Remarks of Representative Barbara Jordan Before the Black Women Lawyers Association Page: 3 of 14
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I AM A WOMAN AND I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ASKED HERE IF
I HAD NOT CONTRIBUTED SOMETHING - BUT IN REACHING OUR
GOAL, I AM NO MORE, NO LESS IN THE FABRIC OF THOUGHT AND
DEED WE WEAVE TO COMPLETE OUR GOAL. WE ARE WOMEN, WE ARE
SEEKERS OF STABILITY IN OUR ECONOMY, IN THE NATION, IN THE
WORLD, IN OUR LIVES. WE SEEK EQUANIMITY, EQUALITY IN OUR
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LAST RULING CLASS - THE MEN, WE ARE
NOT SEEKING TO TAKE AWAY THEIR SEATS OF POWER, WE SEEK
POWER OF OUR OWN, NOT POWER TO SUPPRESS AND CRIPPLE OUR
MALE COLLEAGUES BUT POWER TO LIBERATE THEM FROM THE
CONFINING THOUGHT PATTERN THAT WOMEN MUST ASSUME ONLY
SECONDARY AND RETIRING ROLES. I BORROW THE EQUILIBRIUM
CONCEPT FROM ECONOMIC THEORY. IT APPEARS APPLICABLE HERE,
SICHEL AND ECKSTEIN IN THEIR BOOK, BASIS ECONOMIC CONCEPT,
DEFINE EQUILIBRIUM AS, "A STATE OF BALANCEs..A SITUATION
IN WHICH ANY FORCES FOR CHANGE WITHIN A SYSTEM OFFSET
EACH OTHER TO THE POINT THAT THERE ARE NO INTERNAL
TENDENCIES FOR THE SYSTEM TO CHANGE...A STABLE EQUILIBRIUM
IS ONE WHICH TENDS TO RESTORE ITSELF IN THE FACE OF
DISTURBANCES."
WE MUST BE ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF RESTORING BALANCE,
RESTORING EQUILIBRIUM TO OUR SOCIETY. INFLATION, RECESSION,
DEPRESSION NEED NOT BECOME PERMANENT CONDITIONS ON THE
AMERICAN SCENE.
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Jordan, Barbara C. Remarks of Representative Barbara Jordan Before the Black Women Lawyers Association, text, April 10, 1976; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth611213/m1/3/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas Southern University.