The sexual assault of black women at the hands of white men often went ignored during and after slavery. I discussed this at length in my essay, I Don’t Treat Whores Like Human Beings: Understanding the History and Culture that Puts Black Girls At Risk. Ruby McCollum was an important turning point in this tragic phenomenon. Learn more about her and her story in the video below.

References

The Silencing of Ruby McCollum: Race, Class, and Gender in the South (Tammy Evans)

Hall of Mirrors: Confirmation and Presentist Biases in Continuing Accounts of the Ruby McCollum Story (C Arthur Ellis)