CHAPTER 1

White Women Give Birthto Prohibition

Woman conceives, nurtures, and gives birth to newlife. Her ability to manifest fresh, new life is one of thenatural, phenomenal powers reserved for her. Shehas the ability to easily give birth to flesh or spiritualconcepts; both require conception, nurturing, anddelivery. Although it is a time-consuming process,women seem to do it naturally. Giving birth permitsthem to take ownership of the process, as if it's theirprivate right just because they're women.

Some call it wisdom; others call it mother wit, orwomen's intuition. Whatever it's called, it doesn'tmatter. As a young girl, when I would delicatelyquestion my mother's or grandmother's judgment ofan issue, they had a standard answer: "Because Isaid so." That was it, end of conversation. "Because Isaid so" had an authoritative ring to it. That answerwas the only and last word to resolve the issue.My mother said she knew what she knew, and shedid not have to qualify it any further. She was alsousually right.

They Got Pregnant

Somewhere around the late 1800s, far too manywomen suffered from what is presently called domesticviolence. They had little legal recourse or protectionback then. Being on the losing end of the weekenddrunken brawls with their husbands regardingpaychecks spent in saloons became intolerable.Oftentimes, fights and beatings of women and theirchildren in poor or working-class white families becamea common script that was no longer bearable.

Women became impregnated with an idea. Like fallingrain, the pregnant notion of power peppered thespirits of women across the country. This awakeneda group of women, and their sympathizers found acommon cord that connected many of their salientissues into a simplistic concept: no more domesticviolence and economic dependency. Essentially, whitewomen demanded to have power over the quality oftheir lives.

The power of the idea struck with clarity and heldsalvation in its reins. The alcohol and saloonswere the initial culprits. The women identifiedthe enemy. These women wanted the saloons tostop selling alcohol and to close down. It seemedperfectly logical to them that in turn, theirhusbands would stop drinking and squanderingtheir wages. Almost all women wanted sober andresponsible husbands, fathers, and brothers. As agroup they were convinced they had the solution totheir domestic violence issue. They were willing tonurture and deliver this ideal across the countryand see the laws change, even if it meant changingthe Constitution.

They conceived a fresh, new lifestyle for themselvesand were willing to do whatever was necessary toget the laws changed. To the best of their limitedknowledge of the real world, these women honestlythought their social and domestic issues were causedprimarily by the excessive drinking of alcohol insaloons. But how were these women to know theseverity of the far-reaching and negative, complexramifications and mayhem that their new idea wouldunleash in America?

With absolute resolve and newly discovered self-confidencein their mission to fight saloons andalcohol, this initially small group of religious whitewomen forged ahead with fury. They knew they wereright. Who could challenge their collective voice ofthe "Because I said so" mentality of righteousness?

However, tampering with the governing laws of theland to satisfy a growing multitude of well-intentionedwomen proved to be more than anyone couldanticipate. Unknown to these community-mindedwomen, who were ideologically pregnant with a loftydream that was in reality a maniacal, monstrousembryo, the new brainchild would eventually bringforth to the American scene a live concept of suchmagnitude that the birthmothers would be powerlessto harness it. The intuitive mother wit did not givethem a clue that they had conceived a King Kong inHillsboro, Ohio, 1873. They were sure of one thing:their ideological baby's name would be Prohibition.

Carrying Dreams to Full Term

Their new baby, Prohibition, was absolutelyincompatible with America's Constitution. Thedocument was written by all white men and forall white men, to keep democracy stable for theirbest interests. Historically, race and gender werein ideological conflict in the original democraticstructure of America's Constitution, and thereforethe document provided settings for ensuing battles.White men gave themselves unquestioned power—everybodyelse was invisible. Nonetheless, theirwomen remained true to their intuitive format, andthey relentlessly kept pushing forward to deliver thepassionate embryo that burned in their bellies. Thewomen would tackle the men and their constitutionhead-on.

On the other hand, during the same time frame of thelate 1800s, black women knew they needed to takeaction to create a better life for their families. Thesalient issues of domestic violence and intoxicatedhusbands that ignited hot political reactions ofwhite women were of no interest to black people inAmerica. White women wanted sober husbands andclosed saloons; black women wanted the right toget married and have a husband—and for him tonot be lynched by a band of white cowards hidingunder white sheets. Each was seeking changes inthe Constitution. Each woman wanted power fromthe white man to gain parity for the improvement oftheir particular living conditions. Each lived as farapart as imaginable, but within clear vision of eachother's predicament.

Although there was no established communicationbetween white women and black women during orafter slavery, each was aware of the reality of the whiteman's abuse and unquestioned power. Historically,they had both felt the brunt of his subtle and oftensavage anger, and they learned how to placate thewhite master to get what they could for themselves.

Timing is everything.

America was going through a chain reaction ofbipolar political policy swings. It started with the CivilWar from 1861 to 1865, and then President Lincolnbrought about the abolition of slavery, signing theEmancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.In the same year women were staging sit-ins insaloons in Millsboro, Ohio; that was followed closelyby President Lincoln's assassination, which placedAmerica into a virtual eggbeater. The climate in thecountry was in turmoil and confusing for whites andblacks alike. Change had come, and cultural normswere being redesigned. Seeds of discontent landedon new soil and took root.

America's standard, white man's superiority policieswere being challenged; it was a perfect time fornew ideas to spring forth. Extraordinary women,unknown to each other from different camps, werecrossing unconscious paths and going in the samedirection of freedom. The black path was a matterof life and death. That of the white woman was ofpersonal self-worth. Each carried the potential tocreate something new.

Harriet Tubman had already been preparing freedslaves, brought through the Underground Railroadinto free Northern schools for training so that theycould be productive, free blacks with skills neededin their new urban communities. Susan B. Anthony,an educated Quaker, pioneered white women's rightto vote. She knew that the right to vote was the keyto real power for the white woman. It is amazing thatHarriet and Susan were both born the same year,1820. Each woman, black and white, was busilypreparing her own kind to move forward in the newpost-Civil War and post-slavery era in America.Freedom from the slave system and freedom to votewere non-negotiable agendas from the camps of thesewomen.

White, Female, and Angry

White women possessed few rights independently oftheir white men. Although they were technically free,they were without political and economic power. Awhite woman lacked a voice; she had no legal powerto control her domestic household, and that includedher bedroom. Her powerful white husband rapedand slept with whomever, wherever and wheneverhe pleased. The black house slaves gave birth tofair-skinned, blond babies with light eyes and otherfeatures that looked like the white woman's husbandand their children. The man had no regard for herfeelings or pride. The white woman had no vote andowned no land, property, or slaves in her name, butshe could claim her fair skin and soft, straight hair.The black man and woman could claim nothing butsuperior fortitude.

The carnage from the Civil War left the Southern whitewoman where she was before it started. Her positionwas only affected in as much as her man's statuswas changed. In 1865, when slavery was abolished, itserved as a conscious wake-up call to her precariousposition in America. Blacks from plantations beganto migrate away from the Southern farmland tothe more industrialized North in search of work,although some remained as sharecroppers.

But for the most part, the most poor and modesteconomic white rural households were without freedomestic services and essentially free field labor.For the first time, some Southern white women hadto raise their own children, do daily chores, andmaintain all household responsibilities. Because of theformation of the KKK and white citizen organizations,many white households were able to maintain someof slavery's benefits because of sharecropping anddetaining blacks for years to work off imaginaryfines imposed by sheriffs and judges.

However, many less affluent were forced to becomeself-reliant. Without the benefit of education, money,or political power to affect social change in their bestinterests, many white women learned to adapt to newroles forced upon them by circumstances beyond theircontrol. The Civil War and post-slavery aftermath leftsome whites with few valuable possessions to hold onto. Having white skin was all many Southerners hadleft to embrace as a superior possession. Likewise,to secure their whiteness further, men created themystical, highly protected pedestal for their womanto occupy. The white woman, regardless of how poor,uneducated, or physically unattractive, automaticallybecame a psychologically coveted trophy. Possessingthe trophy gave all white men, poor and affluent,parity in the illusion of possessing power.

Meanwhile, the black woman was left by the waysidewithout elevation from her man, who unfortunatelyforgot that it was his role to do for her what the whiteman had done for his woman.

However, living on a pedestal was not a comfort zonefor the struggling, poorer class of white women. Itproved to be a dysfunctional symbol used by Southernmobs to have as a cause for lynching black boys.White women sought substance. In order to sustaintheir families and stay together, they acquired lifeskills and became survivors. Much of their energywas put into churches and civic organizations, wherethey rallied around mutual issues and discoveredthe power of large, unified numbers. These emergingwomen organizers sought new ways of solving theircommon problems. As memberships increased,especially in the small cities, education became akey component in their developing independence.Through education, large numbers of women becameaware of how a democratic government was supposedto work, and of the human rights all citizens wereentitled to enjoy. The Constitution was now availablefor reading along with other civics books.

Shared readings and public speaking in front ofreligious audiences and political forums became toolsfor the evolving political awareness. White womenutilized their organizational skills and personalrelationships with their husbands, fathers, brothers,and ministers to influence powerful politicians topush their particular issues forward.

Historically, the early 1900s was a time for curiousminds and unleashed new energy to take flight downthe road of adventure. The white woman needed avehicle to push her agenda forward; advocacy forchange became her mantra. Banning saloons andalcohol and getting voting rights were adopted as thekey issues for the movements' expanding agenda.

How this group of white women climbed off theirpedestals and rolled up their sleeves to create theclimate to convince politicians to embrace theanti-drinking-law sentiments is an exciting phaseof American history. It remains one of the mostinteresting historical stories of persuasive lobbying.

"Let's Have Our War"

The lesson learned from this early female-drivenpolitical coup is to use the power of the perceptionof a common enemy that threatens the well-being ofall members of the organizations, as the point of theattack. It became a moral war of survival. This hugegroup of disenfranchised and unhappy white womentook courageous steps to strengthen and improvethe well-being of their families, while increasing theinfluence of the church doctrine in their communities.Husbands coming home drunk, fighting with theirwives, and sometimes beating their children wereserious issues for many households. Spending toomuch of the household money while gambling insaloons, paying for drinks and prostitutes, andspending hours away from home were key commonissues around which women rallied.

Saloons, the sites for the consumption of alcohol,became the primary enemies. The women usedChristianity as their battle ax against the saloonestablishments, to drive their intoxicated husbandsat home and the saloons out of business.

In 1873 Hillsboro, Ohio, was the scene of smallgroups of determined women staging many saloonsit-ins and sit-outs. Ideally, the ladies wore long blackdresses with long sleeves, full skirts, and tight collarshigh around the neck. With very little conversation,a hoard of women would descend upon a saloonlocation, ready for battle. They boldly carried theirBibles like protective shields. Uninvited, they satin the center of the saloon floor, perched in chairs,sang hymns, and prayed loudly. If getting inside wasnot possible, they sat outside the entrance doors insmall groups and walked, sang, and yelled at menas they entered.

In rainy weather, they sat under black umbrellasthat covered them like tents. The Christian ladiesalways wore very wide-brimmed bonnets with tiesunder the chin. Their pale faces were clean, andthey hair was compliantly in place; they were stoicand persistent. The saloon owners found them to bea nuisance to the men wanting to drink and havefun with their comrades. Some men left their favoritesaloons because their wives, mothers, and sisterswere members of the Christian brigade.

Within a short time after the Ohio anti-saloonactivity started, a surge of movements cropped upin different parts of the country. The methods andtactics changed, but the enemy remained: saloonsand drinking alcohol. Some women gave tea partiesin private homes, and some gave speeches in publichalls, but the focus was consistent: ban alcohol.They formulated an enemy to attack.

Discovering Political Muscle

The combined energies of Mother Eliza Thompson'sCrusade and Carrie Nation (the barroom smasher)—followedby the Woman's Christian TemperanceUnion, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth CandyStanton (advocates for women's right to vote), andthe Anti-Saloon League—pooled together a mightyforce for social change. Their combined numberswere staggering. Politicians were at a loss forhow to control this pervasive tidal wave of femaledetermination.

Wayne B. Wheeler, an original Capitol Hill insiderlobbyist, had the loyalty of the Anti-Saloon League(ASL), and more important, the ear of spinelessand shallow-minded President Warren G. Harding.The women of the ASL had direct influence on theWhite House level through Wheeler. After deals andpromises were made in the name of the common goodand decency, Wheeler was able to use his thousandsof women supporters as power brokers for change,although they could not vote.

The Pivotal Year of 1919

On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendmentto the Constitution was ratified and essentially gavethe women's organizations what they were after:Prohibition. Under the guise of correcting a moralweakness, while using the voting power of wet anddry states for huge economic gains for a select groupof American legal and illegal businessmen, Wheelergot the votes he needed. The country was ruled legallydry. Dry was the green light for gangsters and theirbought-and-paid-for politicians to continue to makemoney illegally with government protection.

President Harding's level of ignorance and lackof leadership left America vulnerable to smartbusinessmen and gangsters to become entrenchedin American politics. Organized crime becameglamorous. Greed became legal and was the newAmerican Dream.

From the first day of Prohibition on January 17,1920, to its last on December 5, 1933, America wasthrown into internal chaos. The residue of an era thatlasted for less than fifteen years probably supplieddirty money for many current billionaire Americancorporations. The contemporary government jokecalled "The War on Drugs" is the new Prohibition, tocreate another cadre of American billionaires legallythrough the illegal gangsters in the drug business.

Daniel Okrent, succinctly sums up the impact ofProhibition.

And the 18th Amendment, ostensiblyaddressing the single subject ofintoxicating beverages, would set off anavalanche of change areas as diverse as,international trade, speedboat design,tourism practices and English language.It would provoke the establishment ofthe first nationwide crime syndicate, theidea of home dinner parties, the deepengagement of women in political issuesand the creation of Las Vegas. Prohibitionfundamentally changed the way we live.("The Man Who Turned Off the Taps,"The Smithsonian Magazine, May 2010)