"in any society where men are not yet free, women are less free because we are further enslaved because we [african american women] are enslaved by our sex." many african american women turned towards feminism in their fight against oppression because "there was an awareness that they were being treated as second-class citizens within the civil rights movement of the 60's." due to this many women felt that they were being asked to choose between "a black movement that primarily served the interest of black male patriarchs and a women's movement which primarily served the interests of racist white women."