Steven Gregory’s concept of gender and how it is intertwined with race is very interesting. When I first read that Edna Baskin asked her husband or brother-in-law to serve as CCA’s representative, because “‘men get more respect-they take you more seriously (pg. 382),'” I was shocked. Baskin is trying to destroy the stereotypes that have plagued the African American residents of Lefrak City, and here she is reinforcing other stereotypes, that of the woman as inferior to man. Why should women accept their position of “back up (pg. 382)” as Baskin puts it? This is clearly a secondary role. In fact, why should this have anything to do with race? Baskin is the founder of the CCA, therefore she should be the face of the organization to the public. I assumed that such decisions based on gender would only hinder the CCA’s goal of changing the image of the African Americans, because Baskin clearly accepted other societal inequalities. Once one group of sub-citizens is acknowledged, it is very easy to keep making distinctions among people based not only on race and gender, but also, religion and ethnicity. I would have thought that to be successful, Baskin would have to abolish all stereotypes.
However, what she accomplished by simply making a man the spokesperson of the organization is beyond anything I would have thought possible. Such a decision highlights Baskin’s understanding and thoughtfulness of the situation at hand. First there was the pragmatic goal of presenting what society saw as the strongest embodiment of power, man. According to Baskin, it is a “white man’s world (pg. 382).” Therefore, by having a spokesman Baskin is affirming this idea and proving that she is not attempting to do anything radical, but rather just trying to be like everyone else, or at least the whites, by achieving equal status and treatment. While reading Gregory’s essay, this answer made immediate sense to my question. In order for Baskin’s ideas to be accepted by government officials and private corporations, she needed to frame the request in terms they understood. Therefore, a man, albeit African American, would need to do all negotiations.
It is the second goal accomplished by making a man the face of the organization that I found more fascinating. Presenting an African American male in a position of authority and leadership, not only gave the African Americans positive male role models, but also dispelled the “negative images of black masculinity (pg. 382).” In this way, the male African Americans are not seen as violent, but rather as responsible, not only for themselves, but within the lager picture, for an organization, the CCA. In this way, they are contributing to the betterment of society. What an effective strategy. Baskin clearly understands the problems facing the African American community Lefrak City, especially their negative image, and expertly went about trying to solve them.
It is the African American image more than anything else that Baskin is trying to change. This makes sense because the African American residents in Lefrak City only need surveillance because outsiders associate them with crime, drugs, and violence. This is an issue of their image because Gregory does not bring any statistics to prove that crime rates are higher among African Americans. In fact, the testimony given by one of the African American teenagers at the Youth Forum described how he gets to the park and is chased out by officials. There is no basis for such treatment. Therefore, Baskin’s idea to have a male spokesperson is an effective way not only to confirm society’s idea of male authority, but also to change for the better the image of the African Americans, especially the males, in Lefrak City.
