Document 61: "Speech by Honorable Patsy Mink, Assistant Secretary of State (Former Congresswoman and Co-sponsor PL 94-167), Third Plenary Session," in National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), pp. 227-28.

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SPEECH BY HONORABLE PATSY MINK

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE (FORMER

CONGRESSWOMAN AND CO-SPONSOR PL 94-167)

THIRD PLENARY SESSION
NOVEMBER 19, 1977

   Your presence at this National Conference for Women attests to the importance you give to the changing role of women and the need to resolve a dynamic agenda for our future.

   No matter who argues to the contrary. I believe there is a cross-section of America present here tonight and that your deliberations will reflect the major forces for change and reform in our society to the end that women shall be finally equal under the law.

   Thousands of women who vied for your delegate's badges are not here but we are acutely aware they are vitally concerned that this event not only achieve a high place in history but that it record accurately the current attitudes and aspirations of women in our contemporary society.

   Two hundred years have gone by to shape this nation, to give its institutions direction and purpose, to enable its citizens to flourish and enjoy the blessings of liberty and freedom. Each step of the way towards the building of our democracy has been hard fought.

   The struggles of the blacks and of all minorities to be accepted and accorded the fullness of opportunity and recognition has been etched in blood and anguish and the struggle still continues.

   This meeting of women is unique in that unlike the true minorities, you possess the numerical majority to make this country whatever you choose.

   This is the obvious anomaly as well as the challenge of this historic convocation.

   Our destiny is in our own creation. Do we want change? How shall we achieve it? How do we mobilize this numerical majority of women to act? How do we appeal to their self-interest and gain their support for issues which are so vital to our full birth as human beings?

   How do we generate a common understanding that the mere denial of a single woman on account of sex of a job, of a promotion, of a scholarship, of a recognition, of an opportunity to be a self-supporting individual is an abrogation of the rights of all women for which we cannot remain silent, for silence is acquiescence to our own derogation.

   There are some who would ridicule our efforts to improve the status of women here and elsewhere. They will try to radicalize simple efforts to state the fundamental principles of equality and our efforts to apply them to all persons, including women.

   Anti-ERA attitudes are generated because equality is feared and the goal of status for women as persons under our Constitution to them threatens the basis of their preference for subordination.

   So under the guise of "save the home," women are being told that equality will threaten their rights as homemakers. It is unproductive, it seems to me, to debate that issue with its advocates. What we need to do is take our cause affirmatively to the American woman. We need to dramatize the reality that you and I are homemakers, too, that you and I have struggled separately for the most part

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of our entire adult lives to breathe life into equality, that we have pushed our way into the centers of business, of science, of government, of politics, despite the barriers that have only recently begun to be lifted because of our newly achieved collective strength.

   This Conference, for me, is the culmination of a life's work—no small part of it being motivated by the intense wish that somehow all the personal affronts, put-downs, and outright discriminations which I endured to make my own way as a human being can be spared my daughter and yours.

   I am therefore all the more incensed by those who would paint as anti-family, women who have lived hardships and out of their personal experiences are now committed to finding solutions for their children's future security and happiness.

   We, each of us, have a great challenge to permit this Conference to express the will and determination of women who do desire equality before the law and who seek changes in status so that women can obtain positions of responsibility.

   Women are needed as active participants in all institutions and forums of public policy. Women need to have a more direct voice in the formulation of policies and programs that vitally affect their lives and the lives of their family. Until we do, the maxim of our democracy "of the people and by the people" is diminished by half.

   This is the high goal which this Conference must obtain. It must serve as a significant event of the coming together of women across this land, charged with a sense of importance and deeply committed as a group to achieve positive gains for women in all aspects of living. There can be no equivocation on this point.

   No matter how vigorously we may disagree and debate procedures and strategies, the bottom line for this Conference must be a serious attempt to provoke meaningful change so that American women of the future can be assured justice, equal protection under the law, and full participation in their own government as proclaimed by our Constitution.

   We know that we are at the most critical juncture of our Nation's history. The country is watching you tonight. What is the public verdict to be on this meeting? What we do here will determine whether we will be joined by the public in what could be this century's most significant policy platforms for the future.

   I place my life, my future, and that of my family in the wise and effective deliberations which I have every expectation will highlight this Conference beyond all predictions.

   With faith, perseverance, and personal commitment, the cause of justice and sisterhood will triumph at last.

   

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