For the Equal Rights Amendment

The speech “For the Equal Rights Amendment” was given by Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm on August 10, 1970. In 1968, two years before the speech, she had become the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing the state of New York. Chisholm was a fierce advocate for equal rights for underrepresented groups, including racial minorities and women, and she would later become the first Black woman to run for president of the United States. Shirley Chisholm delivered this speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC, imploring her fellow representatives to vote in favor of House Joint Resolution 264, better known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the US Constitution designed to establish equal legal rights for women. Chisholm’s speech in support of this amendment explores the themes of Gender Equality, Economic Opportunity, and Human Dignity.

This study guide refers to a free, unabridged transcript of the speech found at the American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank and is cited by paragraph.

Shirley Chisholm begins her speech by drawing comparisons between discrimination on the basis of sex and other forms of systemic discrimination.