President Obama’s inauguration speech made reference to Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall. I’m sure all over the South people were scratching their heads and yelling out, “Did you hear that Billie Jo, Obama just mentioned Stonewall Jackson.”
As an old American Studies prof, I feel the need to clarify.
Seneca Falls referred to the Convention held in that town in western New York in 1848. The Convention called for women’s suffrage. One woman who attended the Convention was still alive when the Women’s Suffrage Amendment was adopted in 1920.
Selma referred to Selma, Alabama, kick-off point for the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights in 1965. Marchers were met at the Edmund Pettus Bridge by cops who beat them--an action which is often credited with hastening the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which, by the way, is currently being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Stonewall, perhaps the least know of the references, was the shorthand name for the Stonewall Riots. In 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn, a club in Greenwich Village, to arrest gay men. (Yes, gay sexual activity was illegal in New York in 1969.) This time the gays fought back, and the “riots” are often seen as the beginning of the movement for gay rights.
I didn't know about the Seneca Falls reference. Thanks for the enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteI thought the Presidents speech was quite good. Thom Hartman said it best on his radio show this afternoon. The Presidents speech was about "We and not Me". I think we all know whom the "Me" reference refer to.