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Difficulty: MediumBlack Feminist and Womanist Movements

Read the excerpt from activist and writer Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s speech "We Are All Bound Up Together," delivered at the Eleventh National Woman’s Rights Convention in 1866:

"We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul. You white women speak here of rights. I speak of wrongs. I, as a colored woman, have had in this country an education which has outgrown her institutions, in which they have shrunk pathetically beside her."

Which of the following statements best describes the primary argument Harper makes in this excerpt regarding the struggle for women's rights?

  1. She asserts that the campaign for women's rights must address the intersection of race and gender by confronting the specific wrongs endured by Black women.Answer
  2. B
    She calls on Black women to prioritize gender solidarity with white women to secure the right to vote before addressing racial injustices.
  3. C
    She argues that white and Black women share an identical set of political priorities and social experiences under Reconstruction.
  4. D
    She advocates for Black women to withdraw from the women's rights movement to focus exclusively on racial uplift within Black-led organizations.

Answer

Harper asserts that the campaign for women's rights must address the intersection of race and gender by confronting the specific wrongs endured by Black women.
The correct answer is correct because Harper explicitly contrasts the 'rights' sought by white women with the 'wrongs' faced by Black women, arguing that the struggle for equality must address the intersecting realities of both race and gender rather than focusing on gender alone.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus quote to identify the speaker's main focus.
Harper distinguishes her position as a Black woman ('I speak of wrongs') from that of white women ('You white women speak here of rights').
This establishes that Harper is addressing the distinct, interlocking challenges of race and gender.
2
Evaluate how Harper relates individual struggles to the broader human condition.
She states that humanity is 'bound up together' and that society suffers when its weakest members are trampled.
This shows her belief that the fight for women's rights cannot be isolated from the fight for racial justice.
3
Select the option that matches Harper's intersectional critique.
The option stating that the women's rights movement must address the intersection of race and gender by confronting the wrongs faced by Black women.
This option correctly captures her insistence on addressing both racial and gender-based oppression simultaneously.

Key Concept

Early Black feminist thought and the intersectional critique of mainstream women's rights movements.
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Topics

Black Feminist and Womanist Movements

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