No Child's Play: InPriIoa Under ApaJ1he1d, Caeslrina Kana MUhoete, The Women's
Press, London (121pp, price not known).
This slim, acce.ssiblevolumedescn1>es the author's experience during six yem in detention
in South Africa, on charges under the Terrorism Act She was a:rnmed II1d dellined in
Octoll« 1976 tm'involvanentin the BlI1tu education riots (that were met with the Shllp'Ville
Massacre). her whereabouts having been disc10Jed by h« policanll1 father. She was only
convicted. year latu,lIOd then given afive yearsentence. She was releuedinOctober 1982,
aged 27, having beenia solitary confinement in vllrious jails for almost h« entire sentence.
The book is written in a vecy immediate, informal style, exprusing from the heart, the
anger, frustration, commitment llI1dcourage of this powerful womlll1. She describes day to
day life in.various jails, and the continuing battle to improve conditions - with mll1Y
successes over the years, because of her relentless determination. Despite the hars.hne.ss of
the conditions she maintains her objectivity llI1deven a sense of humour, allied to a shup
sense of irony and justice.
It is the descriptive detail that brings her experiences alive - such as the time a letter to
a cousin was rejected on the grounds she had quoted the Bible, the only book to which she
had been allowed access for two years. The sheer pettiness of the prison system is amply
illustrated, quite apart from the generally inhumlll1 conditions, and, of course, the underlying
injustice of an elaborate apartheid system even within prison walls.
For anyone concerned to lellIJ'J.more of the daily reality of political imprisonment in
South Africa, Cde Makhoere's book provides a graphic, disturbing and inspiring personal
account.
Reviewed by Helen Jackson, School of Social Work, Harare.
Women Race and CIIl8S, Angela Davis, The Women's Press, London, 1981 (271pp, price
not stated).
One of the frequently heard statements in our lives today is 'this is the status of women in
such and such a country', as if women in that country live a uniform life and they have the
same concerns. For those with this false notion that one can talk about women as one group
Angela Davis' book is the book to read. Women Race and CIII8S is a journey through the
history of American women: black, white, poor, rich, and other groups. Davis shows that
even in their struggles for equality women in America were not united. Middle class white
women had their own concerns which were different from those of working class whites
and from black women.
Says Davis, white middle class women "viewed male supremacy as 111inunoral flaw in
their otherwise acceptable society". For them, being franchised was the only issue. Thus,
in thevery beginning of the franchise movement both black women and working class white
women were not involved. Davis sh>ws that it was only after working class women rea1ised
that getting the vote would also enable them to fight for better wozking conditions that they
took up the franchise issue.
88 Boot Reviem
Although Davis does not push Marxist rhetoric she analyses the women's struggle in
Marxian tenns. 'The alliance between race and class and its relationship to the capitalist
systemisclearlyexplained. Earlyfeminists, whowerenotreallyeconomicallydisadvantaged,
only analysed issues in the narrow perspective of men versus women. For working class
women, economic conditions were the issues that they were fighting on. Women in the
Socialist movement also saw beyond the race and sex issue, and took up the worlting
women's cause, ie both black and white working women.
Davis also analyses the issue of rape in a new way, to show how the capitalist system
has made theproblem of rape worse, and how sometimes itmay lead to it. During the slavery
era white men raped their black slaves, not because oflust but "as a weapon of domination,
a weapon of repression". Again Davis refutes one of the myths about rape, that it is
committed by lascivious men. She shows that rape is used as a way of dominating by those
who feel they have the power to dominate. Davis shows that black men, and other working
class men in America, can rape women just as privileged men can, but (P200):
"since they (the disadvantaged classes) do not possess the social or economic
authority ... guaranteeing them immunity from prosecution, the incentive (to rape)
is not nearly as powerful as it is for the men of the capitalist class".
Davis goes on to say
'The class structure of capitalism encourages men who wield power in the economic
and political realm to become agents of sexual exploitation",
The full import of what Davis says is not difficult for people inthe Third World to grasp.
Women are at the bottom of the pile in economic and social terms, and rape and the sexual
harassment of women are daily occurrences.
The most vivid parts of Women Race and Class are those dealing with the struggles
of black women. Unlike other books that have been written about women UIlder slavery,
Davis' book does not dwell on the 'sexual role' of these women. Infact Davis shows that,
unlike their white coUIlterparts, black women have been taking part in the making of
American history in their own name. Black women have always had to work outside the
home and this gave them a measure of equality with their men. They fought side by side
with their men against slavery:
"If black women bore the terrible burden of equality in oppression, ... they also
asserted their equality aggressively in challenging the inhuman institution of
slavery".
The Harriet Tubmans of American history made their mark in their own names, not just as
wives of great men.
Davis goes on to show, however, that even though black women had a measure of
equality with their men, they still suffered sex discrimination. Black women suffer the
double burden of working outside the home and having to come home and do all the work.
The important theme of this book is that while women's struggles are the same to a certain
extent, the issues they grapple with'in their day to day lives are quite differenL Thus their
responses are differenL In this respect race and class play an important role. The temptation
of talking about 'women' as some kind of homogeneous unit must be resisted.
This is a very vivid and powerful analysis of women's struggles in a so called 'First
World' country, and is a must for all feminists and women-in-development analysts.
Reviewed by Everjoice JWin, Women's Action Group, Harare.