PW OPINION EDITORIAL
HORIZONTAL HOSTILITY LET’S BE ANGRY—JUST NOT AT EACH OTHER
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4 PASADENA WEEKLY | 08.27.20
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BY ELLEN SNORTLAND
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•CONSIDER THIS•
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PW NEWS
W
omen’s Equality Day is commemorated every year on August 26, which, by the time you read this, has already happened. Making it especially special this year, August 26 marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, also known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment. We finally won the right to vote after 72 years of petitioning, proclaiming, picketing, conversing, cajoling, begging, beatings, getting arrested, hunger striking, and marching. Otherwise, it was easy. We have come a long, long way, baby, and certainly not far enough. The huge asterisk to winning the “right” to vote in 1920 benefitted white women except for Black women in the North. And now, with the renewed assault on voting rights imposed by Cheetos-for-Brains in the White House, we’re facing yet another round of disenfranchisement. On the other hand, there were events and entertainment this year that I never dreamed we’d see become mainstream. You can’t get much more “main street” than the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. On January 1, 2020—which seems like a lifetime ago—I had the honor of marching in the Rose Parade with 99 other people dressed in vintage suffrage whites with our purple, gold and white sashes. We were called “Outwalkers,” and our formation duplicated the spectacle of the legendary 1913 March in Washington, D.C., that featured many original American suffragists, including Ida B. Wells, who insisted on integrating the marchers. Go, Ida!! Our suffrage float in front of the Outwalkers was stunning. We saw people crying with joy as we paraded by, and I was choked-up most of the time. Our float had a Statue of Liberty, and a VIP section comprised of the descendants of suffragists and abolitionists. My favorite VIP, of course, was Dolores Huerta, a friend, mentor and champion of women everywhere. The weather was perfect, and the subtle perfume of roses and citrus wafted through the air. In late January 2020, we got the news that Virginia had become the 38th state to ratify the 28th Amendment, otherwise known as the Equal Rights Amendment. Hurrah! If you think the United States is over its institutionalized misogyny, think again. Alice Paul, Quaker Suffragist, introduced the ERA in 1923. And now, after 97 years, it’s hung up because our rottento-the-core Justice Department has “barred” it from being registered with the National Archives. Yes, Attorney General Barr and his White House bosses have ordered that the ERA not be registered, despite it finally being ratified. What are
all those Dudes and turncoat Ms. Dudes so afraid of? Liberty and justice for all? Meanwhile, here we are in August, an important month for women’s history. The New York Times sponsored a virtual play called “Finish the Fight,” which was beautifully acted, directed and produced given the COVID circumstances. The show told the stories of unknown and unsung women of color through history who fought for suffrage. Yay! It’s about time and long overdue. That said, the play had a considerable amount of fury aimed at white women as if white women are responsible for the lack of attention to any women in history? I have been on the frontlines of promoting and applauding women in history for decades. Just because something isn’t published doesn’t mean it’s not being written about. I never saw anything about women or girls in any of the history books I grew up on, and the latest text I saw (granted I haven’t reviewed every textbook in all 50 states) had a paragraph that only spoke in generalities. A sample would be, “In 1920, Congress granted the women of the U.S. the right to vote, blah, blah, blah.” First of all, they didn’t grant us anything, we fought every inch over 72 years to get the right to vote. So, hey everyone, let’s stop fighting over one lame paragraph in textbooks and instead get really angry at the systemic sexism and racism in this country. This is not an apology for callous white women of which there are plenty; it is, however, a “hat tip” to my hero and mentor: Black civil rights and feminist attorney, Florynce Kennedy. Funny as hell, she warned women against what she called “horizontal hostility.” What’s horizontal hostility? It’s when one subjugated group attacks another subjugated group while forgetting that this is precisely what the dominating group wants! As in, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” Hey, gals, don’t fight each other: fight the system in meaningful, substantial ways instead, starting with…voting! Given that all things are women’s issues, one issue saw remarkable progress this year: no mass shootings. And yes, gun violence is a human rights issue, therefore a woman’s issue. So please get all your loved ones registered and make a plan for voting. If you have out of state family and friends, help them to get their voting ducks in a row. Do it for the people who died or were beaten for voting, and for your foremothers who dreamed of the day they could cast a ballot. n Ellen Snortland has written Consider This… for the Pasadena Weekly for decades. Reach her at ellen@beautybitesbeast.com
