LAD #17: Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman Speech"

      In this speech by Sojourner Truth she goes into not only the problem concerning the unequal treatment of blacks but also the unequal treatment of woman in America. She also points out that with all of these problems that America is experiencing the white men of America will have a lot of problems on their hands to deal with. Sojourner states that the way woman are supposed to be treated is as a lady, being helped over puddles and into carriages. What she is angry about is that even though she too is a lady she has never been treated with the same amount of respect that any white woman would have been treated with. She has had to work hard for her entire life and should gain as much respect as any man let alone any woman. She has been through so much in her life, battling slavery, the grief of losing her children, working as hard as she ever could so why is she not treated as any white woman would be treated like or respected as much as any man. She makes the point that having intelligence does not always matter in the sense of giving people their rights and respect they deserve. She also references the fact that without a woman Christ would not have existed. Women have always been strong enough to change the world and just because men may tell them they can’t, does not actually mean they are unable to make a difference. And if the woman is black, it does not make a difference.