Tuesday, August 18, 2020

100 Years and Still Not Done

 It was 100 years ago today that the 19th Amendment, granting the right of women in this country to vote in national elections, was ratified. For seven decades, women had struggled and fought and suffered and a few even died for the right to be complete citizens. Only in 1920 were women finally granted this equal right. 


Of course the right to vote still didn't guarantee equal rights. We never did ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. We are still fighting for those rights on many fronts, and most Black women had a much longer road to full enfranchisement. 

In 1920, when ratification was finely reached, there were many men and women who opposed the amendment, saying a women's place was in the home. It is, and in the board room, and the assembly line, and driving a tractor, and caring for our sick, and serving in the military and manning the checkout counter, and sitting behind the judge's bench, and serving in Congress. Maybe, some day, a woman will even finally be President. 

The right to vote was no easy accomplishment. It was earned, not won, by thousands of women who came before us. If for no other reason than their struggles, the price they paid, we must cherish our right. We must be informed, do our own thinking, not be unduly influenced by a husband or a boyfriend or a father, or even a pastor. 

With voter suppression now again a real threat to our democracy, we need to fight on to ensure that all eligible women, and men, have the opportunity to cast their vote freely and without undue difficulty or hardship. 

Be aware. The work is not done. 

6 comments:

  1. The work is not done. Maybe we will see a woman as President. This is a great reminder that we need to roll up our sleeves.

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  2. I can never understand how we can take so many steps backward. You and others are to be commended for continuing to push this issue.

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  3. I hope I live long enough to see the first woman become president. Right now I'll be content to see the first woman VP. It amazes me that we have only had the vote for a century!

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  4. I think that when it comes down to the vote women will vote for women but very few men will at least that is what I see here in Minnesota:)

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  5. Great reminder that it is a right and privilege. I have enjoyed this right since I turned 21. I did miss one election. That was a run off for tax collector, I had the flu and there was a terrible storm. That was it. I wish the young realized just how hard it was to get this right.

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  6. There will always be rich and powerful and poor and stupid people who are not happy with freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to vote.

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