Upon my first reading of this speech, I thought the message was clear: women are not treated as equals. However, as I read and reread the speech, I realized that Sojourner’s message is much deeper than the unequal treatment of all women. Her message is about the unequal treatment of the African-American women. And I agree with her whole heartedly. Throughout history the African-American women has been seen as a subordinate to their White female peers. When society talks about women and the Women’s Right movement,
they think about the White women. It hasn’t been until recently that the African-American women has been included in the talk of Women’s Rights and equality.
My understanding of her message became clear through the repetition of her question, “Ain’t I a women?” As of my first reading I thought, that is a selfish question to pose because she is making the Women’s Rights movement about her. However, when analyzing the context that surrounds the question, “Ain’t I a women?” I realize that Sojourner Truth is an African-American women who has witnessed her White female peers experience the luxurious treatment of being “helped into carriages or over mud-puddles” while she bears the lashes of slavery and the burden of being a slave mother.
I also realize that there is much more to Sojourner Truth’s speech than the racial tension that surrounds the Women’s Rights movement. Sojourner also brings to light the strength and power women wield. Women have done everything and still do everything. Women are the ones that birth and nurture our society. It is reasonable to assume that the women who take care of the future leaders of the world should be held on a pedestal being treated with due honor and respect.