Women, Race & Class Summary

“Struggles for freedom must be seen as tightly intertwined – attempts to separate them only weaken the collective power to fight oppression.” Angela Y. Davis challenges us to rethink feminism by embracing intersectionality.

1. Enslaved Women's Strength Redefined Nineteenth-Century Womanhood

The 19th-century notion of womanhood painted women as fragile and nurturing, but enslaved Black women shattered this stereotype daily through their lived experiences. Though most historical narratives describe enslaved women as purely domestic workers, the majority labored shoulder-to-shoulder with enslaved men in the fields, experiencing similar physical abuse and extreme conditions. While viewed as "genderless" in their physical labor, they faced unique additional oppressions due to their gender.

Black women were seen as "breeders" for increasing the enslaved labor force, often pushed to their biological limits without exemption from fieldwork during pregnancy or nursing. They also endured systemic sexual violence, stemming from both domination and racist stereotypes that defined them as immoral and promiscuous. Rape not only controlled them but also served as a psychological weapon against their families and communities.

Despite this, enslaved women demonstrated remarkable resistance and resilience, cultivating new standards of womanhood that highlighted self-reliance and gender equality within their communities. Many actively rebelled – through physical defense against sexual assault, poisoning oppressors, fleeing to freedom, and organizing revolts. Figures like Harriet Tubman represented this strength, though her defiance was just one of many examples of collective resistance among Black women.

Examples

• Enslaved women planning work stoppages and escape routes despite constant threats of violence.
• Harriet Tubman’s leadership in helping enslaved people escape, despite enormous personal risk.
• Women’s emphasis on speed in escapes, highlighting urgency under the threat of sexual violence.

2. Abolitionism and Awakening the Women’s Rights Movement

The abolitionist movement of the 1830s drew large numbers of white women who saw connections between their own oppression and the plight of enslaved Black people. Prior to industrialization, middle-class women held productive societal roles, but these diminished, leaving them confined to domestic life. In their abolitionist work, women found opportunities to organize and gain recognition beyond marriage and motherhood.

However, this involvement led white women to reflect on their lack of political rights. When two prominent abolitionists, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were excluded from the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention, it sparked conversations about gender equality. This fueled the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, where women like Frederick Douglass supported the fight for women’s suffrage.

Still, while the movement drew inspiration from abolitionism, its participants neglected the needs of Black and working-class women. Seneca Falls ignored these marginalized voices altogether, foreshadowing racial and class divides that would plague the mainstream women’s movement in years to come.

Examples

• Working-class mill women striking and comparing labor conditions to slavery in 1836.
• Frederick Douglass advocating for women’s suffrage at the Seneca Falls convention.
• Mott and Stanton's frustration when they were excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention.

3. “Ain't I A Woman?” – Sojourner Truth’s Powerful Rebuttal

Sojourner Truth’s iconic speech at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio epitomized intersectionality. Facing sexist male hecklers, she dismantled the argument that women were too fragile to vote by recounting her physical and emotional strength under enslavement. Her question, “Ain’t I a woman?” pointedly highlighted how Black women were excluded from the feminine ideals that white women used to justify their equality.

The reaction to her words was mixed. Many attendees were proud and emotional over her defense, but before Truth even spoke, some tried to prevent her participation entirely. This reflects a racial divide: white suffragists often embraced Black women when it suited their agenda but disregarded them otherwise.

Sojourner Truth’s courage revealed the fractured solidarity within women’s rights movements. Her intervention emphasized that any feminist fight that doesn’t account for race and class oppression inevitably fails to include all women.

Examples

• Truth refuting claims of women’s weakness by sharing her laboring and reproductive experiences.
• Some white attendees’ opposition to Truth’s inclusion despite her vital speech.
• The contradiction of anti-slavery feminists excluding Black women from their conventions.

4. Stanton and Anthony Prioritized White Women's Suffrage

Key feminist leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony allowed racial prejudice to shape their activism. As abolitionism progressed and the fight for Black male suffrage emerged after the Civil War, Stanton opposed it, fearing it would “elevate” Black men above white women. Anthony’s stance mirrored this prejudice; despite her earlier anti-racist inclinations, she publicly distanced herself from Black suffrage to appeal to racist white Southern supporters.

The association Anthony led also promoted literacy requirements for voting, designed to suppress Black participation. This alignment with racist policies weakened the trust and solidarity of Black women, ultimately painting the mainstream suffrage movement as prioritizing middle-class white women's interests over collective equality.

Examples

• Stanton arguing against Black male suffrage during debates about voting rights.
• Anthony barring Black women from suffragist organizations to appease Southern allies.
• Literacy test proposals in suffragist campaigns appealing to white supremacist ideals.

5. Eugenics Compromised Early Reproductive Rights Movements

The right to control one’s reproduction could have united women across social divides, but early movements for birth control instead leaned heavily on racist, eugenic ideas. Margaret Sanger and other advocates supported sterilization laws aimed at population control for groups deemed "unfit," including impoverished and nonwhite women.

This alignment with racism alienated women of color from the reproductive rights movement. Black, Chicana, and Indigenous women bore the brunt of forced sterilization programs throughout the 20th century, rightly regarding birth control efforts with suspicion.

The co-opted narrative of reproductive rights shows how aligning with oppressive ideologies fractures potential alliances and isolates the very populations most affected by issues like unsafe abortions and sterilization abuse.

Examples

• 24 percent of Indigenous women sterilized by the 1970s under targeted policies.
• Continued use of sterilization campaigns against Puerto Rican women throughout the 70s.
• Margaret Sanger’s public alliances with eugenicists like the American Eugenics Society.

6. Intersectional Feminism Offers Unity Against Oppression

Angela Davis underscores the need for feminism to integrate with class struggles, anti-racist efforts, and other movements against oppression. Women’s rights movements that neglect these connections achieve only partial victories and often deepen divides, as seen throughout U.S. history.

True feminism recognizes overlapping layers of discrimination, ensuring systems like capitalism, racism, and patriarchy are challenged together. Without this unity, emancipation only serves the few, leaving others behind.

Davis’s call demands that feminists reevaluate historical mistakes and commit to multi-faceted struggles for justice.

Examples

• Sojourner Truth demonstrating the power of linking race issues with women’s equality.
• Failures of suffragists to progress when catering solely to middle-class white women.
• Davis’s own work advocating for unity among workers, women of color, and other marginalized groups.

Takeaways

1. Build solidarity by actively listening to and including marginalized voices within movements for change.
2. Challenge single-issue activism by addressing intersections like racism, classism, and sexism.
3. Study historical patterns to identify mistakes, ensuring future movements remain inclusive and united.