There is no other nation in the world in which women hold the position of political degradation our American women hold today. What was even more degrading was how any man, even foreigners, could vote in America, while white women could not. Anthony meant any harm, but to have black men be superior to white women was just an insult. How was it possible, then, that black men could go out and vote while women could not? I am sure neither Anna Howard Shaw nor Susan B. Many black men were still uneducated while women were going to school and getting jobs. Although this comment is quite harsh, Susan B. In May 1869, during a meeting of the American Equal Rights Association, Anthony made racist claims during her speech for woman suffrage: “If intelligence, justice, and morality are to have precedence in the government, let the question of woman be brought up first and that of the negro last” (Pauley 388). Anthony, founder of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, used racist remarks in her fight for women suffrage, as well. Except, Shaw was not the only one who used racism to gain support during the women’s suffrage movement. Although Shaw used racist remarks in her answer, she got her point across. This is absolutely absurd, and by her response, the South began to realize it. She is saying that by giving black men the right to vote, former slaves are now superior over white women, who still cannot vote. In her response, Anna Howard Shaw is making a very bold statement. Never before in the history of the world have men made former slaves the political masters of their former mistresses” (Shaw 312)! She then ended with a powerful statement: “You have put the ballot into the hands of your black men, thus making them the political superiors of your white women. She said black and white women were equal in that neither could vote. Therefore our conclusion is that this is your purpose.” Shaw then went out and immediately addressed the crowd. On the third night, an additional note read “Evidently you do not dare to answer this question. Shaw ignored the question, and got the question again the next two nights. If you give the ballot to women, won't you make the black and white woman equal politically and therefore lay theįoundation for a future claim of social equality (Shaw 311)? Suffragists to force upon us the social equality of black and white women? PoliticalĮquality lays the foundation for social equality. What is your purpose in bringing your convention to the South? Is it the desire of
Shaw told the crowd that they could ask her any questions, and the next night she received a rather interesting one: In 1903, Shaw and other women activists attended a convention in New Orleans. This made Anna Howard Shaw even more driven to grant women the right to vote.
In 1870, men of any “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” were allowed to vote. Shaw was determined to gain women the vote, even if that meant succumbing to racism. Once men of any color could vote, Shaw knew she had to take action, and fast. She found it hard to believe that men could vote while women were merely tossed to the side. Shaw knew from an early age that she wanted to be a minister, and quickly became an advocate for women’s rights as well. This was not an easy victory, and it came shortly after the death of Anna Howard Shaw, a prominent leader during the women’s suffrage movement. The 19th Amendment, passed in 1920, finally gave women the right to vote. The Fight for the Vote: How Racism Influenced the Women’s Suffrage Movement