In her book, A Voice from the South, Anna J. Cooper expressly addresses two issues: the participation of women in American society and America's race problem. These are two issues very close to Cooper as an African American woman herself and she claims to speak for all African American women on these points. She argues that for America to be a truly democratic country that has freedoms for all people, it must have participation by women and blacks.
The first half of her book is concerned with the role of women in society. She compares a healthy family structure to a democratic society. In both cases, men and women have distinct roles they must fulfill in order to create a balanced, healthy environment. Since political participation for women was limited at the time of Cooper's writing, she argued that not
This approach to Christianity differs from previous writers in this course (although it bears some resemblance to Douglass) because Cooper relies less on biblical passage to prove her point than she does on history, logic, and Christianity as exemplified by practice. This lack of scripture may weaken her argument for some critics but it is consistent with what she is arguing. I find her call for Americans to stand ready in the fight against racism a little ambivalent but I think she envisions actively asserting God's displeasure with racism rather than standing around and literally waiting.
In the second half of her book, Cooper addresses America's race problem. She argues that, yes, there is a problem concerning race in America and the only way that it will eventually be solved is by the power and grace of God. Until He intervenes, Americans mu
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