Darkness to Light: Recy Taylor
Black women are often described as either powerful “superheroes” or looked down upon, depending on the person that perceives them. While these are vastly different valuations, both perspectives are steeped in dehumanization.
Black women are neither here to save the world – or you! - and Black women are not less human either. Black women are people who have historically defied the odds: revolting against Jim Crow segregation, the war on drugs, and slavery. They have been the backbone of the Black family unit and civil rights movement work for generations. Women doing this work are just that: women. Black women are people who deserve love and humanity. To deny this reality is extremely detrimental, especially when these denials ignore and erase Black women’s pain and history.
These thoughts and more arose in me while reading Danielle L. McGuire’s 2011 book, At the Dark End of the Street” by Danielle L. McGuire. This book is a gut-wrenching, eye-opening narrative detailing the history of sexual assault that Black women endured throughout the 20th century. Recy Taylor’s story was one of the narratives at the center of the book.
In 1944, on her way home from church, Taylor was kidnapped and violently assaulted by six white men. She eventually escaped and told the police, but there was no justice. Not only was each man able to walk free without a conviction, but Taylor was shamed and painted as a liar. In fact, she was falsely identified as a sex worker who was not raped but had been paid to have sex with the men.
Though achieving justice for Black people, especially Black women who were survivors of rape, was almost impossible, that did not stop the NAACP from trying. Rosa Parks, who was the organization’s Secretary at the time, was quickly put on Recy Taylor’s case. Traveling to Abbeville, Alabama, she interviewed Taylor and community members, compiling evidence against the men who assaulted Taylor. In addition, she created the “Alabama Committee for Equal Justice for Recy Taylor” for her defense. For the NAACP and Rosa Parks to go against the status quo was extremely dangerous. While investigating, Parks and Taylor were threatened by the white people in the town, with many saying they wanted to kill them. Despite this, they persevered, with Parks even getting the case to go to trial. Unfortunately, none of the assailants were found guilty, and Taylor had to move to Florida for her safety.
As a researcher, I have been taught that everyone deserves humanity and that when talking to participants and gathering their stories, we are supposed to let them guide the interviews. But what happens when you talk to a group that is historically silenced? What happens when you are taught to not view someone's humanity? The researcher's role is to fight against dehumanization narratives by changing perspectives and to fight the systems that perpetuate these negative perspectives. To do this, we must acknowledge the history that both strengthens and harms clients. We must bring the painful past to light, so we can see a better future ahead.
