Breaking Barriers...
For women in general, getting the opportunity to serve in an elective office position was hard enough, but for minority women it was an even bigger struggle because of the plague of racism that tarnished the minds of many Americans. Black women have had a long history of civil rights and political activism dating back to the Reconstruction years. During the women’s suffrage movement, they joined interracial and predominantly White women’s organizations in support of women’s suffrage (Springer, 1999). Agendas favoring white woman usually dominated these groups. A number of white woman felt uncomfortable addressing racial issues and many of them had openly racist views toward African Americans. As a result of these conflicts, Black women abandoned interracial civil rights organizations and formed their own (Springer, 1999).
The Black women’s “club” movement gained its most popularity during the 1920s. The National Association of Colored Women (NACW), the most well-known of these social and civil rights clubs, consisted mostly of educated, middle-class women. Since majority of Black citizens belonged to the Republican Party before the 1930s, Black Republican women formed the National League of Republican Colored Women. Because the League of Women Voters usually excluded Black women from its membership, they organized separate local groups of the league (Springer, 1999). During the modern civil rights movement, which has also been called the second Reconstruction, Black women and men protested discrimination and legalized segregation. Because of their efforts, federal, local and state civil rights laws were put into place and enforced for the first time since the late 1880s (Springer, 1999). The Years 1954-1965 have often been described as the height of the civil rights movement. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Black men and women won elective offices mostly as a result of passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black voter turnout increased dramatically in states where Blacks had once been disfranchised and Black politicians won office for the first since Reconstruction. Most of these politicians were male, but Black women had victories as well (Springer, 1999). In the 1970s and 1980s, Black women made greater gains than white women in winning congressional, mayoral, and state legislative offices.
Springer, Kimberly. Still Lifting, Still Climbing: Contemporary African American Women's Activism. New York: New York UP, 1999. Print.
The Black women’s “club” movement gained its most popularity during the 1920s. The National Association of Colored Women (NACW), the most well-known of these social and civil rights clubs, consisted mostly of educated, middle-class women. Since majority of Black citizens belonged to the Republican Party before the 1930s, Black Republican women formed the National League of Republican Colored Women. Because the League of Women Voters usually excluded Black women from its membership, they organized separate local groups of the league (Springer, 1999). During the modern civil rights movement, which has also been called the second Reconstruction, Black women and men protested discrimination and legalized segregation. Because of their efforts, federal, local and state civil rights laws were put into place and enforced for the first time since the late 1880s (Springer, 1999). The Years 1954-1965 have often been described as the height of the civil rights movement. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Black men and women won elective offices mostly as a result of passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Black voter turnout increased dramatically in states where Blacks had once been disfranchised and Black politicians won office for the first since Reconstruction. Most of these politicians were male, but Black women had victories as well (Springer, 1999). In the 1970s and 1980s, Black women made greater gains than white women in winning congressional, mayoral, and state legislative offices.
Springer, Kimberly. Still Lifting, Still Climbing: Contemporary African American Women's Activism. New York: New York UP, 1999. Print.
Shirley Chisholm-"Unbought and Unbossed"
Although African American women have been tormented by both racism and sexism, many scholars have found that they have not experienced double disadvantage because of their gender and their race. In particular, it was found that Black women were elected at a greater degree than White women because of their experience they gained as activists in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black congresswoman. Among many of Chisholm's achievements, she was first African American woman to see a major party nomination for President of the United States, the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for President at the Democratic National Convention, as well as being the first African American to be on the ballot as a candidate for President.
During Chisholm's 1972 presidential campaign, she found out that her gender was more of an obstacle than her race. After her announcing her plan to run for the Democratic nomination, Chisholm did not receive endorsements from three of the organizations she had co-founded simply because people disagreed with the idea of a woman running the country not to mention the racial opposition. . She was an outspoken advocate of equal rights for minorities and women, but the most prominent Black and female leaders refused to support her candidacy (Gill, 1997). At the 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary, Indiana, the delegates chose not to support a presidential candidate. NOW would have lost its tax-exempt status if it had publicly endorsed a political competitor, and the NWPC announced that it would remain neutral by not campaigning for or against her (Gill, 1997). Her story is a good example of how abilities are put into question only because of race or gender. If she was a Black male or a White male or even a White female and accomplished what she did in Congress and went on to run for the Democratic nomination for Presidency, her competence would have not been questioned.
Gill, LaVerne McCain. African American Women in Congress: Forming and Transforming History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1997. Print.
Gill, LaVerne McCain. African American Women in Congress: Forming and Transforming History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1997. Print.