African Americans Are the Most Widely Disadvantaged Race in the United States

13.2% of the United States population identifies themselves as Black as African Americans, and of those over 16% had an mental illness that was diagnosable. The socio economic impact of a history of slavery, sharecropping and race-based exclusion from health, racism, spiritual beliefs, social and economic resources, education and other factors are key factors that contribute to African American disparities today. Many of these things are linked to mental health. According to the US department of health, African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than in non-Hispanic whites (. Despite knowing this, African Americans are less likely to seek mental health services than white Americans.

The map in Appendix 6 shows the partisan competitiveness of each congressional district in the United States. Southern states, such as Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi, show areas of deep blue, indicating congressional districts that are safely Democratic, surrounded by areas of deep red, indicating areas are safely Republican, with very little in between. This shows that there is little to no competition within these states for congressional races and it would appear Republicans have successfully gerrymandered these states to send majority republican delegations to congress. There is, therefore, a lack of partisan competitiveness in these states, which may be a result of the strict voter ID laws. The strict voter ID laws passed in these states may have been intended to help further the Republican strangle hold in these states in conjunction with the Gerrymandered congressional districts, especially considering these states are not competitive in general elections as

Consequently, voter ID laws were enacted around the country. The laws require eligible voters to produce government-issued identification before casting a countable ballot at the polls. Voter identification, categorized between strict and

The question stands, had the Civil Rights Act of 1964 done what it set out to do? In some cases yes, but in many cases, inequality and discrimination still exist. Most recently, the debate about voter ID laws had made its way into the headlines. Some argue that voter ID laws discriminate against the poor and the growing minority groups. A small group of political scientists found that voter photo identification laws primarily impact minority democratic voters and attempt to disenfranchise them (Hiltzik, 2014). Justice Ginsberg stated that "the greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, [and] denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters" (Hiltzik, 2014).

The 15th and 19th amendments play a major role in the heated topic of enforcing states to ID a citizen before being able to vote. The 15th amendment allows any citizen to vote no matter what race, color or previous condition of servitude. Also, the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. With these amendments, they empower every citizen with the right to vote no matter any situation they are in. Yet, some states require voters to show photo ID to vote, for the sole purpose of preventing voter fraud. Only opponents of such voter ID laws argue that such laws disable the poor, the minority, and the elderly because not all of these citizens cannot afford a photo ID.

States have utilized their discretion over the time, place, and manner to alienate large segments of the voting population in the pass. From the Jim Crow era literacy tests and poll taxes, to modern-day voter ID laws, representatives have attempted to disenfranchise voters at every turn. Thought the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would have ideally rid America of these obstacles by this point, vestiges of the manipulation remain. The passage of years has brought a large degree of uniformity to election laws. For example, all states except Louisiana permit election by plurality in general elections. But several key distinctions prevail, and the desire for federalism here has created issues with suffrage. Voter ID laws are perhaps the most visible

This article, “Swing State Rulings on Restrictive Voting Laws… (etc),” is an article that is set to highlight the inequality that is a result from laws put in place to not allow certain people the ability to vote. While many of these laws are packaged to look like something to prevent voter fraud, or other purposes, they are often times just a Jim Crowe law, in a different costume.

This proves that those most affected by the changes in DMV close down are blacks. These racial barriers are quoted as being a “blast from the Jim Crow past” (Carasik, 2015, P.3). And does not help to ensure that all United States citizens are given the opportunity to execute their rights to vote.

By making the restoration of voting privileges more difficult in general, the black community is negatively affected due to this rising segregation of the prison system. If other states follow the above patterns by making the restoration of privileges more tedious while combining the disproportionate amounts of incarcerated African Americans, the nation will wholly target that population in inhibiting their rights to vote.

In the past decade, a total of 34 states have passed voter identification laws with the same guidelines from state to state. These laws require voters to show a proof of photo identification in order to be eligible to vote or receive a ballot at the voting polls. The initial purpose of the voter ID laws was to prevent voter fraud. However, the laws have made voting harder for some Americans, like minorities, women, students and elders by requiring a government issued photo ID.

Throughout the most recent ten years voter ID appears to have turned out to be a greater amount of an issue. States utilizing such measures say it's a sensible aversion for misrepresentation. There is some legitimacy to requiring voter ID as an obstacle, yet as indicated by the Carter-Baker Commission, voter misrepresentation is negligible (Underhill, 2011). Voters must be enrolled in any case, so these sorts of laws appear to be roundabout deduction in real life. Texas is a decent case of why voter ID laws are a misuse of citizen's chance and cash. Over a 10 year time frame, they've just sentenced 150 fakes in a condition of 25 million individuals (Cohen, 2012). The preferred standpoint to such laws are little. A much bigger worry about the

While it has been one of the hottest topics in the election policy for the last several years, its legacy actually extends back to 1950 which is when South Carolina first request that voters show some type of identifications document at the polls. Back then, no photo was required, they needed only any document that bear the voter’s name. After that, in 1970, Hawaii took on the same approach as South Caroline toward voting requirement. However, in all these states, they were still able to cast a regular ballot if they did not have the requested ID under some provisions (National Conference of State Legislature). After that, many other states started to adopt the same policy, but instead of requesting for photo ID, they actually become stricter

Recently there have been a number of states passing legislation requiring photo identification at the voter polls. Currently thirty-four states have passed photo identification legislation. There are two forms of photo identification, non-strict and strict. Strict photo identification is when voters that do not have proper photo identification at the polls have to show their proper identification at a different time in order for their provisional ballot to count. Non-strict photo identification is when voters that do not have proper photo identification at the polls cast a provisional ballot that would be counted in a close election without the voter having to do additional tasks. Controversy surrounds the photo identification legislations

My maternal grandfather immigrated to the US from India in 1971 in search of more opportunities and a better life for him and his growing family. He chose to start his new life in the booming automobile capital of Detroit. He had hoped settling in Detroit coupled with his engineering degree would bring a job. He did not foresee the racism and discrimination he would face in the US nor the struggle he would face to get equal treatment.

Americans do not always convey a photo ID that meets government measures. Although states have felt that it is important to make strict voter ID laws requiring voters to carry a voter ID. Voter ID laws endeavor to battle a non-existent danger of voter misrepresentation. Federal Government should invest in a form of foundation for Social Security number to confirm and make sure there’s no fraud and it is easier for voters. Every vote counts.