Invisible Women

Recy Taylor was a black woman who refused to remain silent about her sexual assault in 1944. As she walked back home from church, she was kidnapped by a group of armed white men who raped her and then left her on the side of the highway. Taylor reported the crime to the police and testified against the group of men in court. Many have praised Taylor for being so brave to testify, especially during the Jim Crow era of America. None of the men were prosecuted even though most of the men confessed. There is now a book and documentary that tells Taylor’s story.

Like Recy Taylor, many black women were sexually assaulted and had no idea what to do. Living in Jim Crow America gave these women little to no options on how to deal with the trauma they had to experience. Nobody was going to believe a black woman over a white man back then, so many felt that their only option was to move on. Taylor’s actions gave women all over America hope that if she can get her day in court, then so can they.

References:

• Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 25 March 1957. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1957-03-25/ed-1/seq-26/

• Lane. (1979). Women demonstrate against sexual harassment in the arts and theatre.

• Tan, T. (2019, November 8). 'A gut punch and rally cry all at once': 63 women cartoonists share their #MeToo testimonies. ABC News. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-08/metoo-comics-anthology-shares-sexual-assault-harassment-stories/11676334

• The Tribune. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.), 25 Aug. 1951. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn98068351/1951-08-25/ed-1/seq-1/

• The daily bulletin. [volume] (Dayton, Ohio), 26 Feb. 1945. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024221/1945-02-26/ed-1/seq-1/