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Difficulty: MediumBlack Feminist and Womanist Movements

Read the following excerpt from 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 made me feel as if I were in the situation of Ishmael, my hand against every man, and every man's hand against me."

Based on the excerpt, which of the following best explains how Harper's argument differs from the primary focus of mainstream nineteenth-century white women’s rights activists?

  1. She highlights the necessity of addressing racial injustice alongside gender discrimination, rather than focusing solely on legal rights for white women.Answer
  2. B
    She argues that achieving voting rights for women must take precedence over addressing racial discrimination.
  3. C
    She suggests that Black women should isolate their activism from white women's organizations to avoid compromising their goals.
  4. D
    She claims that gender-based oppression is the primary source of inequality and affects all women identically.

Answer

She highlights the necessity of addressing racial injustice alongside gender discrimination, rather than focusing solely on legal rights for white women.
The correct option is correct because Harper contrasts the "rights" discussed by white women with the "wrongs" faced by Black women. Her speech points out that gender equality is incomplete and ineffective if it ignores the racial oppression and systemic violence experienced by African Americans. By identifying herself specifically as a "colored woman," she lays the groundwork for an intersectional critique of a suffrage movement that historically focused primarily on white women.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical context and the primary source text provided in the stem.
Identify that the speaker, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, is addressing a predominantly white audience of women's rights activists in 1866.
Understanding the audience and setting is crucial for identifying the rhetorical purpose of her speech.
2
Contrast Harper's statements about "wrongs" and "rights" with the historical priorities of the mainstream women's rights movement.
Recognize that Harper distinguishes her position ("I speak of wrongs") from that of white women ("You white women speak here of rights") to critique a narrow focus on women's suffrage that ignores racial violence and subjugation.
This contrast directly answers the question of how Harper's argument differs from her contemporaries.

Key Concept

Early Black feminist thought and the critique of mainstream white feminism's exclusion of race
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Topics

Black Feminist and Womanist Movements

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