The legal reproduction of white supremacy has always hinged on the violence and exploitation of Black and women of color in particular. There is a legal principle that Black feminist scholars point to in order to ground this claim — it is called partus sequitur ventrem. In Latin it translates to “the condition of the child follows that of the mother.” And though it existed in the U.S. prior to the 1800s, it became especially important after 1808, when the U.S. passed an act prohibiting the importation of enslaved Africans.

Now we know that slavery continued and was not legally abolished until 1865. So, partus sequitur ventrem ensured the enslaved Black people with reproductive capacity, Black women, would continue to reproduce a slave labor force. Put another way, slavery legally required the rape and sexual exploitation of Black and women of color. When we have that as our legacy in this country, it becomes challenging to unequivocally celebrate the centennial as a gain for women. Though Black women were certainly part of the suffrage movement, we have never been fully covered by the legal protections promised and premised by U.S. citizenship.