How Condoleezza Rice Broke Political Barriers
How Condoleezza Rice Broke Political Barriers The history of American politics is also a history of barriers—barriers created by race, gender, social class, geography, and assumptions about who is qualified to exercise political power. For much of the twentieth century, the highest levels of American government were dominated by white men. Women gradually entered positions of influence, and African Americans increasingly gained political representation, but the intersection of being both Black and female remained a particularly formidable barrier. Condoleezza Rice emerged from this historical environment to become one of the most influential African American women in modern American public life. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1954, she grew up during the era of segregation and the civil-rights struggle. Her subsequent career took her from academic life at Stanford University into the highest levels of U.S. national-security and foreign-policy decision-making. She became Stan...