All Women Are Not Created Equal Republican Style –Without Alliances Democrats are Working for Republicans
On October 21, 2021, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D–NY) of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform brought together a group of women to discuss the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), making it part of the Constitution. The scope of their experience ranged from the 1960s to the #MeToo Movement. Female opposition to the Amendment was also represented. The Republican committee members used the hearing to declare their opposition to all social justice movements, the ERA being just one. How does the myriad of social and environmental movements combat an opponent with an alliance united to stop a democracy agenda in its tracks? Profiling the Republican worldview provides a lesson for transforming strategies and building diverse alliances.
The women on the battlefield for women’s rights that day were:
– Carol Jenkins, President and CEO, ERA Coalition and Fund for Women’s Equality and TV broadcaster since the 1970s
– Jennifer McClellan, Virginia State Senator (D–VA), one of the new generation of Southern politicians of color. She was part of the effort to make Virginia the 38th and final state to ratify the ERA.
– Alyssa Milano, actor, activist and part of the #MeToo movement
– Victoria F. Nourse, Law Professor at Georgetown University Law Center
– Bamby Salcedo, Founder of TransLatin@Coaltion that provides services and support to transgender people
– Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and three term President of The National Organization of Women (NOW). Her first term was in 1977.
– Inez Feltscher Stepman, Senior Policy Analyst at Independent Women’s Forum who is against the ERA
Women are not monolithic. Their experiences are rooted in a specific American milieu that produces wide-ranging perspectives and challenges based on race and class unfolding through the prism of gender. The women on the panel were fish in a barrel for Rep. James R. Comer (R–KY), ranking member of the Committee. At [3:29:00], he clarified what the hearing was really about for Republican women and men:
— -Thank you to the witnesses for being here. Miss Milano, I am a fan of your movies. I appreciate you being here. We all support equal rights and we’re very fortunate to have the constitution that we have which guarantees equal rights and I know that we’ve talked a lot on our side about unintended consequences. The Equal Rights Amendment. And it’s important when we have political debate that we debate the pros and the cons of legislation because a lot of times what happens is, especially with my friends on the democrat side, they get caught up in the political correctness moment and they don’t anticipate unintended consequences. For example, you can talk about climate change and the need to address climate change and you can pass legislation and have policy and mandates like the Biden administration has done that has unintended consequence of gas prices going up more than 100 percent in less than ten months. You can print money by the treasury to help provide guaranteed income and extended unemployment and things like but the unintended consequence is inflation, which is a tax increase on everyone. You can declare a border wall that is politically incorrect, the unintended consequence of that is of course open borders. When you have open borders obviously the unintended consequence of that is you have an increase in drug smuggling and human trafficking. You can defund the police as a reaction to a bad cop or several bad policemen which is a micro-minority of the true actions of our overwhelmingly tremendous male and female police force and when you defund the police you have the unintended consequence of increased crime. Again, you can pay people not to work and you can do things like mandate vaccines but the unintended consequence of that is labor shortages and of course supply chain disruptions. So we are blessed to live in the United States, the greatest country in the world. I know that several people referenced other countries that may have more preferred language in their constitution about equal rights. I didn’t hear anyone say anything about Afghanistan, which this administration just turned over a lot of our military weaponry and our very nice air force base. So we have come a long way in the United States with more work to do but I appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation about this issue and Madame Chair I yield back the balance of my time and look forward more hearings on government oversight and reform. [my emphasis] — -
The Republican white congressman patted the actor on her head for a successful show business career and blamed the Biden Administration for the crime of leaving a very nice American air base to those Afghans.
What can people who are in movements based on equity for all people and environmental justice gleam from Rep. Comer’s statement? From the Republican point of view, a perceived attack on one of their causes is an attack on all of them, be it gun rights, a xenophobic immigration stance or protest against movements that protest police shooting more people of color than white people.
The participants were a constellation of women whose concerns and life experiences were those of millions of women whose lives would be greatly impacted by the ERA if ratified.
Bamby Salcedo and Alyssa Milano: A transgender Latina and the other, a working actor (since childhood), are vulnerable to sexual predation in different worlds. Both have had the experience of being objectified for who they are and what they aspire to be.
Eleanor Smeal and Carol Jenkins: A white woman who has long fought for female equality, reproductive rights and non-violence and a black woman who has had to balance race and gender on the head of the societal pin in the broadcasting world. Jenkins’ TV career began in the 70s and the offenses she endured were invisible to the offenders.
Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan (D–VA) testified that the configuration of obstacles in the 19th century is present today for women of color. She is acutely aware that her professional aspirations and intention to serve her country are impeded. The Southern white congressmen’s dismissal of the ERA evoked the persistent dismissal of the experiences of Americans who are not white/male/female/Republican.
Inez Feltscher Stepman, Policy Analyst who spoke for the Republicans argued that the ERA was a threat to women. “The ERA will add nothing to the protections women already enjoy” and “…it will undermine the successes we have already attained and even place us in harm’s way.” Her focus was the dangers of co-ed prisons with male body inmates who identify as female attacking incarcerated women. Fear was also expressed about the fate of sports teams, competition, separate bathrooms and dorms on campus.
Republicans’ counterargument speaks to sex urges they fear are uncontrollable. This was the position their female invite Inez Stepman put forth. The other panelists came to the hearing with the defined purpose of speaking to the necessity of the ERA. At the core of the Republican worldview is that equal pay, protections under the law and women having control over their bodies are secondary to denying the rights of Americans they designate as the “Other,” liberal or progressive. This central belief concretizes their alliance.
One can talk a good game about democracy from one’s niche, but the question for those who long for democracy to survive and/or are involved in justice movements is how the multitudes of movements can be heard and seen as one voice against the alliances that have been achieved by the Republican Party.
It is admittedly more complicated for Democrats to form solid alliances than Republicans. For the Republican leaning, the nagging truth that perceived supremacy is weakness shows itself every time one glances at the foreign made product labels in the superstore. That’s enough to rile up more than the “base”. Democrats have to engage ignorance head on and the inequities in their own history because the Party is the proverbial Big Tent. There is much to learn from history about alliance building. It can’t be understood substantively without investigating the pesky dots that connect.
A key historical layer of the fight for women’s rights has been women against women. A significant percentage of slaveholders were women [They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers (Yale University Press Published February 19th 2019)]. Conflicts arose over that thorny Fourteenth Amendment because black men might have the right to vote before white women. [https://www.nps.gov/articles/comrades-in-conflict.htm]
Where did black women fit in the battle for equality? Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan enlightened the Committee, “…it has included women of color from the beginning even we have often been the last to benefit from our work. Black women, including the founders of my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated, in their first public act in 1913 marched for the right to vote in this very city even when told to march in the back. Black women marched for civil rights in 1965 from here to the Lincoln Memorial even though not given a speaking role.”
Conflict continued between white women and women of color in the movement of the 1960s-70s. Is it surprising that white women are the superstars of the movement? White women regularly refer to Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D–NY [January 3, 1969 — January 3, 1983]) as a leader in the fight for women’s right because she was a black woman who ran for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in 1972. However, that does not address the paucity of black women leaders. This has had an impact on the structure of the movement and unity. Historically, it makes sense that the Republican women are probably more dangerous to equality than the men. 53% of white women voted for former President Trump and would likely do it again. When it comes to real action and voting, women and men who lean Republican would likely concur that women who are not like them don’t need the protection of the ERA or even the Violence Against Women Act. The Republican panelist Inez Stepman is referring to these women when she postulates that the ERA is dangerous. While there is a significant number of women in this camp who are among the hidden hungry, poorly paid and whose children have inferior education and healthcare options, their voting choice will still be Republican.
Republican women standing by their men was demonstrated when Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R–CA) sent Rep. Liz Cheney (R–WY) to the Republican version of the Tower of London and installed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R–NY) in Chaney’s leadership role. Stefanik’s platform mirrors the Republican Party’s from Trump to women’s rights. [https://medium.com/@nicoccj/our-lady-in-waitng-rep-elise-stefanik-r-ny-1f87affec66b] Chaney’s offense was her position on Trump surrounding the 2020 election.
Alliance means that the objectives of each group must be superseded by the common goal of victory. This appears problematic for the Democratic Party. It is the only political space left in America that holds the possibility of reform and justice for the mosaic that is this country. Indeed, justice has not been realized for so many for so long and it is unfair that so many still wait, but there is a common enemy. This points to the difficulty in alliance building. The only elements that all parties can agree on are big bad Republicans and a failed businessman who projected a persona of success on a TV show. The Democratic platform is armed with proposed legislation and solutions that could repair and advance America, but it’s a big country on a spectrum. Plans don’t go far enough, too far, leave out too many, favor too few, too bold, too ambitious or too weak. The leadership falls prey to a mindset that tries to meet the opposing positions in a middle that doesn’t exist. One is reminded of the black women who were told to march behind the white women for the right to vote in 1913. How do folks get to the front walking side by side?
With the current common enemies, Democrat messaging and fundraising are reduced to humbly begging and pleading with hearts breaking. This is not winning against the Republican successful message of fear, hate and no facts. Unrelenting attempts to persuade voters to donate and support out of fear doesn’t make for solid alliances that can sustain commitment to triumph. A strategy that should be considered is articulating what Americans on this side of the divide have in common; what all have to lose.
When looking for a blueprint to see how intersectional concerns can lead to alliance building, look to the life challenges of Native American Women. Native American women are two to three times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. If a non-Native American man assaults a Native American woman, he can’t be prosecuted by Tribal courts. How do these women protect themselves and their children in the realms of the law, health, food scarcity, education and the environment? When one considers women of all colors, immigrants and LGBT people, there is no actual separation between any justice movements. The tricky part is that the individuals who have been traditionally “in charge” will have to get in the queue, i.e., let others also lead, if democracy is going to be preserved.
The January 6, 2021 secession attempt was the show of shows for what alliance looks like Republican style. Christian, Confederate, Red, White & Blue, Back the Blue and Trump flags were flying in solidarity on January 6. A Missouri Republican Senator strutted through the Capitol showing his power fist to the crowd that would eventually storm the building looking for the former Vice President to hang. Was there any degree of inner conflict for those who watched the spectacle online when flagpoles stripped of the flag that belongs to all Americans were shoved in the faces of police defending the Capitol? Policemen saw through eyes burned by bear spray and pepper spray, the Back the Blue flag waving in support of the attack on them. [https://medium.com/@nicoccj/they-held-the-line-back-the-blue-662a8fdc8f04] From those who fantasize about patrolling pristine borders in tactical gear while the sun sets on a “beautiful” wall to those who hope their vote or their inability to vote will keep the inequities and The Other in their place were close to realizing their imaginings on January 6, 2021. How many Republicans believe the 2020 presidential election was rigged?
During the 2020 Presidential campaign, Rep. James Clyburn (D–SC) astutely pronounced, “I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us.” Self-inquiry, while irritating a lot of the time, is illuminating. Anyone on the democracy/Democrat-Progressive to Conservative spectrum must ask the question, “What other Democratic candidate running in 2020 would have garnered support across America to defeat the man who exemplifies the moral and political center of the Republican Party?”
May someone in Democratic leadership consider how alliances win? Republicans helped President Lyndon Johnson get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968 passed. Please remember Senator Everett Dirksen (R–IL [January 3, 1951 — September 7, 1969]). Strength in leadership with concise explanations of goals, objectives and the real obstacles will galvanize those who’ll still be able to vote in 2022. See President Johnson’s remarks after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R–SC-5th District) tried to administer a loyalty oath to Alyssa Milano at the hearing [1:58:00]. Norman demanded she named three things that were good about America that “none of the six (women) mentioned.” His fury was over Kate Steinle “getting gunned down by illegals” (2015), the Uyghurs’ freedom in China and abortion. He proudly proclaimed his allegiance to the Freedom Caucus. When Milano attempted to answer cogently, he continued in a rambling emotional manner, connecting passage of the ERA with a threat to faith-based non-profits, women’s sports rights and having a man “who identifies as a woman going into a woman’s bathroom,” adding disparagingly to Milano, “You mentioned you were raped.” She responded that she would like the same constitutional equality as her abuser. Rep. Norman’s resolve was reminiscent of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings (1950–1954). Rep. Cori Bush (D–MO, 1st District) apologized to Milano for Norman’s “cruel, callous and sexist question line” in her opening remarks. Girls still play nice.
Republican interests converged in this instance in the battle for a woman to have rights over her own body. That’s alliance. The next time a woman who’s fighting for equal rights is denigrated by an elected official, hopefully there will be a unified alliance outside the hearing doors and online standing with her ready to flood social media with protest and action. May that alliance include those who fight to protect the butterflies, those who seek to protect humanity and many more.
