Day 16: The Struggles of Black Women in the Suffrage Movement

The Suffragist Movement and Black Women’s Fight for Rights

While the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 is often hailed as a victory for women’s rights, the reality for many Black women was far from celebratory. Black women fought tirelessly for the right to vote, only to face racial discrimination and exclusion both from the suffragist movement and the subsequent implementation of the law.

Throughout the suffrage movement, many of the leading suffragists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, either ignored or outright opposed the inclusion of Black women in the fight for voting rights. While they worked for women's suffrage, they often aligned themselves with racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, believing that the White woman’s vote should take precedence over racial justice.

Even after the 19th Amendment was passed, Black women were still denied their voting rights, especially in the South, where Jim Crow laws, literacy tests, and poll taxes kept Black voters—especially Black women—disenfranchised for decades.

Why Does This Matter?

The struggles of Black women in the suffrage movement remind us that the fight for equality has always been multi-faceted. The legacy of racism within the suffrage movement still influences our fight for voting rights and justice today.

We must recognize the ways in which racism and sexism intersected and worked to silence Black women’s voices in their fight for equality.