The Problem of the Color Line

In 1913, suffragists revived the strategy of amending the U.S. Constitution. Part 2 focuses on the story of women’s activism after this shift from 1913-1917. While the Washington suffrage parade symbolized the possibility of unified womanhood, the moment was fleeting. After the parade, growing racial tensions and divisions over suffrage strategy meant that women of color faced difficult choices regarding the paths they would take forward. Those paths were increasingly constrained by a rising tide of white supremacy. Women’s suffrage activism varied depending on both race and citizenship status. Black women’s suffrage activism was infused with antiracist work. In particular, black women drew specific parallels between race prejudice and sex prejudice to make the case for enfranchising women. For Carrie Clifford, the struggle for citizenship was a cultural battle as well as a political one. Moreover, she, like other black women, recognized that the suffrage struggle faced by her community was not only about woman’s suffrage but also about black men’s right to vote.