Angela Davis's Views Of The 15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment was an amendment added to the United States Constitution in 1870 that gave citizens the right to vote no matter their race, skin color, or previous conditions of servitude. This specifically applied to African American males who, though technically were citizens under the 14th amendment, were still being oppressed and restricted from voting. According to Angela Davis in her text, while some feminist activists in the 19th century supported this amendment, others were adamantly opposed to it. Supporters argued that African American men had as much of a right as anyone to vote and shouldn 't be denied that right simply because women were, while antagonists argued that until women obtained the right to vote, neither should African
Their argument was that the 13th and 14th amendment had already given African American males the same amount of authority that women had. Therefore, in their opinion, giving black males the right to vote would make them superior over females and only further their oppression. Feminists also brought up the argument that giving females the right to vote would bring a new element into American politics. Males had always had the right to vote, therefore adding the black males’ vote wouldn’t bring in any new or beneficial
She uses this statement for the argument that the 15th amendment was unjust and shouldn’t be passed. I, however, would argue that the point she attempted to make actually supported those feminists who did want the amendment passed. For African Americans, slavery and oppression are still fresh in their minds the amendment was ratified. It is my belief that because they knew what it is like to be oppressed, African American males would have been the perfect representatives for sexual equality in politics. Take Frederick Douglass for example, he was an African American male in the 19th century who was a prominent abolitionist as well as a feminist activist. While he did see equality for African Americans as a greater importance, he also heavily supported equality for women in the United