These legislations specifically target minorities, resulting in even more racial inequities in access to the ballot box. There are about 19 states that passed 33 laws this year, making it harder to vote. The current effort to restrict access to the vote box is vast in scope. Introducing this legislation at this point is crucial. Voting rights would be strengthened by the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Regrettably, the Supreme Court has struck down the legislation twice in the previous eight years, rendering it incapable of safeguarding Americans from increasingly aggressive voter discrimination. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a critical safeguard against discrimination in our voting system. Previously, only about 23% of Blacks of voting age were registered, and however, by 1969, that figure had risen to 61%. That’s because the Voting Rights Act forbade states from using literacy tests and other techniques to disenfranchise Blacks from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 changed the status of African Americans in the South. The 1965 Voting Rights Act gave African Americans the ability to cast a ballot for the first time. In 1964, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished poll taxes. As a result of King’s efforts, the political climate in the United States changed. in 1963, drew more than 200,000 people to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about the challenges and disparities that African Americans continue to confront a century after liberation. The March for Washington, organized by Dr. Like many courageous Americans, they marched, were arrested, and even died for voting equality. This was particularly heartbreaking because my ancestors were tax-paying citizen who was denied representation in his country many years ago. She told me about her great-grandfather and grandfather, who had never voted in his life due to poll tax. I’m reminded of a story my late grandmother told me. As recently as fifty years after the 15th Amendment was signed into law, African Americans continued to confront barriers to voting.įor decades, the struggle for African American suffrage persisted. There were protests in many American communities against this disparity in treatment. People whose ancestors were enslaved were required by the regulation to vote if their grandfather had done so. Many states utilized the “grandfather clause” to prevent descendants of enslaved persons from voting until the Supreme Court overturned it in 1915.
Voter fraud, intimidation and poll taxes all worked together to deter African Americans from casting their ballots. Race, color or former condition of servitude were not grounds for denying or restricting voting rights for citizens of the United States, according to the 15th Amendment.ĭespite this, states found ways to circumvent the Constitution and limit the right to vote to African Americans.
To remedy this problem, the 15th Amendment was adopted in 1870. Voters of color were denied access to state voting places.
And we have to use it.”Ĭitizenship rights for African Americans were established by the 14th Amendment in 1868. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society. The late Congressman John Lewis said it best, “The vote is precious it is almost sacred. I believe the American public is more aware of this fact now than we’ve been since perhaps the start of the Union.
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