Read the excerpt below from Cooper's essay to answer the question.

The earnest well trained Christian young woman, as a teacher, as a home-maker, as wife, mother, or silent

influence even, is as potent a missionary agency among our people as is the theologian, and I claim that at

the present stage of our development in the South she is even more important and necessary. Let us then,

here and now, recognize this force and resolve to make the most of it--not the boys less, but the girls more (p

79)

In the excerpt above, the word our refers to -

African Americans

African American women

Americans

women

The answer is "African-American women."

Explanation:

The excerpt above was written by Anna J. Cooper. She is an African-American author and scholar who wrote the book entitled, "A Voice from the South," which was her first book. The excerpt above was taken from that book.

The purpose of her essay was to fight for women's rights, particularly the African-American women. Being an African-American woman, herself, who also grew up as a slave in North Caroline, explains why the word "our" in the excerpt refers to "African-American women."

She wrote it on behalf of the group, in order to cause some changes such as giving women the right to be educated and to have a higher social status in the community.