Reesha Brown
The Port Arthur News
PORT ARTHUR —
It was a turning point in our nation’s history. After years of fighting, the battle between men and women in the U.S. was finally ending. August 18, marks the beginning of a revolution that changed gender inequality forever.
Several ratifications and women’s suffragist movements later, women had finally gotten their wish to vote alongside men, and be given a voice. The 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution denied prohibiting women a chance to vote.
Today — 90 years ago — women had won.
The road to suffrage
As the nation began closing its book on the Civil War, another war emerged — the domestic war between the hegemonic (dominated by a group, in this instance, males) man and the oppressed female. But this was unacceptable. Women during the 1800’s believed they were just as capable as men to work outside of the home and be deemed equals to their fellow man — so began the National Women Suffrage movement, and later the National Woman’s Party.
In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support of the 19th Amendment, but the Senate refused to vote in favor of it. In response, the National Woman’s Party urged citizens in 1919 to vote against anti-suffrage Senators up for election. Women did not back down until they got what they wanted — and senators finally paid attention.
In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, sending it to the states. After Tennessee ratified the Amendment by one vote, the 19th Amendment was adopted.
The pivotal moment came on August 18, 1920, when the Tennessee General Assembly, by one-vote became the thirty-sixth state legislature to ratify the proposed amendment, making it the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
We have a voice too
Gloria Noel, 70, of Nederland, said this occasion should be celebrated not just around Port Arthur but across the nation.
“We should recognize that women have gotten recognition that they too have a say-so in the world,” Noel said.
Noel said she has been a avid advocate for women’s rights for years and believes women are still not considered equals.
“I went to the NOW convention in Houston, I’ve campaigned for equal rights for women,” Noel said. I’ve always thought of myself not as a woman or man, but as a person. But I still think women are struggling to be treated equally and there is still much work to be done.”
Al Sanders, a local retired Motiva worker, was walking to the mall to be with “his equal” and said it took him a while to realize the impact women have on society, but he is glad he finally opened his eyes to reality.
“I think it’s (anniversary) a great thing,” Sanders said. “We should all have a right to vote. When God created man he also created women to be alongside men, not behind them. So I think it’s a good thing. Some people don’t realize how important women are to this world but they are an integral part.”
Sanders said in this day in age, if women did not have a right to vote, then Obama would not have been in office.
“He would not have gotten into office,” Sanders said. “We’re all equal. They (women) have just as much a right as men do. If you really want to be in power, you have to be leading the right way, so this should be celebrated.”
Carissa Richard, 21, a Lamar University student, was headed into work at the GNC in Central Mall, when she stopped to talk about her right to be a new voting woman.
“Women should feel privileged to have that dream to live in a man’s world come true,” Richard said.
Richard said she is appreciative of the struggles women had to endure to make women’s equal voting rights possible today.
“Women had to go through hardships to get to where they are today,” Richard said. “It took a lot and people should not take that for granted.”
If Richard were unable to vote, then she would have felt as if she did not matter.
“If I were not able to vote this time around, I would have felt like I was being undermined,” Richard said. “I think we (women) have just as much right to voice our opinions and make good decisions as does a man.”
For Richard’s first voting experience, she chose President Barack Obama.
rbrown@panews.com
