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African American Women In The Civil Rights Movement

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“Rain or shine, cold or hot, you will find them there – Negro women, old and young – sometimes bedraggled, sometimes neatly dressed … waiting expectantly for Bronx housewives to buy their strength and energy for an hour…”- Ella Baker (Holt, 3). African American women faced the most hardships, from the beginning of slavery throughout the entire Civil Rights Movement. Protection of not only African American rights, but the rights of African American women, specifically, was nonexistent. African American men were perceived as second-class citizens, while women were treated as less than such. Women of color had to face mistreatments like abuse, rape, and a lack of employment and education. Not recognized for their hard labor both in the workforce and their acts contributed to the Civil Rights Movement, African American women still fought for the same end goal. …show more content…
Dubois, and the passive Booker T. Washington. The acts of women in the movement were downplayed and were not credited as the many key acts of resistance that created the pathways throughout the movement. Rosa Parks, for example, is only known for refusing to give up her seat for a white man, when after her act of resistance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Women’s Political Council (WPC) decided that this was the moment to organize the Montgomery bus boycotts. Contributions from other important female figures like Ida B. Wells, Mamie Till, Jo Ann Robinson, and Ella Baker are discredited and uncelebrated compared to the contributions of African American

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