The Plight of Black Women as Double Minorities - Incidents in the Life of a Slave, Song of Songs, Push Typically Minority Groups they are thought of in the context of race; however, a minority group can also consist of gender and class. The struggles facing a minority group are further complicated when these different aspects of minority categories are combined into what is sometimes called a double minority. Throughout American history, African American women have exemplified how being a double minority changes the conditions of being a minority. In Frances D. Gage's Reminiscences of Sojourner Truth, May 28-29, 1851, a speech by Sojourner Truth is recalled in which she asks the question, "Am I not a woman" (Lauter 2049). Truth speaks for women's rights in this speech, but her question becomes more interesting when applied to African American women because with this statement they go from being a double minority to a single minority. Incidents in the Life of a Slave, Song of Solomon, and Push demonstrate in their African American female characters the impact of having dual minority status. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs describes her struggle as an African American. woman during slavery. As a slave in her master's house, she was subject to her master's sexual advances. Jacobs explains his feelings about his master's desires and the slaves' struggle in the following comments: The criminal's home in a penitentiary is preferable. He can repent and turn from the error of his ways, and so find peace; but this is not the case with a favorite slave. She is not allowed to have any pride of character. It is considered a crime in her to desire to be virtuous. P. 363This... middle of the paper... n American women writers are much more popular today than their male colleagues. Perhaps Sojourner Truth should not have asked the question, “I am not a woman,” because that still implies that the only step forward for African American women is from a double minority to a single minority (Lauter 2049). Maybe the real question is: am I not a human being? Works Cited Gage, Frances D. "Reminiscences by Frances D. Gage of Sojourner Truth, for May 28-29, 1851." Paul Laufer, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature, vol 1, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Jacobs, Harriet Ann. “Accidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed. Classic slave narratives. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. Morrison, Toni. Song of Songs. New York: Penguin Group, 1977. Sapphire. Push. New York: Vintage Contemporary / Vintage Books, 1996.