American Experience

For the women of Virginia and the women of America, the resolution has finally passed.

cheers

NARRATOR:

Last January, Virginia became the latest state to ratify a constitutional amendment

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

the Equal Rights Amendment. But the move quickly drew challenges....

REPORTER:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Five Republican Attorneys General are seeking to block an effort to see the Equal Rights Amendment adopted into the US constitution.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The heart of the ERA is only 24 words. It would bar discrimination on the basis of sex. And the story of its long, circuitous path illustrates the changing debate in America about women's rights.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The most dramatic step to date in woman's campaign for equal rights.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

In 1920, women had just secured the right to vote.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Women in Illinois are quick to register and vote while energetic suffrage adherents realize their long campaign is over.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The struggle for suffrage had taken decades. And the final few years had pushed leaders like Alice Paul, a founder of the National Woman's Party, to take radical steps for the cause.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Ms. Paul, a dramatic campaigner, had gone on a hunger strike earlier in an effort to force congressional action.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

But for Paul, winning the vote was just the beginning. Many states had laws that made it difficult for married women to work. If married women worked, they didn't necessarily own their own earnings. And they didn't have the same rights as husbands and fathers over their own children. So they thought that if they had a constitutional amendment that made discrimination against women illegal and unconstitutional, that would be a huge step towards women actually being equal in society.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Paul and her collaborators proposed what became known as the Equal Rights Amendment, and it was first introduced into Congress in 1923. But the seemingly straightforward idea raised concerns from many of the women who had worked together for suffrage.

SUK:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

They were worried that it would wipe out laws that they had worked to get on the books to actually protect women in the workplace.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

America at the turn of the century. On the assembly line, as in the home, a woman's work is never done.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Those special protections for women, like shorter work days, were hard won by progressive reformers like Florence Kelley, and based on the idea that women, particularly vulnerable to exploitation, needed to be treated differently. The reformers and labor unions feared these protections would be undercut by an amendment guaranteeing equality of the sexes.

SUK:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

That fear was not unreasonable, because the Supreme Court did strike down a law that guaranteed minimum wages for women. They pointed to the fact that women now have the constitutional right to vote as evidence that sex inequality was on its way out.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

But for people like Alice Paul, special labor protections for one gender were at odds with the idea of equality.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

It was a debate that would follow the ERA through time as women entered the workforce in increasing numbers....

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Employers find that women can do many jobs as well as men, some jobs better.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

And Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party continued to press their case for the ERA over the next four decades.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Surrounded by memories of suffragettes, these ladies have pursued the goal of a fair and equal break rate for American women.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

By the early 1970s, labor opposition to the ERA was receding, in part because labor protections were expanding for both women and men. And with growing bipartisan support in congress, and momentum from The burgeoning women's movement... Equal rights to have a job, to have respect, to not be viewed as a piece of Meat...

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The calls for the ERA were becoming too powerful to ignore.

ALICE PAUL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Gradually instead of a little tiny cluster, we now have 10 million women backing this particular measure before Congress.

BELLA ABZUG:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

We will settle for nothing less in the ultimate than equal representation in all levels of political power.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Congresswoman Martha Griffiths had repeatedly introduced the ERA into the House over the years and finally succeeded in forcing the Amendment onto the floor in 1970, where the broad backing for the measure soon became clear.

SUK:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Once it did get a full debate, well over 90 percent of the House actually voted for the ERA.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The House today by the overwhelming vote of 354 to 23, passed a proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee equal rights for women.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

By 1972, both the House and Senate had passed the ERA.

NEWSREEL:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The agreement now goes to the states and must be ratified by 38 of them.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

And within one year, 30 states, out of the 38 needed, ratified it... but then, an opposition movement emerged, led by conservative Phyllis Schlafly. The wife has the legal right to be a full-time wife and mother supported by her husband.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The campaign found a receptive audience among women concerned about changing gender roles. The major objection to the equal rights amendment is that it would take away from women rights and privileges which they now have.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Schlafly's push dovetailed with the rise of the powerful religious Right, and ERA proponents were stunned. The women here now fear they are facing an organized enemy, the Moral Majority and conservative groups who have found a newly powerful voice since the 1980 election.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

In the end, the amendment fell three states short when the ratification period expired in 1982. The chimes strike at midnight for ratification of the ERA. At that moment the ERA becomes DOA.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

But now over three decades later, as the number of women in Congress and State Houses reaches a record high, a new generation is reviving the ERA. There is only one way to spell equality and that is simply ERA.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Women in the Nevada, Illinois and Virginia legislatures are leading the fight.

REPORTER:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

In the wake of the MeToo movement and the fight for equal pay, the ERA came back to life. What do we want? Equal rights! When do we want it? Now!

REPORTER:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Democrats in Congress are pushing for its addition to the Constitution.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

The House of Representatives voted to remove the 1982 deadline. But Senate Republicans and the Trump administration remain opposed. And there's also the question of the five states that have tried to rescind their ratifications of the amendment.

SUK:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Ongoing litigation makes it unclear when or if it will be added.

NARRATOR:

that the country has been fighting about for nearly 100 years

Today, a century after the ERA was first conceived, it continues to hang in limbo. Over the decades, women have made gains through other changes in laws and policies. But the need for ratification remains for many of the women at the center of the struggle now -- as a way to recognize the work that's come before, and to ensure women's rights going forward. When you enshrine my constitutional rights, as a human being equal to men, well then that is the only thing that's acceptable. Persistence, faith, and hope fuel the indomitable spirit of this movement. We got tired but we did not faint. We became weary but we did not stop. History demands that we take a stand. The struggle continues and the work is not done.