Women’s Equality Day (But Like, Was It Really?)
By Jo Lorenz
It is the 100th year anniversary of ‘Women’s Equality Day’. Yet how intersectional is this day, really?
Jo Lorenz discusses . . .
Today — August 26, 2020 — marks the 100 year anniversary of ‘Women’s Equality Day’, an annual celebration in the US to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution which allowed women to vote.
Now while this Amendment was of course a wonderful step in the right direction — and thus deserving of our kudos — we also need to acknowledge the bigger picture here. This Amendment did not guarantee all women the right to vote. Just privileged white women.
So while we celebrate this day — and the steps it took down the right path — we hope we can do so while we aspire to a factual future of intersectionality.
A very, very quick history lesson . . .
“Literacy” tests robbed Black people, immigrants, as well as poor or less educated folks (both men + women) of their vote in the South until 1965 + in the rest of the country until 1970
In some States, Native American women were not allowed to vote until 1948
Asian-Americans could not vote until the early 1950s, as they were denied citizenship.
Now, these are just a few of the areas that prevented all women from the right to vote under the 19th Amendment. Yet in essence, it wasn’t actually until 1965 that universal suffrage was actually guaranteed for all women in the US, when the Voting Rights Act passed. It is considered one of the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in US history.
So are we hating on today? Nope! We always pay tribute to the trailblazers who moved the dial closer to equality for all women and girls. However — you knew it was coming, right? — as we hold our glasses high for the toast, we also want to wholeheartedly acknowledge and pay tribute to the women who were left behind; to the entire civil rights movement; and specifically to the peaceful participants in the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights, who were attacked by state troopers with tear gas and whips.
And last, but not least, we want to acknowledge our own journey in understanding the grey area — in intersectionality — in the fight for all people. Because without recognising nuance and accepting our role within complex, inequitable systems, we can never truly move forward.
With that being said: Happy Women’s Equality Day! May it be a day to inspire us all to do and be more!
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