How to Keep Fighting for Women's Voting Rights, 100 Years After the 19th Amendment
As of August 18, an entire century has passed since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted the right for some women—but certainly not all—to vote. According to President Trump, who believes he’s done more for women than any other American president, the most one must do to commemorate such an occasion is pardon Susan B. Anthony, who was convicted of illegally voting in 1872. The irony, of course, is Trump has recently ignited fury over his public attempts to suppress mail-in ballots, a service that allows a wider demographic of women the ability to vote.
That's why it feels so sticky to celebrate the 19th Amendment today. Fighting for a place at the polls has been a multi-century battle for women—women of color in particular. Restrictions prohibited Latina, Black, Asian-American and Native-American women from voting until decades after the 19th Amendment was ratified. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped put a ballot in the hands of more women of color, but it didn’t solve the problem of long queues, restrictive voter ID laws, early closing times, or breakdowns in modern machinery, which can lead many voters—especially those in marginalized communities—to turn their backs on the polls, as we witnessed during the Georgia state primary.
Then in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act with a landmark decision that ultimately allowed states and localities to change their voting process without federal approval, or preclearance. "Without preclearance requirements, states were free to enact aggressive measures reducing access to the polls and they did so with breakneck speed and efficiency following the Court’s decision," journalist Melissa Harris-Perry wrote.
Although BIPOC suffragists have long been erased from the voting rights narrative in favor of white heroines (such as the aforementioned Susie B.), efforts by these women of color were and are instrumental to modern elections. They’ve taught us that buying more stamps is far from the only solution to combat voter suppression ahead of the 2020 election. In honor of the women who fought so hard for the 19th Amendment—and every milestone since its ratification—here’s what you can do to help their efforts.
Educate yourself.
To support a movement against voter suppression, it’s important to understand why the problem exists in the first place. “Even as we commemorate this milestone, it’s crucial that we acknowledge its complexity,” Melinda Gates told Fortune. “One way I’ve been grappling with this history is by reading more about the Black women activists who were unsung heroes in the movement for women’s voting rights.”
Most of those activists were sidelined in U.S. history, despite their work. "In school, students are often told the stories of Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and are shown pictures of white women activists wearing white dresses and holding up 'Votes for Women' signs, but Black women suffragists like Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells are often excluded from the history books," Leigh Chapman of The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights told BAZAAR.
Learn more about these women and the movement they sparked by picking up a few of these books to help to understand the full scope of modern suffrage.
Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African American Voting Rights
Fighting Chance: The Struggle Over Woman Suffrage and Black Suffrage In Reconstruction America
Lifting As We Climb: Black Women’s Battle For The Ballot Box
'The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States'
'One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy'
Say It Louder!: Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy
The Rise of the Latino Vote: A History
Support the U.S. Postal Service.
If you’ve already bought stamps, good for you! But there are other ways to support the important work the USPS does to protect voting rights for women, especially those who are sick or elderly, working multiple jobs or providing round-the-clock childcare—essentially, those who find it nearly impossible to make it to the polls. Here are a few actions you can take:
Vote early. Requesting an early ballot will keep you from missing any voting deadlines due to delivery delays.
Call your representatives. Ask them to support increased USPS dropbox locations in your area. Press them to support a bill that would provide the USPS with funding it desperately needs.
Buy merch! Turns out, the USPS likes a good tote bag as much as the rest of us. You can buy one here.
Follow and support those who are doing the work.
There are hundreds of organizations devoted to fighting voter suppression, and all of them need moolah to keep people of power in check. Here are a few you should support, if you have the extra cash on hand.
League of Women Voters: A nonpartisan group registering voters, providing essential voter know-how, and encouraging civic engagement.
When We All Vote: A nonpartisan non-profit working toward increased voter participation and co-launched by Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monáe, Chris Paul, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw.
Woke Vote: A metrics-driven crew specifically devoted to voters of color, working to educate organizers, increase voter turnout, and mobilize marginalized communities.
Fair Fight: An organization fighting for election reform in Georgia, chaired by none other than Stacey Abrams.
Let America Vote: A group defending voting rights by fighting to overturn "anything that makes voting harder."
Spread the Vote: Another nonprofit helping communities access IDs (and therefore register to vote).
Asian Americans Advancing Justice: A community enforcing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and helping Asian Americans avoid discriminatory tactics in or on the way to the polls.
League of United Latin American Citizens: The largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the United States, advancing Latin American civil rights.
ACLU: A hundred-year-old organization working in courts and legislatures to defend civil rights for all.
Black Voters Matter: A fund giving power to marginalized, predominantly Black communities—in both urban and rural areas—by honing in on voting efforts.
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