Black Women and Women Suffrage the Right to Vote

The black women were oppressed from two facets, that is, for their status as women as well as for their race. The Women Suffrage Movement was instrumental in facilitating progress and effort to bring to a halt African-American women’s disenfranchisement against the backdrop of pressing issues such as lack of voting rights, despite the myriad forces opposing them, both political and structural. The Marginalization of African-American women in the National Women’s Suffrage movement(NWSA) through the idea of educated suffragist gave the black women the impetus to campaign against unequal rights between men and other women. This gave rise to the formation of the first African-American women suffrage association called the Alpha Suffrage Club. Ida B. Stanton campaign against the 15th amendment was pegged on race and class.

According to her the Republicans ignored the plight of fifteen million white women to grant two million black men a right to vote (Clark 643). She depicted the black men as illiterates who could not make a difference between a monarchy and a Republic. It is at this moment where white suffragists saw it proper to push for the rights of the white women while excluding those for black women. At the state level, the battle between white and black women was evident. Alice Paul had enormous influence on women suffrage movement by bringing her military tactics to help the movement advance its course. Her skills can be traced way back when she became a member of suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst’s radical while attending college in London.

Paul learned the art of civil disobedience, and she would employ the same to advance women-suffrage course. She came back to the U. S in 1910 where she brought the military tactics to the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Terrell would receive invitations to address white groups and, in her speeches, she would advocate for black women’s voting rights. One of her memorable moments was the participation in 1913 suffrage parade that was staged by Congressional Union of the NAWSA and Alice Paul (Tarrant 50). Terrell would march alongside the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to assemble in the section that was reserved for black women. Such action was a portrayal of her dedication to represent and speak for the rights of black women.

Ida B. Nannie Burroughs a businesswoman, church leader, feminist and a strong suffrage supporter was the founder of Woman’s Convention of the National Baptist Convention that was cited to have a significant following by African American women in the US, with the main agenda to support woman suffrage (Jackson 50). As a strong supporter of woman suffrage, she wrote articles as well as organizing for women meetings to advance the black women agenda. W. E. B DuBois was a pollical activist whose work in advocating women right to vote goes unsaid. Critics of the women suffrage argued that the move to afford women voting rights would move women away from home. On the other side, the supporters of the movement such as Alice Dunbar strongly argued that keeping African-American women away from public involvement would inhibit them from unleashing their potential and doing other great things (Behn 30).

Grace Baxter Fenderson, a black suffragist and founder of NAACP, was instrumental in encouraging women to take part in public activism towards changing existing law and gaining appointments in boards since such efforts would culminate into wiping out white supremacy, sexism, and racism. The efforts of different black women groups saw the enactment of the 19th Amendment way back in 1920 that went a long way to guarantee women the right to vote. However, the black women would only be allowed to vote 45 years later through the Voting Rights Act of 1965, leading to the prohibition of discriminatory polling laws in any State. In any case, black women suffrage movement was out to secure more equitable and easier voting was as devoid of bias and racial references.