Discrimination against African Americans is something that will forever be avoided and will not be talked about among the people of the United States. It is something that many people have died and fought for over the last hundred decades. Women and men lost their lives fighting for the respect they rightly deserved. Mary Church Terrell fought for equal rights for African Americans to be treated equally. She fought against the injustice against her people, forced to sit in the back seat of the bus and use the fountain labeled “for blacks”. Mary believed that "racial pride could supplant feelings of racial inferiority if African Americans were only more aware of the accomplishments of their ancestors." Who is Mary Eliza Church Terrell? In the late 1800s, African Americans were discriminated against because of their skin tone. It was rare for an African American who had finished high school to drive himself through college. Mary Church was afforded these opportunities because of her father's wealth. Her wealth afforded her opportunities that no African American woman had. He was able to meet influential people such as Fredrick Douglas and Booker T. Washington. Because of Mary's education and her father's wealth, which helped her gain the knowledge she needed to fight for the rights of her peers. Mary Church was born on September 23, 1863 in Memphis, Tennessee to Robert Reed Church and Louisa Ayers, both former slaves. His father, Robert Church, was biracial and was speculated to be the son of his white master, Charles Church. Robert Church achieved considerable wealth by investing in real estate in Memphis. As a child Mary attended the Antioch College Model School in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which was a very prestigious organization... , and did not promote a change in the domestic nature of a social position. It was only focused on promoting a change in how African American women were treated in society. Once the 19th Amendment was ratified, Church began to focus more on her public speaking skills, which would come in handy when she was named president of the school board. Works Cited McHenry, Elizabeth. 2007. “Toward a History of Access: The Case of Mary Church Terrell.” American Literary History 19, no. 2: 381-401WATSON, MARTHA SOLOMON. 2009. “MARY CHURCH TERRELL VS. THOMAS NELSON PAGE: GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS IN ANTI-LINCING RHETORIC.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 12, n. 1:65-89.Nash, Margaret. 2004. "Patient Persistence": The Political and Educational Values ​​of Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell." Educational Studies 35, no. 2: 122-136.