Sex, Drugs, and . . . Race-to-Castrate: A Black Box Warning of Chemical Castration’s Potential Racial Side Effects

Posted on Oct 29, 2010

By Marques P. Richeson

The social oppression and castration of black men is rooted in race and gender. Intersectional theories that explicitly or implicitly suggest that black men are privileged by gender are thus flawed. Black men, instead, are also the victims of “gendered racism.” Indeed, there is a gender analysis implicit in the notion that white supremacy “castrates” black men – castration itself is an act of gendered racism. Historically, black men have thus been targeted for certain types of treatment – including
castration – because they are both black and male. Therefore, although men constitute the dominant and privileged group within American society, black men convey a “subordinated masculinity.” Black masculinity as a subordinated form of masculinity arises because the interplay between racial and socioeconomic prejudices prevents black males, as individuals, from reaping the full benefits of male class privilege.

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