African American Voting Rights

The issues of racial discrimination and non equal voting rights were the problems that were causing a social loss to American communities. To stabilize the American communities, to protect the rights of American citizens specially the African-Americans, it was necessary to highlight the issues of racial discrimination and equal voting rights. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the American politicians who take this matter very seriously and play his role to solve the issue of racial discrimination and equal voting right. The march of 1965 led by Dr. Martin Luther King was also one of his efforts to protect the equal voting rights for American citizens especially for

When people’s rights are suppressed, they have to stand together for themselves in order to win those rights back. In the 1960s, African-Americans marched together in a series of peaceful demonstrations in order to demand the right to vote which was a right that had been long suppressed. The Civil Rights Movements led to the Voting Rights Act which was a great achievement for African-Americans on their way to attaining equal rights because this act protected African-Americans’ right to vote from being suppressed by state governments.

On August 28. 1983, a group of over 200,000 people supported and attended the March on Washington. (www.history.com). This statistic demonstrates the fact of how impactful the March on Washington was and how many people were on the same side. The speeches at this assembly are some of the most famous and well known speeches that are still remembered today. There are many events from the Civil Rights Movement that changed our daily lives, including speeches and court cases, and there are key people who were involved in them . Some of the major events included the Brown v. Board of Education (1954), he Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1957, the Greensboro Sit-ins (1961), March on Washington (1963), the 24th Amendment being passed (1964), and the

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement, was passed in order to ban discrimination in public places as well as strengthen the role of the federal government to end segregation in public places. Also included in this act was the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which was established in order to ensure racial discrimination was not occurring within employment. The aspect of desegregation was not occurring rapidly in Southern states, such as Alabama. Not only was desegregation not occurring quickly under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but also the act did not address any issues with voting rights among the African-American community. The civil rights movement grew strong in southern regions especially racially tense areas such as Selma. In the city of Selma as well as a variety of other southern regions, African-Americans were harassed when attempting to practice their fundamental rights of voting through poll taxes and literacy tests. In 1965, only 1% of African-Americans were registered to vote in Selma but 50% of Selma’s population was African-American. In order to address the lack of voting rights, Martin Luther King and the SNCC worked vigorously on setting up marches to overcome the injustice that was occurring in Selma. Due to the overly aggressive authorities in the South, a majority of the marches ended violently thus increasing public support for new legislation to ensure the basic right of voting to the African-American

Wonder who’s been a victim of voter suppression? Voter suppression has been a problem since the act of voting came into play. Politicians have schemed since the very beginning to get their way. With the citizens being the voters it’s our responsibility to spot crooked politicians. Sometimes what we see and what we hear are not the truth. With the voter literacy test and laws that dis-proportionally affect African Americans it’s only human nature to be discouraged. What is going on in society isn’t right to us citizens who do up ide by the law. Even with it being un-lawful, Voter suppression is still practiced because some politicians are crooked and the voter literacy test and laws that disproportionately affect African Americans are a prime example.

“There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes ”… These words said by Martin Luther King Jr. marked a new dawn for African Americans and their right to freedom as citizens of the United States. The march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama brought equality to blacks and changed the course of American history.

In 1965 80 percent of Lowndes County, Alabama was African American though only a few Blacks were exercising their right to vote. This resulted in a lack of political representation in the area. I believe that Carmichael saw this event as an opportunity to assist Alabama Black Citizens gain representation in a dangerous area. Stokely’s actions in Lowndes County were the backbone of the Black Power Movement is forming. In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, prohibiting legal barriers at national and local elections that prevented Black Americans from using their freedom to vote. It took a push from local communities for local officials to allow non-discriminatory voting. This was frequently the case in the south because of frequent acts of violence toward Blacks. In Lowndes County, also known as “Bloody Lowndes,” whites would forcefully prevent their African American citizens from voting by threatening their lives with guns, mobs, and simply not educating the black community of their ability to vote. Stokely Carmichael arrived in Lowndes County in 1965, and he walked from door to door explaining that in 1965 a law was passed, giving all Black American citizens the right to vote without the fear of racial discrimination. Carmichael made an effort to put emphasis on the

In the early 1890s. the former Confederate South began to unravel the works of northern abolitionist and the Fifteenth Amendment (Conway 108). The state legislature passed disenfranchising Constitutions and laws that limited or revoked the rights for Black Americans to vote. The 15th amendment was intended to protect the suffrage of Black Americans after the American Civil War. In the Constitution, the Fifteenth Amendment clearly states that the “Right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”("15th Amendment to the Constitution"). This ultimately means that a person may not be striped of ther rights to vote based

Kennedy who shook hands with the leaders and discussed about a civil rights legislation. On July 2nd 1954 the Civil Rights acts was passed on. The act outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin. This lead to the desegregation of African Americans allowing them to use public transport equally, attending school with other races, equal use of medical facilities, etc. Although the desegregation was lifted, some locals believed that the government shouldn’t ban segregation in public areas and still continued to segregate people in public accommodations. This led to further violence and unrest between races. The act still continued to influence other important civil rights legislations such as, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Voting rights act 1965 and the Civil rights Act of 1968. The Civil rights act of 1964 was an important and vital part of civil rights movements and was able to be achieved by the March on Washington and the civil rights activists who took part. The March was a major significant event as it was one of the largest gathering for protest, gave light to the everyday challenges and hardship that the African- Americans citizens faced, successfully achieved its main goal of gaining civil rights for jobs and freedom, and it finally was an inspirational movement for the future generations to learn from. As said in Source B, “It was the greatest assembly for a redress of grievances that this capital has ever

Following their emancipation in 1865, African Americans in Texas faced many obstacles while trying to gain full voting rights and overcome the severe limitations of slavery. These obstacles included Jim Crow laws, Black Codes, racial gerrymandering and racist white supremacy groups who promoted racial discrimination and segregation, poll-taxes, literacy tests. African Americans wanted to live in a society that would allow them equal opportunities and legal status. Due to a white majority in state legislature and Congress, blacks’ political and legal status was contingent on finding white Americans who favored equality for all. Fortunately,

Johnson. He was instrumental in getting black voting rights passed in the United States by putting forth the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He “considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement” (Califano, Selma Flaw). LBJ was crucial to getting voting rights that were of utmost importance to blacks at the time. Another key figure in Selma was obviously Martin Luther King, Jr. He was integral in the push for black rights, leading many different non-violent protests in order to secure rights for all blacks. Before the events in Selma, King led the blacks on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was successful in removing the segregated bus lines. MLK was crucial in acquiring black rights, but in Selma he was crucial to rallying the people and leading them. Another key figure was the youngest of the major civil rights leaders of that time. This was John Lewis, who was the chairman of the unsuccessful SNCC group in Selma. He was one of the few spearheading the march to Montgomery. He was seen being beaten, which was reported in the news, causing the black rights movement to get

In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed. This act officially stop discrimination and combined all people of all races in the South. Also, it created many problems because southern started to have judgement on the act, which made it very hard for blacks to be able to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the location where the fight for freedom to vote took place. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters had a march across Selma to Montgomery. The march resulted into having President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which gave the rights to vote to vote no matter what the state or people said or do.

When Washington was delivering the Atlanta Exposition he claimed that “according of the full exercise of political rights is going to be a matter of natural, slow growth, not an over-night [Sic] gourd-vine affair”. However, Du Bois believed that it was necessary to agitate and upset to gain voting rights for African Americans, essentially believing that their freedom and their right to vote had to be explosive and upset the social order. Through political power, Du Bois felt that economic security and material gains could be achieved. But Washington opposed the direct militancy of Du Bois. Washington made the point that the militancy would only serve to upset the whites in the south, which in turn would limit African American voting rights. Much of their differences in suffrage can be understood through their respective backgrounds. Washington was a former slave, so his experiences later affected how he viewed voting. His subservience to his ‘masters’ as to not upset or cause unnecessary violence is apparent in his pragmatic and slow evolving voting ideals. While Du Bois grew up in a white European neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, relatively secluded from the Jim Crow Laws of the South. Du Bois’ self proclaimed elitist attitude, reveals the most important difference and reasoning between him and Washington on the matter of the need for African American suffrage. Du Bois, from experience, knew that suffrage in the north was a far more attainable goal after the Civil

According to Jennifer Keene, “Thirty thousand protesters walked from Selma to the state capitol building in Montgomery.” The protesters did not walk alone as they were joined by federal troops that Johnson had sent to protect them. Another fifty thousand supporters joined the marchers in Montgomery (Lindsey). In the speech he presented during this march, King demanded that African Americans be given the right to vote without unjust restrictions posed by Jim Crow laws and policies. On August 6, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Keene). This act banned the poll tax as a voting requirement and placed federal oversight over Southern voting practices, such as difficult voter registration requirements. One million African Americans, who had never been allowed to cast their ballot before, voted between 1965 and 1968 (Keene). In 1965, President Johnson continued to alleviate discrimination. Banning it was not enough to legally end enforced discrimination in the South, so he pressed to end Jim Crow discriminatory social customs through affirmative action programs (Keene). Affirmative action programs opened up opportunities in education and employment that were denied to minorities in the previous years. Affirmative action programs required that employers and schools favor minority and female applicants to create a more socially diverse workforce or student body. To show he truly believed in

Voting can be said to be one of the most valuable privileges anyone can have in any country. Everyone might have a voice, but that does not mean every voice is heard. Voting is one of the surest ways the voice of the people, along with their demands, is heard. Throughout history though, not everyone had a voice or a chance to vote. It was not until the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments came along, that ensured African Americans the right to vote. Even then, whites made voting a difficult task by setting up voting barriers such as: white primaries, poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause, which not only impeded African Americans from voting, but also uneducated, poor whites. Nowadays those barriers do not exist yet most citizens who are eligible to vote do not. The question asked is why? There are many factors that influence who votes and who does not, as well as