[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE CENTENNIAL OF 19TH AMENDMENT

  (Ms. LEE of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 
100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment passing in the House giving 
women the right to vote.
  Today, along with my yellow rose, I stand here wearing a purple and a 
black ribbon honoring the history of African American women who are 
unsung heroes, like Sojourner Truth, and Ida B. Wells, and Mary Church 
Terrell.
  These women fought tirelessly so all women would have the right to 
vote. Although, even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, many 
Black women and Native American women were still denied their voting 
rights.
  Madam Speaker, let us not forget the sacrifices and the achievements 
of Black women and all women of color who continue to fight for women's 
right to vote, many of whose names we may never know, but without whom 
many of us would not be here today.
  As we celebrate this important milestone with this historic number of 
women and women of color in Congress, let us remember the words of 
suffragette Mary Church Terrell. She said: ``And so, lifting as we 
climb, onward and upward we go.''

                       [From ACLU, May 18, 2019]

 Celebrate Women's Suffrage, but Don't Whitewash the Movement's Racism

       My 94-year-old great-aunt, Paralee Wilmer--we call her 
     Aunty Lee--voted for the first time after moving to 
     Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1944. Born to no-nonsense, small farmers 
     in Millers Ferry, Alabama, and the youngest daughter of 12 
     children, Aunty Lee was one among many African Americans who 
     moved from the South to the North in search of better job 
     opportunities and greater freedoms during the The Great 
     Migration. These freedoms included the right to vote without 
     intimidation or any other hindrance.
       Aunty Lee's memory is a bit cloudy regarding whether the 
     first time she cast her ballot was in an election for local 
     politicians or a presidential race, but one thing she knows 
     for sure is her pastor at the time inspired her to exercise 
     her constitutional rights and fulfill her civic duties. He 
     said, ``When it's time to vote, make sure you vote. When it's 
     time to do grand jury, make sure you go.''
       At age 20, Aunty Lee understood the magnitude of her 
     pastor's advice, given the disenfranchisement of Black folks 
     that she witnessed growing up in Millers Ferry--including 
     poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright violence and 
     intimidation that prevented Black people from voting. To be a 
     Black citizen in America but denied full citizenship rights 
     epitomizes the hypocrisy of American democracy. This is a sad 
     truth that I repeat like a blues refrain to my students.
       This summer--as the nation celebrates the 170th anniversary 
     of the first major convention for women's rights at Seneca 
     Falls and the 98th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the 
     Constitution, which granted women the right to vote--how do 
     we reconcile widespread narratives of a triumphant, steady 
     march towards women's enfranchisement with the more 
     complicated and painful reality of my great-aunt's lived 
     experience as a young, Black woman in Jim Crow America?
       One word: intersectionality.
       Legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw argues that racism and 
     sexism intersect in a manner that compounds Black women's 
     oppression. Although the above historical events occurred 
     long before Crenshaw articulated intersectionality, this 
     insightful theory should be applied to all historical 
     narratives that do not fully engage with the lived 
     experiences of African-American women.
       What do we notice when we take an intersectional view of 
     the events that transpired at Seneca Falls? How does our 
     understanding of the history of all women's political 
     empowerment in the United States change?
       When suffragists gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, in 
     July 1848, they advocated for the right of white women to 
     vote. The participants were middle and upper-class white 
     women, a cadre of white men supporters and one African-
     American male--Frederick Douglass. The esteemed abolitionist 
     had forged a strong working relationship with fellow 
     abolitionists and white women suffragists, including 
     Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. No Black women 
     attended the convention. None were invited.
       Although women of color were profoundly absent at Seneca 
     Falls, a greater degree of cultural inclusion was on the 
     horizon. In May 1851, African-American abolitionist Sojourner 
     Truth spoke at a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio. 
     During her famous speech on the abolition of slavery and the 
     promotion of women's rights, Truth allegedly bared her breast 
     and proclaimed, ``Ain't I a woman?''
       It was a melodramatic act and statement, but as historian 
     Nell Painter argues, it never happened Instead, it was a 
     quaint fiction crafted by convention organizer Frances Dana 
     Gage and other white feminists who depicted Truth to white 
     audiences as a genuine albeit primitive ally in the fight for 
     women's rights. Thus, the 1851 convention marked a modicum of 
     progress, but this progress is tainted by white suffragists' 
     attempts to control Truth's voice.
       By the turn of the 20th century, Black suffragists such as 
     Mary Church Terrell represented intersectional feminism at 
     its best. Born to former slaves in Memphis, Tennessee, 
     Terrell earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from 
     Oberlin College and served as president of the National 
     Association of Colored Women. In February 1898, Terrell spoke 
     at the National American Woman Suffrage Association 
     convention in Washington, D.C.
       Her speech forced powerful white women attendees to reflect 
     on the compounding oppressions and systemic violence that 
     Black women endured during slavery. She ended on a more 
     optimistic note--praising the sheer grit and intellect of 
     freed women. Terrell's rhetorical style echoed the American 
     ethos of self-made men and women, but she oversimplified the 
     historical reality that the paths to racial and gender 
     equality are long, jagged, and still unwinding.
       The history of women's suffrage in America is not nice or 
     neat, because the impact of white supremacy is broad and 
     human nature is messy. Furthermore, a nation built on stolen 
     land from Native Americans and stolen labor from African 
     slaves is flawed from the start. We must constantly 
     acknowledge this truth and engage in an intersectional 
     celebration of women's rights activists and landmark events.
       In addition to celebrating the passage of the 19th 
     Amendment, let's celebrate the upcoming birthday of African-
     American suffragist Mary Church Terrell, who would be 155 on 
     September 23. Let's celebrate the lives and legacies of the 
     true Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and suffragist Harriet 
     Tubman, and Shirley Chisholm--the first Black woman elected 
     to Congress and to seriously run for president.
       Let us celebrate and support current-day Black Lives Matter 
     founders and organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and 
     Opal Tometi, three queer Black women committed to ``placing 
     those at the margins closer to the center'' of political 
     leadership. Last but not least, let's celebrate the lives of 
     everyday people like my Aunty Lee--a Black woman born and 
     raised in Jim Crow Alabama who sought out a better life in 
     Ohio and has religiously exercised her right to vote for the 
     past 74 years. Let us celebrate these Black women while 
     recognizing that the struggle to vote without obstacles 
     continues.

                          ____________________