If It Isn't Intersectional, It Isn't Feminism

As humans, we all have our heroes. Athletes, musicians, authors, and illustrators, everyone has someone that they proudly esteem and look up to. Until yesterday, Susan B. Anthony was mine. Until yesterday, I was blissfully unaware that the powerful voice of the woman I admired was a voice that condemned women of other races into silence. A voice that demanded African American women march at the back of a protest.

My first question was this: how could someone who is so decorated in history get away with such one-sided feminism? In order to remedy this question, let’s jump back into some classic feminist history.

Susan B. Anthony, along with her sister in activism, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, championed the National Woman Suffrage Association, which was a women-led organization with the sole objective of securing women the right to vote. Working together, Anthony and Stanton were arguably one of the most productive partnerships in American history. From launching a progressive women’s rights newspaper to developing endless strategies to enfranchise females, these two powerhouse women made the ultimate duo.

While the work they did was unlike any other campaign during their time, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had a fatal flaw: they overlooked the rights of others.

Thirty-six states needed to ratify the 19th Amendment in order to conclude the tortuous battle that was women’s suffrage. By the summer of 1920, thirty-five states had done so. In order to win over these thirty-five states and get their movement to the forefront of many politicians’ minds, Anthony and Stanton had to make what they thought were worthwhile sacrifices. One of these sacrifices included putting white women’s rights above African American women’s rights.

When it was convenient for them, Stanton and Anthony overtly betrayed the trust of black feminists, male and female.

White feminists sought the right to vote in order to separate themselves from their husbands and to no longer be a piece of property, while black feminists coveted suffrage as a means of empowering all who resided in black communities, including men. This difference in perspective caused tension in the run-up to the 15th Amendment, which prevented the states from denying African American men the ballot. Many people were torn between who to give suffrage first: women or black men. Instead of calmly advocating for both minorities to be enfranchised, Stanton spoke out against the 15th Amendment, stating that white women would be humiliated should black men achieve the right to vote before them. Anthony, in tune with Stanton’s racism, imparted some ugly words regarding the situation, explaining that white women were more educated, better voters, and more worthy of the vote. When black women commented on this, Anthony dismissed their claims.The 15th Amendment was ratified, and instead of cheering for their fellow people who had just won their own fight against oppression, racism increased in the feminist world.

This narrative helped to create a rhetoric in which we think of middle-class, white women when the feminist agenda is mentioned. The deception of Stanton and Anthony towards their African American activist sisters created a rift in feminism that still exists today. This is why, now more than ever, intersectional feminism is the only type of feminism that can exist.

Now you may be wondering what ‘intersectional’ truly means. More than the latest buzzword in the world of feminism, intersectionality is a term that goes back decades. Intersectional feminism is used to explain how the feminist movement can become more diverse and inclusive of all identities, including race, class, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.

This was the most problematic issue with the feminist era of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton: the failure to recognize that some women were being disadvantaged by more than just their gender.

A white woman is punished for her gender. A black woman is penalized by her gender and her race. An Asian lesbian is discriminated against due to her ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.

Anthony and Stanton’s simple inability to empathize with those less privileged than they were generated the divide that we experience today in feminism. It is only once the feminist movement opens our eyes and arms to our sisters who are being arrested because they are black, deprived of citizenship because they are latina, and physically assaulted because they are lesbian that we can close this divide. It is only then that we can even begin to think about correcting Anthony and Stanton’s great mistakes.

By Rose Sanders