (174). Katie's Canon: Womanism & the Soul of the Black Community. Even though her fiction shows the victoryof feistiness in characters in the face of white oppression, her personallife shows the victory of (black!) oppression (Cannon 113-14). For example, theProtestant work ethic may be morally very well and good if one assumes anopportunity to work. She portrayed blacklives as finding pleasure in the black community, even in an oppressiveenvironment. It refers to therelationship between Black people and God, despite oppression. This is why the social critique of oppression as thebasic reality of black women's life is so important. Most of the writing by Black women captures thevalues of the Black community within a specific location, time andhistorical context" (Cannon 77). Walker's definition ofwomanism contains four areas of concern: outrageous or willful, grown-upbehavior by black feminists or feminists of color; women loving women(sexually or not), and "committed to survival and wholeness of entirepeople, male and female"; loving of people (Folk), herself, food, spirit,music, etc.; "womanist is to feminist as purple to lavender" (Walker, citedby Cannon 22). When oppression isseen as the basic reality, then an important conclusion is this: Thedominant culture, whatever its good intentions, is obviously the center ofpower. .tell how they retained their humanity . Dr. King's ideas are a model forblack womanist ethics in the idea of acting against injustice so thatoppressed people can experience freedom, justice, and equality (Cannon163). But Cannon makes a casefor Hurston's version of Black moral truth. It must be understoodbefore any deep understanding of Cannon's ethics is possible: "Black womenare the mot vulnerable and the most exploited members of the Americansociety. Although she was found notguilty, it caused her to withdraw from black society and sink intoobscurity. The structure of the capitalist political economy in which Blackpeople are commodities combined with patriarchal contempt for women hascaused the Black woman to experience oppression that knows no ethical orphysical bounds" (Cannon 4). American Academy of Religion Academy Series 6 . Works CitedCannon, Katie G. They also doit for less money than any of the other groups would agree to do it for(Cannon 3). This was not the same vision other black writers (male) of theHarlem Renaissance had. The womanist ethic is active, but it does not dwell onresponding via retaliation. Collins cites Cannon's use of the term as "an ethical system . . Kay's big point is thatwomen's (and feminists') historical habit of seeing themselves as oppressedor victims is limited and destructive. Also, it "helpsdistinguish false consciousness from more accurate views of ourselves andothers" (Kay 21). .oppression encountered. Cannon explains that Hurston's writing andpersonal life was known as "unctuous" toward whites. But black women (Cannon (b) points out) as a group dowork that white males and females and black men refuse to do. The way Cannonbuilds her ethical argument is to start with the historical background ofblack women's lived reality and lived morality. Ironically, shefaced negative criticism by black critics and positive criticism by whites.The negatives grew worse as time went on. Cannonconcludes that personal narratives, part of the "black woman's literarytradition," can become "a source in the study of ethics relatively to theBlack community. In other words, thereis a sense of social action and deeds, not just mystical contemplation.This is what Cannon means when she says that King "believed that life isfundamentally social in character and thus love can exist only incommunication between people, never in total isolation of the individual"(Cannon 166). Cannon's ethical approach starts with a critique of social reality forblack women. This power may take many forms. From a womanist point of view, the dominant culturecannot help asserting power. Thewomanist way of explaining ethical choices is to use black women's storiesto tell how despair and oppression were survived and how moral wisdom wasobtained. . Cannon. That power lends stature to narrative methods ofethical discourse. But still, oppression is the basis for theencounters. Thus ethical ideas in the dominant culture maynot have the same meanings for black womanist culture. According to Cannon, Thurman's mystical approach is based on the"transforming" power of love. Cannon has a "pluralist" vision of"black empowerment . Therefore, Hurston had a problem keeping up aliterary career. In other words, Cannon'sethical approach is basically more inclusive than Walker's exclusivedefinition. Black nationalism is implied in Walker's "claims of blackwomen's moral and epistemological superiority via suffering under racialand gender oppression, pluralism via the cultural integrity provided by themetaphor of the garden, and integration/assimilation via her claims thatblack women are 'traditionally universalist'" (Collins 12). . . From there she proceeds to"the black woman's literary tradition as a source for ethics" (Cannon vii).What that means is that Cannon uses personal narrative to tell the "story"of black womanist ethics. [M]oral good is that which allows Black people to maintain a feistinessabout life that nobody can wipe out, no matter how hard they try" (Cannon1 4). Kay picks up this idea in a reviewof several books, including Black Womanist Ethics. Atlanta: Scholars P, 1988.---. On the other hand, these terms are useful ways ofdescribing inner strength needed by an oppressed victim who is going tosurvive the ordeal. His concept of love is one of agape, "understanding and creative,redemptive goodwill for all people" (Cannon 165-6). Collins sees a problem with Cannon's adoption of Walker'sdefinition. The purpose of this research is to examine issues and questionsassociated with black womanist ethics, especially as put forward by KatieG. Thus it has a Christian aspect. The weakest aspect of it is that it is hard to see thedifference between feistiness, invisible dignity, quiet grace, andunshouted courage, especially since the result--coping with despair--isalways the same. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.