Second Close Reading
Frances Harper on Hypocrisy in the Women's Suffrage Movement
By: Forbes
Introduction:
“This grand and glorious revolution which has commenced will fail to reach its climax of success, until…the nation shall be so color-blind, as to know no man by the color of his skin and the curl of his hair.”[1] As a freeborn Black woman privy to the intersectional prejudices against people who shared her demographics, Frances Harper knew well the hypocrisy of white suffragettes who pioneered a narrow brand of equal rights.
The accomplished writer and speaker knew that democracy’s success depends upon the prerogatives of those who operate its system, and the human rights she sought for Black people would not automatically be relinquished once a differently-oppressed group received suffrage. In her speech “We Are All Bound Up Together” at the Eleventh National Women’s Rights Convention in May 1866, Harper argued that unless the leaders of the American feminist revolution broadened their moral stances to include Black people in their struggle for equality, the rights white women gained would mean little.
“This grand and glorious revolution which has commenced will fail to reach its climax of success, until…the nation shall be so color-blind, as to know no man by the color of his skin and the curl of his hair.”[1] As a freeborn Black woman privy to the intersectional prejudices against people who shared her demographics, Frances Harper knew well the hypocrisy of white suffragettes who pioneered a narrow brand of equal rights.
The accomplished writer and speaker knew that democracy’s success depends upon the prerogatives of those who operate its system, and the human rights she sought for Black people would not automatically be relinquished once a differently-oppressed group received suffrage. In her speech “We Are All Bound Up Together” at the Eleventh National Women’s Rights Convention in May 1866, Harper argued that unless the leaders of the American feminist revolution broadened their moral stances to include Black people in their struggle for equality, the rights white women gained would mean little.
Text: Harper's Account of Discrimination
Harper began her address by intertwining her race and sex with her experiences. She established that two years prior, her husband died, which plunged Harper’s family into poverty. Since wives were not seen as legal entities, the government seized almost all their household’s property to pay off Harper’s late husband’s debts. Harper ended this account by declaring that “justice is not fulfilled so long as woman is unequal before the law.”
After this recollection, Harper shifted to second-person point of view, confronting the white, female audience with their biases. “You pressed [the Negro] down for two centuries,” she accused, and noted that in so doing, they also had disadvantaged the American white man. Harper described that if she were to “take my seat in one of your street cars," the conductor would refuse to go any further with her in the vehicle. In the last section of her speech, Harper discussed how the courageous Harriet Tubman had been handled roughly enough by a conductor that her hands had become swollen.“ That woman, whose…bravery won a recognition from our army and from every black man in the land, is excluded from every thoroughfare of travel.”[2] Harper implied that it was selfish to focus exclusively on allowing white women to vote when Black women – even ones recognized as heroes– were not granted a simple streetcar ride.
Harper began her address by intertwining her race and sex with her experiences. She established that two years prior, her husband died, which plunged Harper’s family into poverty. Since wives were not seen as legal entities, the government seized almost all their household’s property to pay off Harper’s late husband’s debts. Harper ended this account by declaring that “justice is not fulfilled so long as woman is unequal before the law.”
After this recollection, Harper shifted to second-person point of view, confronting the white, female audience with their biases. “You pressed [the Negro] down for two centuries,” she accused, and noted that in so doing, they also had disadvantaged the American white man. Harper described that if she were to “take my seat in one of your street cars," the conductor would refuse to go any further with her in the vehicle. In the last section of her speech, Harper discussed how the courageous Harriet Tubman had been handled roughly enough by a conductor that her hands had become swollen.“ That woman, whose…bravery won a recognition from our army and from every black man in the land, is excluded from every thoroughfare of travel.”[2] Harper implied that it was selfish to focus exclusively on allowing white women to vote when Black women – even ones recognized as heroes– were not granted a simple streetcar ride.
Context: Women's Suffrage Movements
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had been speakers of honor and organizers at the 1866 Convention, and Harper challenged their mindsets. Stanton and Anthony were foremost champions of women’s rights, but their movements excluded Black women. Several suffrage conventions barred Black women from entrance, and they were not permitted to march alongside white women in suffrage parades. While the 15th Amendment’s proposal was debated, many white suffragists – including Stanton and Anthony – refused to support the idea of Black men’s suffrage.
The language Stanton and Anthony used to disparage the 15th Amendment was explicitly prejudiced against disadvantaged groups they believed were inferior. “Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Yung Tung, who…cannot read the Declaration of Independence or Webster’s spelling book, making laws for…Susan B. Anthony," Stanton fumed at a conference less than a year before the 15th Amendment was ratified, using racist and xenophobic rhetoric to prove her point. She groused that the amendment ruined relations between “educated, refined women” and “the lower orders of [especially Southern] men."[3] Anthony was less vocally explicit, but still hostile.
This behavior, while especially visible in Stanton and Anthony, was characteristic of white suffragette groups. Once the 19th Amendment was ratified, white suffragette groups largely dissolved, abandoning Black women to the race-specific threats of voter intimidation, lynchings, and other violence. Harper perceived that white suffrage movements were entirely concerned about their own specific issues, and neglected to repay the efforts of the Black women who had assisted them.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had been speakers of honor and organizers at the 1866 Convention, and Harper challenged their mindsets. Stanton and Anthony were foremost champions of women’s rights, but their movements excluded Black women. Several suffrage conventions barred Black women from entrance, and they were not permitted to march alongside white women in suffrage parades. While the 15th Amendment’s proposal was debated, many white suffragists – including Stanton and Anthony – refused to support the idea of Black men’s suffrage.
The language Stanton and Anthony used to disparage the 15th Amendment was explicitly prejudiced against disadvantaged groups they believed were inferior. “Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Yung Tung, who…cannot read the Declaration of Independence or Webster’s spelling book, making laws for…Susan B. Anthony," Stanton fumed at a conference less than a year before the 15th Amendment was ratified, using racist and xenophobic rhetoric to prove her point. She groused that the amendment ruined relations between “educated, refined women” and “the lower orders of [especially Southern] men."[3] Anthony was less vocally explicit, but still hostile.
This behavior, while especially visible in Stanton and Anthony, was characteristic of white suffragette groups. Once the 19th Amendment was ratified, white suffragette groups largely dissolved, abandoning Black women to the race-specific threats of voter intimidation, lynchings, and other violence. Harper perceived that white suffrage movements were entirely concerned about their own specific issues, and neglected to repay the efforts of the Black women who had assisted them.
Subtext:
In 1848, Stanton authored the Declaration of Sentiments, which collected a series of moral assertions concerning women deserving the benefits of citizenship men refused to give them. Addressing race would have injected relevant nuance into this document. At the time, the 15th Amendment had not yet been passed, so the men creating the laws which subjugated women were white. Enslaved Black men had less legal power than white women, and certainly far worse social standing. Harper noticed that Stanton and Anthony ignored the intersectionality which could have been integral to their movement because of their own prejudices. If it benefited them, they undercut Black people’s suffering to make their struggle more palatable to powerful white men.
Since many in the early feminist movement chose to overlook Black hardships – especially Black women’s hardships – it made their message seem at best, tunnel-visioned, and at worst, hypocritically exclusionary. In her closing sentence, “I tell you that if there is any class of people who need to be lifted out of their…selfishness, it is the white women of America,” Harper cut to the heart of the morality issue with mainstream suffragettes.[4] Even after this speech, Black women were still forced to form their own groups to organize their activism. Because most white suffragettes refused to widen the base of their cause, it was unbelievable that they would start prioritizing others after achieving their goals.
In 1848, Stanton authored the Declaration of Sentiments, which collected a series of moral assertions concerning women deserving the benefits of citizenship men refused to give them. Addressing race would have injected relevant nuance into this document. At the time, the 15th Amendment had not yet been passed, so the men creating the laws which subjugated women were white. Enslaved Black men had less legal power than white women, and certainly far worse social standing. Harper noticed that Stanton and Anthony ignored the intersectionality which could have been integral to their movement because of their own prejudices. If it benefited them, they undercut Black people’s suffering to make their struggle more palatable to powerful white men.
Since many in the early feminist movement chose to overlook Black hardships – especially Black women’s hardships – it made their message seem at best, tunnel-visioned, and at worst, hypocritically exclusionary. In her closing sentence, “I tell you that if there is any class of people who need to be lifted out of their…selfishness, it is the white women of America,” Harper cut to the heart of the morality issue with mainstream suffragettes.[4] Even after this speech, Black women were still forced to form their own groups to organize their activism. Because most white suffragettes refused to widen the base of their cause, it was unbelievable that they would start prioritizing others after achieving their goals.
[1] Frances Harper, “We Are All Bound Up Together,” May 1866, BlackPast, Nov. 7, 2011, [WEB].
[2] Ibid.
[3] Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Transcript of speech delivered at American Equal Rights Association (AERA) convention, May 1869, History.com, Jan. 29, 2021, [WEB].
[4] Harper, "We Are All Bound Up Together."
[2] Ibid.
[3] Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Transcript of speech delivered at American Equal Rights Association (AERA) convention, May 1869, History.com, Jan. 29, 2021, [WEB].
[4] Harper, "We Are All Bound Up Together."