Don't neglect 2 days that mark the fight for equality
Women's Equality Day on Aug. 26 recognizes the day in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was signed into law and women were granted the right to vote.
THE NATION will commemorate two anniversaries this month.
Women's Equality Day on Aug. 26 recognizes the day in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was signed into law and women were granted the right to vote.
On Aug. 28, Americans will stop and remember the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his stirring "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
It is especially fitting that these two important dates are paired, because the fight for racial equality is intertwined in the fight for women's equality in our country's history. Ultimately, what history teaches is that there is no racial equality and no gender equality without equality for all. That's why Vision 2020, a national coalition of organizations and individuals united in the commitment to achieve women's economic and social equality, works to build bridges across gender and racial divides.
In the 1830s, thousands of women were involved in the movement to abolish slavery. But at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were refused seats on the floor by male abolitionists. As a result, Stanton and Mott vowed to hold a convention on women's rights, which they hosted in 1848 in Seneca Falls, N.Y. At the convention, delegates adopted a "Declaration of Sentiments" modeled on the Declaration of Independence. It was signed by 68 women and 32 men, including African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
After the Civil War, the 14th Amendment granted the right to vote to adult males, and the 15th Amendment affirmed that voting rights could not be denied on account of race. Suffragists were bitterly disappointed that women were not covered by these amendments, and they continued the struggle for women's rights.
Women of all races finally were enfranchised in 1920, but it took more than five decades before a celebration of this event was organized.
Women were inspired by the positive results of the 1963 March on Washington and other civil-rights demonstrations, and impelled by the sexism many encountered while making substantive contributions to civil rights.
In 1966, the National Organization for Women was co-founded by activists including author Betty Friedan and civil-rights attorney Pauli Murray. Four years later, NOW organized a national Women's Strike for Equality, demanding equal opportunities in education and employment. On Aug. 26, 1970, women protested in 90 cities and marched on Fifth Avenue in New York City in what was called "the first big demonstration of the women's-liberation movement."
The following year, Congress passed a resolution sponsored by Rep. Bella Abzug, D-N.Y., that designated Aug. 26 as Women's Equality Day.
At Vision 2020, a national network of members, delegates and allies continues the work to advance equality. We recognize Aug. 26 and Aug. 28 as both proud celebrations of what peaceful protest can accomplish and as pointed reminders of what is yet to be achieved. Equality is an elusive concept but, as King described, we all have a dream that one day, it will be reached.