Special Issue on the Invisible Woman

It has been 25 years since Julianne Malveaux and I edited Slipping Through the Cracks: The Status of Black Women , a volume that first appeared as a special issue of the Review (Volume 14, Nos. 2-3–Fall-Winter 1985-86). A lot has changed in that time period and yet some fundamental truths remain. African American women still earn less than men of all races and less than white and Asian women. They are still more likely to be raising their children alone and suffer from more health problems than their white counterparts.

Slipping Through the Cracks highlighted the work of (mostly) young African American female researchers who brought both new and old quantitative and qualitative data to bear on how black women were faring in the mid-1980s. Our rationale for focusing on black women was the fact that, as Julianne said, black women too often “slipped through the cracks when the focus was on blacks (mostly men) or women (mostly white).” Our intent was not to ignore black men or black children, but as we noted, the role of black women in their community was so important that if they were not doing well, the black community could not prosper. The symposium on which the volume was based was co-sponsored by the Review of Black Political Economy and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. It was an appropriate forum for African American women to have a voice about issues that were so close to their lives.

A quarter of a century later, Bennett College decided that it was time to revisit some of the themes from that earlier conference and give voice to a new generation of scholars. These researchers are bringing their own skills to bear on the same old question–how are black women faring and what can be done to improve their situation? This conference is particularly timely because of the changes that have taken place in both the economic and political environments in which we live. After the economic expansion of the 1990s, the United States suffered a decade of slow and uneven economic growth followed by the “Great Recession.” In addition, the globalization of the economy resulted in the United States losing many of the higher-paying jobs that people with modest levels of education and skill used to hold, jobs that won't come back when the economy recovers. These factors alone would have made life harder for many African American women.

But public policies have further disadvantaged the African American community. Criminal justice policies implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in extremely high incarceration rates among non-white populations, taking black men out of their communities and depriving black families of the economic and spiritual support that these men might have provided. The social safety net was transformed from one that provided cash assistance to a set of programs that emphasized and rewarded work. Even before the recession these initiatives (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Earned Income Tax Credit) did not always lead to self-sufficiency, but in a period when there are five applicants for every job, a work-based safety net provides little support or relief.

Those who have been fortunate enough to have jobs have seen employment-related benefits erode, leaving them more responsible for paying for their health care and providing for their own retirement. In a period when health care costs have been rising rapidly and housing and financial asset prices have been falling, those with few assets have been especially affected. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could provide some relief on the health care side, but it is threatened by efforts on the part of some policymakers to shrink the federal government.

Challenging times call for good research to highlight problems and identify effective solutions. Let us hope that the insights gained from this volume inform those who are making decisions about our fate and influence their actions.