“Ain’t I a woman?”: a historical and contemporary analysis of state-sanctioned violence against Black Women in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Alarming statistics show that Black women in the United States (US) are disproportionately more likely to be killed by the police, and more likely to die during childbirth than their counterparts. However, despite growing attention to incidents of police killings and pregnancy-related deaths of Black women, there has been minimal effort to historically situate these inequities in the contexts of state-sanctioned violence. Coverage of these deadly medical and law enforcement encounters remain limited in mainstream media – reinforcing the lack of concern and institutional protection for Black women. This article examines the current plight of police violence and reproductive harm against Black women in the US, and contextualize these racial and gendered disparities using a Black Feminist Thought perspective. The authors provide implications for maternal health, law enforcement, and mass media to expose and eradicate state-sanctioned violence against Black women. Future research is needed to interrogate and expand the concept of state-sanctioned violence.