Women’s Narratives of Racialized and Gendered Space in Austin, Texas

Abstract

This article examines African American women’s movement in racialized and gendered space in Austin, Texas in the mid twentieth century, reflecting on the relationship between race, gender, power and space. It draws on oral history interviews with African American women to consider how they negotiated the racialized and gendered geography of the city as well as the microspaces – especially downtown clothing stores – that were racialized and gendered in particular ways.