Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote: Three Facts to Keep in Mind

100 years ago tomorrow, Tennessee became the 36th and final state needed to ratify the 19th amendment as law, hence guaranteeing women's constitutional right to vote. As much as it is tempting to just focus on celebrating the suffragettes’ accomplishments and bravery, we also need to talk about some of the ugly truths behind this centennial milestone. That’s because ignoring the history that we don’t like should not be an option. To understand and address our current issues, we need to first acknowledge the full history of previous generations, which includes their shortcomings. As we kick off this anniversary, I gathered 3 uncomfortable—yet crucial—facts for all of us women (especially white) to reflect on.  

1.     The 19th Amendment Did Not, in Practice, Grant Access to The Ballot Box to All Women

The idea that after 1920 all women could vote in the U.S. is a myth. In practice, the 19th amendment protected mostly white, middle- and upper-class women. Yes, the 19th amendment blocked all states from denying voting rights based on gender, which—in theory—should have been enough to guarantee all women’s right to vote. But because the 19th did not say anything about race, it didn’t guarantee much for women of color.  

Millions of women — especially black women in the Jim Crow South— could not vote because of poll taxes and “literacy tests” that were used to purposely disenfranchise them. In Virginia, for example, a college-educated black woman named Susie W. Fountain was stopped from voting because she “failed” a sham literacy test that consisted of a blank piece of paper. Fountain is only one of the countless cases of voter suppression against black women post-19th amendment.

It took about 45 more years for women of color—through the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices—to finally enjoy their constitutional right to vote. It’s vital to remember that to this day voting suppression persists, most notably through voter ID requirements and the placing of polling booths in areas that are difficult to access for marginalized communities. 

          2. Racism and White Feminism Influenced the Suffrage Movement in Many Ways

White suffragists often excluded people of color from the movement. In many suffrage marches, black women were forced to the back of the line –when they were included at all. No black women attended the famously celebrated Seneca Falls convention. Moreover, after the passage of the 15th amendment, which gave black men the right to vote, some well-known white suffragettes began using racist rhetoric to push for women’s right to vote. Although some suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony opposed slavery before the civil war, their alliance with abolitionists deteriorated after black men got the vote before white women. Then, some white suffragettes began to argue that white women were more qualified to vote than Black men and at times even made alliances with opponents of Black suffrage. 

The mainstream suffrage movement, often deliberately, undermined or blatantly dismissed the voices of women of color. When the black suffragist Mary Church Terrell, for example, requested the movement to address women of color‘s concerns, some white feminists claimed that black women’s disenfranchisement was a race problem — not a gender problem. And to this day, a branch of feminism that centers on the experiences of privileged women and ignores intersecting issues of race persists. Stay tuned to our blog in the next few weeks to learn more about “white feminism,” and how it endures to this day. 

              3. History Books Focus on White Suffragists, But Women of Color Were Central in the Women’s Suffrage Movement

Most of us think of the names of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony when we think about the 19th, but there is a vast list of suffragettes of color that were fundamental to the movement, from whom we unfortunately hear less about. We need to celebrate these women, who—despite the extra barriers that they faced—vigorously fought for our right to vote.  

For example, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who was a visionary intellectual in the fight for women’s rights and in a meeting of the American Equal Rights Association in 1866, she gave a groundbreaking speech on what we today call intersectionality. She was an acclaimed speaker and shared stages with activists such as Frederick Douglass and Lucretia Mo. Another widely respected women’s suffrage activist and abolitionist was Sarah Parker Remond, she was a member of the American Equal Rights Association, and voraciously toured the northeast to support and preach about women’s voting rights.

Other important figures were Ida B. Wells, co-founder of the NAACP, who used her journalism to highlight racist issues in the South. Adelina (Nina) Otero-Warren, a central figure that helped pass the 19th Amendment in New Mexico and helped spread the word about the suffrage movement in Spanish. Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin, who focused her activism on the rights of Native American women. Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, an academic who relentlessly advocated for women’s right to vote, but probably never voted because of her status as a Chinese immigrant. The list goes on and on. 

As We Celebrate the Centennial of the 19th, Let’s Challenge Any Type of Exclusionary Narrative

Let’s fully acknowledge this history when we celebrate this centennial. The work of women of color, who highlighted how racism, sexism, and all forms of discriminations are bound together was vital and continues to be vital today. Intersectional feminism—a feminism that acknowledges the interconnected nature of these issues—is the only type of women’s movement that can truly benefit us all. But to achieve it, we need to face the imperfect parts of our history and appreciate the work of the women who came before us.

A feminism that ignores the role that white supremacy has historically played is, by definition, a white supremacist feminism. History isn’t over—we are all collectively still writing it—and it is up to us to make sure that the women’s movement becomes a fight for all women and by all women. These suffragists of color refused to accept a limited white-centered gaze on gender issues—and so should all of us. Happy 19th Amendment anniversary!

Author’s note: I’m a white-passing Brazilian woman living in the U.S., and the issues raised in this article are intended to be focused on non-white voices. Please, seek out more information from women of color. Here are some books suggestions: 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/313110.This_Bridge_Called_My_Back

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32809732-daughters-of-a-nation

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/353598.Black_Feminist_Thought

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32951.Sister_Outsider

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/635635.Women_Race_Class

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51378.Feminist_Theory 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36687229-hood-feminism

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6792458-the-new-jim-crow

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35099718-so-you-want-to-talk-about-race