Henry Wallace Women's Rights

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Henry Wallace advocated for women’s rights. He took a stand against the stereotype that women should be housewives. Gardner Jackson, one of Wallace 's chief ghostwriters recounted, in the winter of 1943, Wallace was addressing several thousand workers in a plant yard, a substantial number of them women. He described a future of enhanced kitchen which would come after the war from the processing plants. He envisioned a new life of leisure for housewives. "So," he proclaimed, "when you go back into your homes..." At that point the ladies murmured and booed. His arm was upraised when this happened. He kept it there for a moment as he shifted his face away from the microphone to look at the crowd. At that point he added "...if you want to," at which …show more content…

As political history specialist Richard J. Walton contends, “at a time when women were usually relegated in political campaigns to stamping envelopes and other such 'women 's work,’ the Progressive Party gave women substantive jobs and campaigned for broader women’s rights.” For instance, Wallace “included policies on women in the workforce in his campaign platform [...] and (their) ability to work both inside and outside of the home.” As well as advocating for women’s rights, Henry Wallace fought to break racial and ethnic barriers, at a time when racism was institutionalized in some parts of the country.

In a speech delivered in New York City, on September 12th, 1946, Henry Wallace said,

The price of peace - for us and for every nation in the world - is the price of giving up prejudice, hatred, fear and ignorance.... Hatred breeds hatred. The doctrine of racial superiority produces a desire to get even on the part of its victims. If we are to work for peace in the rest of the world, we here in the United States must eliminate racism from our unions, our business organizations, our educational institutions, and our employment practices.

He believed that the feelings of pride and prejudice are what cripples humans. Eliminating the notion of superiority is the key to an ideal …show more content…

I have come here to state my belief that the abolition of Jim Crow has top place on the agenda of a program for national defense. I have come to say that until it is abolished the words “democracy” and “freedom” and “justice,” used so glibly to support our foreign policy, will ring hollow throughout the world. [...] I say that those who perpetuate Jim Crow are criminals. I pledge you that I shall fight them with everything I have.

He took his stand and worked with state and federal authorities to change various policies within the Jim Crow Laws which were state and local laws mainly in the Southern States enforcing racial segregation. Wallace successfully established his position on racial inequality in the political theatre. He heightened awareness for the need for women 's rights and colored people, nationally and internationally, in his time and the time to

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