The Unrapeable Black Woman: How the Lack of Legal Protection Through the Centuries Promoted the Tradition of Unreported Sexual Assaults

Abstract

“Rape, as racially constructed, is ‘something that only happen[s] to white women; what happens to black women is simply life.’”

A legacy paved by the atrocities of slavery lingers today, reflected in the lack of rapes and sexual assaults reported by Black women. The lack of reported rapes among Black women is not a new phenomenon, but rather a learned reaction to slavery, lynch mobs, and the general disregard of Black lives. Horrific historical events, coupled with an anemic legal system, set a precedent in Black culture that “…white folks, [are] not to be trusted,” because Blacks rarely found protection or justice in the legal system. Inevitably, the rape culture in this country is tied to race. One of the most egregious remnants of slavery that persist today is the legal system’s failure to recognize the rape of Black women as crime...