This month we celebrate Women’s Equality Day marking the date in 1920 that the 19th Amendment established that an American citizen’s right to vote cannot be denied based on sex. The 19th Amendment is a major achievement for American women’s democratic rights. But it’s important to recognize that the amendment alone was not enough to protect all women’s right to vote.

In practice, the 19th Amendment enfranchised White women across the United States, Black women in the northern and western parts of the country, as well as some Latinas.  And yet, racist policies and practices ensured that many BIPOC women still could not enjoy their right to vote. Citizenship laws excluded many Native American and Chinese immigrant women, effectively barring them from obtaining voting rights. White supremacist practices like poll taxes, literacy and understanding tests, and the terrifying threat of racist violence prevented southern Black women and many Spanish-speaking Mexican-American women from exercising their right to vote.  In the words of Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman’s Party which was formed in 1913 to push for an investigation into the racist practices preventing Southern Black women from voting, “No women are free until all are free.”

My question for you to ponder is “Are women free? Why or why not?” We would love to hear your opinion. Please respond on our website blog.