The 19th amendment promised women the right to vote would not be denied because of gender. But it was an empty promise for women with dark skin.
"It's an historical legacy that can't be ignored because it's inconvenient," says Sandra Slater. She's an associate history professor at the College of Charleston and the director of the school's Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program.
Slater has been talking a lot about the suffragist movement this year as part of the centennial celebration of the passage of the 19th amendment.