08/18/2026
On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, prohibiting the denial of the right to vote on the basis of s*x. It was a historic victory, won after decades of organizing, protest, sacrifice, and persistence by women across the country.
It is especially important today, on voting day, to remember that our vote was not handed to us. We fought for it.
But when we tell this story, we should tell the whole story.
The 19th Amendment did not mean that all women suddenly had equal access to the ballot. Black women, especially in the South, continued to face poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, violence, and discriminatory registration practices designed to keep Black citizens from voting. For many, the promise of voting rights would remain unfulfilled for decades. Indigenous women also faced additional barriers, since many Native people were not even recognized as U.S. citizens until 1924, and even then were often blocked by state laws and systemic exclusion. Hispanic and Latina women, especially in the Southwest and territories, also encountered language barriers, discriminatory practices, and citizenship related restrictions that limited full access to the vote.
And that should matter to all of us.
It should bother all of us when we use white women’s experience as the standard for “women’s history.” When we say, “women gained the right to vote in 1920,” without qualification, we unintentionally erase the women whose race, ethnicity, or citizenship status meant that right existed more fully on paper than in practice.
We can celebrate the 19th Amendment and the courageous women who fought for it while also acknowledging that the victory was incomplete.
History becomes richer, not diminished, when we make room for the whole truth.
Today, we honor all women who fought for the vote, including the Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic women whose struggle did not end in 1920 and who continued fighting until the promise of democracy moved closer to becoming a reality for everyone.
