The silence of black female rape victims is slowly being broken, author and rape survivor Charlotte Pierce-Baker told a solemn crowd in Minor Hall Auditorium last night.
Pierce-Baker, who wrote "Surviving the Silence: Black Women's Stories of Rape," said she continues to grow and learn from her book, which was named one of the Best Books of 1998 by both the Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Enquirer. Writing allowed her to face her fears, she said.
"I am a rape survivor and I am a black woman who survived rape," she added, pointing out that a black woman copes with rape differently than a white woman.
Prior to her own experience, which occurred in 1981, "rape seemed to belong to white women," Pierce-Baker said.
She stressed that black women have several societal myths to battle when dealing with rape. They are raised to believe myths that suggest they deserve what has happened to them and that black women are promiscuous by nature, she added.
The fact that some blacks feel as if their race is a family also poses problems for black rape victims, Pierce-Baker said. For this reason black some women do not speak out about their rapes, she said.
"We feel we are blaming our own for the sin [of rape and] the fact of the rape must remain in the family" in order not to perpetuate stereotypes of blacks, she added.
Sexual assault counselors agreed that there is not enough of a support network for black rape victims.
"I'm really glad to see the literature on rape and sexual assault now has the depth and breadth to include blacks," said Women's Center Counselor Mark Woodford, who attended the speech last night.
About 30 students, faculty and community members attended the talk. Event organizers said they had intended for it to be heard by a larger audience, including participants from the October Camp diversity demonstration, which was rained out.
"We expected a larger turnout of around 150 people," Women's Center Programming Director Amy Campbell said.
But the size of the audience did not make a difference to Pierce-Baker, who said she is rewarded by the women who come up to her and tell her that what she has said has affected them. They keep her going, she said.
"I am alive to make it better for others," she added. "I am still healing and still learning."
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