Before women got the right to vote, the 15th Amendment, which passed in 1869 and was ratified the following year, gave Black men the right to vote. St. Mary’s University history professor Teresa Van Hoy says the move didn’t sit well with some white women. “One of the first things they said is that Black men should not receive the vote before white women,” Van Hoy said. Ad“They made many racist remarks about Black men,” Van Hoy said. “The 19th Amendment ensured the vote for women in the United States, Black women and white women,” Van Hoy said.