Back in the Land of Deja Vu

Ever since John Adams ignored his wife Abigail’s entreaty to “remember the ladies” when writing the United States Constitution, we women have been trying to correct his and his colleagues’ omission. It would seem that now is a good time – better late than never – to finally get it right.

With that in mind, I participated in a phone bank to belatedly get the state of Illinois to ratify the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment). “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Getting My ERA Campaign Buttons Out of Mothballs and Putting Them to Work

As I got to the phone bank, I couldn’t help wondering why this one sentence is so difficult for the Illinois Legislature to pass. In 1974, we were living in Ohio and I participated in a group that went to Columbus to demand its passage. It was ratified there.

When we moved to Illinois a year later, I got the bad news that Illinois was the only state north of the Mason-Dixon line that had failed to ratify the ERA. Several years followed during which I joined marches and picket lines and wrote letters and attended debates. One of the most memorable times was going with several women to attend a debate at Illinois State University  between Phyllis Schafly and Karen DeCrow, then president of NOW. We had brought fliers advertising a rally in Chicago and I borrowed a knife from the student center to open the box they were in. By the time the debate was over, the student center was closed. I still have that knife in my kitchen drawer serving as a reminder that women in Illinois and throughout the United States are still denied equal citizenship. It's long since worn out its welcome.

When the deadline to pass the ERA came and went without Illinois doing the right thing, we who had advocated for its ratification hugged each other good-bye and said that we’d have to leave this unfinished business to our granddaughters. Now there’s a movement in Illinois to try again to get the ERA ratified here with the hope that if we have 38 states ratifying it, Congress will find a way to make it the next amendment. The state of Nevada ratified the ERA at the beginning of 2017. We now have 36 states and only need two more.

When we failed to pass the ERA in 1978, I didn’t have any children yet and couldn’t even imagine having grandchildren. Forty years later, I have three beautiful granddaughters. I don’t want to leave this fight to them. I want to leave them a better world than that - one in which they have complete equality. 

So I make phone calls and rally and do whatever else needs to be done. Forty years ago, I did this for me. Now I do it for them. If this is not the fight you want to leave to your children and grandchildren, there are phone banks needing people. There are pro-equality candidates that need our support. Emily's List always needs donations. Let’s get to work and get it done this time.