They were both lifelong abolitionists and pretending that isn't so because you want to hold somebody from the 1850s to modern notions of racism is despicable! Yes, as I've already noted, feminism has too often focused on the needs of upper and middle class white women. But how about we have a little nuance and historical accuracy here anyway?
Anthony and Douglass were friends until his death. In fact, her friendship with him ruffled a lot of white feathers, and yet she persisted with it, even when they disagreed about the path forward to voting rights. Anthony and Stanton didn't want to see women left behind, and although Douglas supported women's suffrage, he felt it was more important to get Black men enfranchised first than it was to jeopardize the entire movement. They had moments of tension in their respective friendships, but those relationships - both personal and professional continued nonetheless.
"After the war, Stanton and Anthony were the main organizers of the American Equal Rights Association, which campaigned for equal rights for both African Americans and women, especially the right of suffrage. When the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced that would provide suffrage for black men only, they opposed it, insisting that suffrage should be extended to all African Americans and all women at the same time. Others in the movement supported the amendment, resulting in a split. During the bitter arguments that led up to the split, Stanton sometimes expressed her ideas in elitist and racially condescending language."
Have you never honestly been frustrated about something to the point where you said something you wish you hadn't? Do you want to be remembered at the end of your life for all of your missteps, or for all the ways that made a difference and tried to do what was right? How about we extend that same courtesy?
"While on their honeymoon in England in 1840, the Stantons attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Elizabeth was appalled by the convention's male delegates, who voted to prevent women from participating even if they had been appointed as delegates of their respective abolitionist societies. The men required the women to sit in a separate section, hidden by curtains from the convention's proceedings."
While being indignant about how Black people were treated in the 1850s, where is your corresponding indignation about how even upper-class white women were treated at that time? It's not an equivalency, clearly, but there was still a huge amount of oppression and disenfranchisement there. The world is complex, and the sociology of history particularly so.
How about we take a breath, and try to go forward in a better manner? Well into the 1960s nearly all white Americans thought, at least on some level, that Black people were inferior in some respects. Is that OK? No, but is that the reality of the sociology of the time? Absolutely!
Do we need to do better to redress the legacy of that - particularly as relates to feminism? You bet! But that isn't accomplished by demonizing two women who hugely contributed to equality in this country, despite their imperfections.
