Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. When the words ‘the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged … on account of sex’ were added to the U.S. Constitution on August 18, 1920, it seemed that, as long last, women got what they deserved. …
[But] the fact is that it did not deliver on that promise. Though scores of Black activists (formerly enslaved Sojourner Truth, journalist Ida B. Wells, and educator Mary Church Terrell, to name a few) all played critical but largely unacknowledged roles in the fight for women’s suffrage, the amendment was far from inclusive. …
Black women were subjected to Jim Crow laws and not fully enfranchised until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed a full 45 years later.
(Know Your Value, August 17, 2020)
Of course, women’s struggle for voting rights is surpassed in its significance and heroism only by that of Blacks. And the stories of both have been told to a fare-thee-well, including chronicles of the double toil of racism (even from fellow white suffragettes) and sexism Black women endured.
This is why I’m marking this centenary by sharing one petty and one proud observation.
The petty one is that I wish someone had the presence of mind in 1920 to prevail upon organizers to wait just one more day to add this 19th Amendment on August 19. This symmetry would have imbued the amendment with a little more pathos. Don’t you agree?
The proud one is Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris as his VP running mate. For this is just one of the many ways America is belatedly recognizing the critical roles Black women have played and continue to play in its struggle to form a more perfect union. Indeed, Biden, like so many other politicians, would be the first to admit that, without the support of Black women, he would have been a has-been senator decades ago.
But the apotheosis in this respect must have been in 2009 when Michelle Obama, the first Black first lady of the United States, presided over the unveiling of a statue of the aforementioned Sojourner Truth at the new Capitol Visitor’s Center in Washington, DC.
Incidentally, Monumental Women plan to rival this unveiling by unveiling a bronze statue in Central Park featuring Truth with women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton sitting around a table discussing strategies. But, apropos of my pet peeve about symmetry, you have to wonder why they’re unveiling it on August 26, and not on August 19.
Still, my favorite tribute came in 2015 when Barack Obama, the first Black president of the United States, tasked his treasury secretary with putting a woman on a redesigned $10 bill. Because Black Harriet Tubman rivaled white suffragettes (like Anthony and Stanton) when his administration floated the names of those being considered for this posthumous honor. Unfortunately, thanks to the black-swan election of Donald J. Trump, this honor has been delayed. But it will not be denied.
In any event, here’s to women pioneers and all the positive and competent power they wield. The following lists just some of the commentaries in which I’ve hailed them over the years:
- “Cracking the Political Glass Ceiling: First Woman to Become President in South America…,” December 12, 2005
- “‘Men Should Be Barred from Politics’,” September 25, 2013
- “Men: ‘The Weaker Sex’,” June 2, 2015
- “Obama: ‘To Solve World Problems Put Women in Charge!’” June 8, 2017
- “Finland Is Great Because Women Rule,” December 12, 2019
- “No Surprise: Earth Day Sees Women Leaders Doing Best Job in Combating Covid-19,” April 22, 2020
Women Rule!
Therefore, I urge you to make a point of voting for women (for every office on the ballot) in this year’s General Election.
But I cannot overstate that every Republican seems hell-bent on continuing to sacrifice their soul, to say nothing of their political integrity, at the altar of Donald Trump. Therefore, to restore the many democratic norms Republicans have enabled him to break, I urge you to vote for the Democratic candidate — not just for president but for every office down ballot too (even for the idiomatic dogcatcher).
Related commentaries:
Sojourner Truth… Kamala Harris… Harriet Tubman…
men, weaker… Obama… Finland… Earth Day Covid…