Psychology As A Social Justice Issue

The Act has undergone several changes and additions since its passage, but the U.S. Supreme Court found a key provision of the Act unconstitutional in 2013. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.” (Staff 3). In the article, Voting Rights Act, author Staff states, “The Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson (1908-73) on August 6, 1965, 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 (1870) to the Constitution of the United States.” (Staff 2). Even though all these efforts and laws were made to give everyone a fair and equal chance to vote, there are still many restrictions and setbacks everywhere in today 's society and the major ones are Voter ID laws, Voter registration restrictions, State felon disenfranchisement policies, Purging of Voter Rolls, Transgender Disenfranchisement, Disinformation about Voting Procedures, Inequality in Election Day Resources, and Caging Lists.

Soon after passage of the Voting Rights Act, federal examiners were conducting voter registration, and black voter registration began a sharp increase. The cumulative effect of the Supreme Court’s decisions, Congress’ enactment of voting rights legislation, and the ongoing efforts of concerned private citizens and the Department of Justice, has been to restore the right to vote guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Voting Rights Act itself has been called the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by

Race, simple external differences linked to other complex internal differences, has historically created issues in American society. “Race and racial inequalities are one of the most vital issues confronting contemporary U.S. society,” explains Sociologist Ronald Takaki. In the past race has had both biological and social implications across the country.

“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Alabama for the right to vote. I’m not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us [African Americans]” –John Lewis. Within 100 years, African Americans overcame many obstacles such as paying poll taxes, passing multiple tests, and violence to be able to vote. They had to pay taxes, such as poll taxes. They also had to pass multiple tests, such as the Property and Literacy tests. Violence was also an obstacle African Americans had to face in order to vote.

Throughout the years many Americans have faced what is known as voter suppression. When researching voter suppression you will find that it is defined as a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing those with voting rights from voting. I interpret that the causes of voter suppression derives from that of equality issues or a misconception of government. However, history recorded the effects of voter suppression which leads to major violence, rebellion, strikes, or in some cases fear. The jarring act of voter suppression began early as 1776 when white men owning property were allowed to vote denying Jews, Catholics, and others their voting rights.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.” In the 1880’s poll taxes and literacy requirements that afterward advocated African Americans to vote. Meanwhile Klan violence frightens from police and employers, blacks were still “protesting”about voting rights. As a result, there were over two dozen blacks serving in state congress across some

Throughout America’s history the franchise has been withheld from different groups. This has been possible due to weakly written laws that do not provide adequate protections. In 1965 PL 89-110 was passed, this law, commonly known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, finally provided real protections for minorities living in southern states. In recent years the language of the law was modified within the Supreme Court to take away the law’s primary power. In the following mock Congressional testimony we will go back to 1848, 13 years before the American Civil War, and provide evidence of why a law like PL 89-110 is necessary and commendable.

Following the Civil War and freeing of slaves all over America a new question arose: Should black people be able to vote? Further, were they even citizens in the fullest sense? Now freed from slavery, black Americans found themselves in a political limbo where they were no longer property but not fully citizens. In an effort to extend protection from discrimination at the poll booth, an amendment to the Constitution was passed declaring it unlawful to deny voting on account of race. This amendment, however, was met with unprecedented resistance. Suppression of the black vote was just one step in preventing black Americans from being treated as citizens.

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.

The main contemporary federal policy that will be examined is the amendments that have been made to the voting acts which empowered states to decide and make judgments on who is eligible to vote. The research will look into how this undermines the rights to vote in our modern society. In particular, the research will focus on the amendment made on the 1965 voting rights act that internationally defined eligibility of a voter with the inclusion of minority groups. A ruling made by the Supreme Court in 2013 gave power to states to determine and register eligible voters. This in my opinion, and from data collected from different articles gave states a chance to create more restrictions on voting rights. Social welfare associations think that beneficiaries of such laws have created a status quo which results in discrimination. The research will look at the impact of such contemporary policies and examine its effect on voting rights and societal perception of inequality.

With key aspects of the Voting Rights Act being returned to the regulation of the state governments, there has been a trend of the defunding and stricter rules directed toward voting registration drives. These drives have long been problematic with the concepts of “priming” and “fraud” being discussed in relation to their existence, but they have played a huge role in the outreach program to increase overall voter turnout. There have been arguments that they decrease the urgency of the vote which has also been applied to early voting periods and Election Day Registration acts, but they succeeded in increasing the voter turnout rate overall and decreasing the wait lines at the poll, bringing forth the question as to why voting urgency would be a necessity in the process of the vote. Since the changes to the VRA, many states have gone forth to defund these drives, seeing them as having no purpose and being a waste of money. Many states that kept the drives added strict regulations. These include not allowing blank registration

The impact on minorities due to inequality
Introduction 
During the course of this class I have learned about social problems within the society in which we live and around the world. It is disturbing to learn that poverty, social inequality, race and cultural discrimination, gender stratification, environmental damage, population growth, and urbanization are among the social problems and controversial issues that still exist in the United States.

5. What tangible cultural evidence might support the social disadvantages of the lived experience of being in the majority group? And the minority group?

One of notable contributions of social psychology is research on social justice (Jost & Kay, 2010), racism, and prejudice (Ross, Lepper, & Ward, 2010). Within the topic of social justice, themes such as equality, equity, liberty, morality, and others are studied. The surge of academic attention in social justice post World War II partially attributes to the political interest in fighting fascism. Nevertheless, issues that are related social equality are continuing to be relevant today. A challenging aspect of this topic is a lack of consensus among scholars with regards to its definition. Moreover, understandings of social justice require integration of individual, group, and system level insights. Holding a balance between subjective and objective experiences with respect to what construed as just is essential. Understandings gained from research would assist researchers to identify obstacles to fair community including selfishness, laziness, human tendency to dehumanize perceived enemies, and common social misconceptions. Research results can assist the public to encourage dialogues integral to social justice (Jost & Kay, 2010).

Although our culture is said to be completely removed from the idea of racial discrimination, this sense of inequality can be seen occurring behind the scenes within our society. Within the subtopic of race, several areas including our current culture, social psychology and the current format of our social institutions allow for the production and often the reproduction of racial discrimination in our day and age. Throughout this course, the various readings and class lectures have been very beneficial when examining the impact that racial discrimination and inequality has on our society. In this paper, I will delve into the subtopic of race and ethnicity and expound on how it is greatly influenced by our culture, social psychology, and social institutions around us today.