Women Vs. Blacks

I was just thinking about the struggles that Black Americans and Female Americans have had in earning rights and privileges in our country and decided to compare them.  (And I know that Black and Female are not mutually exclusive, so I am specifically looking at Black Males vs Females) (and I know the current correct term is African American).  Let's look at some milestones.

Earned the right to vote
Blacks.......... 1868 with the 14th amendment
Women......... 1920 with the 19th amendment
Difference..... 52 years

First member elected to the House of Representatives
Blacks........... 1870  Joseph Hayne Rainey
Women.......... 1917  Jeannette Rankin
Difference...... 47 years

First Member elected to the Senate
Blacks........... 1870  Hiram Revels
Women.......... 1932  Hattie Caraway (In 1922  Rebecca Felton was appointed by Governor Hardwick of Georgia, but she only served one day).
Difference...... 62 years

First Secretary of State
Women......... 1996  Madeline Albright
Blacks........... 2001  Colin Powell
Difference..... 5 years

First Member of the Supreme Court
Blacks.......... 1967  Thurgood Marshall
Women......... 1981  Sandra Day O'Connor
Difference.... 14 years

First President
Blacks...........  2008  Barak Obama
Women..........  None
Difference...... at least 8 years 

Now, I believe that we are created equally and that neither color nor gender nor religion nor sexual preference should be used to discriminate against anyone.  But considering that white men originally held all the power, I am surprised that it took white women so much longer to earn more of the positions of power than black Men.  I don't know why this is.  Perhaps it was that the blacks were better organized and motivated to claim political power.  Perhaps it was that there was greater opposition to female progress.  I don't think there are any inherent differences between how blacks and whites think.  I do think there are inherent differences in how men and women think though.  And considering that women are more than 50% of our population, I think they should hold at least 50% of the government seats.  If I could re-write the constitution, I would have it so that each state elects one male and one female senator.  And I would require that at least four, but no more than 5, seats on the supreme court be held by each gender.   And race should not be a factor at all.   (I'm not sure what to do about the House of Representatives.  I'm open to suggestions). 

Here's an idea

Republican Party:  Race-baiting, fear-mongering, election-machine rigging, voter suppression, gay-baiting, gender-baiting, war-mongering, and flat-out lying have not worked.  How about you try to listen to what the American people want for a change?  I'll give you some clues.  We want Citizen's United overturned by constitutional amendment.  We want American jobs and manufacturing protected and wages to be sufficient that we can have enough time to spend some with our kids and afford to educate them.  We want an end to the upward re-distribution of wealth, so all our money is floating around the economy and not sitting in an off-shore bank account.  We want personal freedoms and restraint on the ability of the government to monitor our activity.   We want good roads, schools and bridges, fire departments, police departments.  We want to be more focused on nation building here in America and less focused on breaking and then fixing other countries.  (How many new schools have we built in Afghanistan in the past 10 years and how many have we built in Illinois?)  We want an end to discrimination against women, gays, and minorities.   We disagree about abortion, but most of agree that we do not want laws re-written by every new congress or supreme court. 

I really hope you'll stop trying to force your minority agenda down our throats and start reflecting what the people want.  Not just the 0.1%, but all Americans.  That may help you win more elections.