Argument In Failure Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965

Most change can be caused by people or something with significant value. Occasionally people forget that change can also be caused by pieces of paper. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a law passed that primarily gave African Americans the right to vote without having to take any sort of literacy tests. African Americans were widely ignored in voting rights because they were forced to take literacy tests to be eligible to vote. Having this event in our nation’s civil rights movement was a landmark that allowed the other half of our nation’s voice to be heard. “The Voting Rights Act itself has been called the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress.”(Laney 65)

Despite what many might think, the voting rights act of 1965 is well known across hundreds of nations all over the world. The voting rights act of 1965 has been around for several centuries and has a very important meaning in the lives of many. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. He aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits this racial discrimination. This document is just as big and important as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It would be safe to assume that voting rights act of 1965 is going to be around for a long time and will have an enormous impact on the lives of many people in times to come. The voting acts of 1965 created positive and negative changes for America. But, why was this law created, when was it put into effect, and what effect did it have on the U.S.?

During the era of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the nation seemed to be split down the middle in terms of its citizens. Obviously this is not meant to be taken literally, as the citizens of the United States were divided in terms of political views, morals, and other very important topics. One of these topics happened to be the act of expanding suffrage to people other than rich landowners. Both arguments in this debate were represented with a number of different types of evidence as to why each side was the correct way to go about shaping the way people voted in the United States and why the opposing opinion was not to be trusted. There were both pros and cons of expanding suffrage in the United States, but some were more valid than others.

The national narrative of transformation depicted in the appended PowerPoint presentation purports to explain African American's longwinded struggle for voting rights. The story begins with a newspaper advertisement of black slaves for purchase. The advertisement perpetuates the ubiquitously presumed value of black people as commodities which consecutively invalidates black people’s value as human beings. Considering black people’s undervalued reputation, they were not appreciated as citizens of the United States until 1866. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 marked the beginning of transformation, as all native-born Americans including blacks were given the rights to citizenship.

My research topic is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and I chose this topic because I always found it amusing that it took so long for African Americans to legally be allowed to vote. I also thought this topic was appropriate since we now have an African American president, and the African Americans citizens need to know that voting I important because we didn’t always have that right.

Throughout the semester we have touched upon many instances for which the legal history of America effects the life of a black America, especially in “We Shall Overcome” Alexander Tsesis takes on the task of looking at civil rights through the “lens of legal history’. “The Ballot or The Bullet” displays the political message that the ‘ballot’ is freedom, and thus power through the freedom to vote. Malcom X hounds in on the political idea that the white man preys on the black man for votes, but then allows filibustering to happen in the Senate so nothing gets passed to promote equality for black Americans. Alexander writes frequently through the book how skewed politics become for blacks once their vote is legalized. That although, they can

Since its birth, The United States has always had a troubling past on giving its citizens the “right to Vote.” Initially the “ right to vote “ was an exclusive right given to white freemen and before the 15th amendment wasn’t even a true right, more of a privilege. For this reason, it is my belief that the 15th amendment was the most important. The 15th amendment is also the first of four amendments extending the Right to Vote to all in the United States. In 1869, the United States congress passes this amendment which allowed for all citizens no matter what race, color or previous condition of servitude to vote. This meant that “on paper”, this right, naturally pass on to African American. However, as demonstrated by Louisiana passing a the

I cannot agree with you more Inez. “It is hard to believe that in 2017 we are still having the discussion as to whether or not every American has equal access to be able to vote.” How is this still an issue?

I think there were many events that helped the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act to pass some I would not characterize as fortunate.

From the beginning of racial divides in society, minorities, specifically Blacks, have been discriminated against their voting rights. They have not only been unrepresented in the number of candidates running for positions but also the number of voters who are registered and participate in elections. After the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it was prohibited for voters to be racially discriminated against. But since then, many revisions have been added, tightening the rules for registering and participating in voting. Many of these rules prevent minorities from voting but aren’t considered racially discriminatory by the Supreme Court. These laws usually are created by Republican politicians, right before a major election, and in result help decrease the number of votes on the Democratic ballot, since most minorities vote Democratic. Although these laws don’t really change, some are challenged and removed by the Supreme Court on the argument that they prevent certain races from being able to vote. Throughout history, Blacks and other minorities have been targeted and prevented from participating in elections, hurting Democratic candidates through strict voting laws created by Republicans.

The Voting Rights Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973 et seq., decision is important regarding the laws governing voting rights and their relationship to minority voters. Its implication and effects however does not end within the legal realms and dimensions but continues through to society, culture, and human rights. The Voting Rights Act initially established in 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration protected “racial minorities” from biased voting practices. It was a huge stride in the civil rights movement and a victory over harmful, archaic, and biased voting practices and traditions.

For many years, Americans have fought to obtain the voting rights present generations have today. From the civil war in the 1860’s, to the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama during the 1960’s, from veteran soldiers in a struggle to survive, to the peaceful protesters abused in a chaotic frenzy. These are the factors that managed to secure future generations a right to vote. Combating the restrictive laws of voting and battling against voting discrimination, however, are the issues many American citizens have to face today. Maintaining and attaining theses rights is the pinnacle of preserving our right to vote by implementing active participation in voicing our concerns and engaging in political hearings involving our own agendas on voting.

The Constitution gave each state the right to determine its own voting laws (May 50). This privilege has been amended to ensure that minorities, and other groups who would be otherwise left out of the voting process, are not prevented from voting in federal and state elections. The most prominent piece of legislation ensuring equal treatment of all citizens at the voting booth is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Amended many times since its initial adoption, the Act is generally considered the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted by the United States Congress, but the relevance of this bill written more than 50 years ago has come into question in recent years (Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws).

The first section to the fifteenth amendment clearly states, “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 the account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”1 The fifteenth Amendment was passed in 1870, after the Civil War and during reconstruction. Congress wanted to act before the Radical Republicans, and White Supremacists could when it came to the voting rights of the once enslaved African Americans. In Mississippi, a state largely affected by the emancipation of slaves, African Americans had made up for more than

A problem that compromises our democratic values is voter suppression, although several pieces of legislation have tried to take down voter suppression, particularly Jim Crow discrimination that reigned in the south until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed. But, it’s widely considered that