The most interesting thing I realized on the TVEE is that women played a very big role in the civil rights movement, but unlike men, their efforts have not been appreciated. In fact researches have revealed that they shaped the civil rights movement, however most of them played background roles which could have contributed to their low recognition, since when you are at the background you can’t be conspicuous contributing to their inability of being sung heroines. Furthermore,they could have been unsung heroines due to the widespread racism and sexism, or because men were more appreciated then.
It is striking to note that women were blasted more than men and they also participated in demonstrations more than men yet there is hardly any book written about them. In fact, the fact that more women than men participated in the demonstrations makes it clear that they deserved equal or more public leadership roles. But this was not appreciated either, since very few women were involved in the public leadership positions.
In deed it is disappointing that women like Rosa Parks who rates like Martin Luther King, W.E. Dubois and Booker. T. Washington is mentioned only in a few literature materials, and other women civil rights activists are hardly mentioned in such books. In fact it is even more disappointing to read the book ‘Freedom Daughters’ which has outlined a number of women including Rosa Parks who contributed immensely in the fight for civil rights, yet none of them has been recognized or appreciated anywhere. I think this is very unfair since most men have been recognized and appreciated for very little efforts which cannot be compared to these women’s contribution1.
Bibliography
Olson, Lynne. Freedom’s daughters: the unsung heroines of the civil rights movement from
1830 to 1970, 120. New York: Touchstone, 2002.
