Essay On African American Voting Rights

People are born free, and everyone should have equal rights. If anyone reject others from their rights so they should protest to get their rights back. During 1960s people made some movements in order to get their rights which we call civil rights movement. In that movement African-American also made a movements in order to get voting rights act passed.There were a lot of restriction in front of them to get their voting rights. Voting rights Act of 1965 is a significant Act for African American in order to have equality in the United States. Voting rights gave a chance to African American to get their democratic rights but still today African-Americans are struggling for their voting rights.

In the early 1960s, There were civil rights

movements over the US, one of the important movements at that time was African American voting rights Act. During the 1960s Mostly in South African American hadn’t any chance to vote even though they have right to vote, but there were some non-sense tests which mean it became same to have rights or no voting rights. “ Early in 1965 Martin Luther King Jr. resumed the voter registration Campaign in Selma, Alabama, where blacks made up 50 percent of the population but only 1 percent of the voters”(Bailey, Cohen & Kennedy) Because of the restriction only 1% black could register as voter MLK.Jr steps up and bring the right for blacks. Under MLK.Jr leading there were several non-violent activities in Alabama “ Bloody Sunday-About 600 non-violent voting rights marchers heading to Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital, are attacked by state troopers in Selma”(www.cnn.com) “On the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, state troopers and county members violently attacked these marchers, leaving many of them injured and bloodied — and some of them unconscious. But the marchers didn't stop. Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led roughly 2,500 people back to the Pettus Bridge before turning the marchers around — obeying a court order that prevented them from making the full march.” (www.whitehouse.gov) The state government in Alabama was against voting rights act, for that reason they tried to stop the campaign at any cost. Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted to get national attention so it will be easy to approve the act. “Early In 1965, a county sheriff clamped down on a black voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, Deputies arrested and jailed protesting black teachers and 800 school children.
The leaders of the voter registration drive decided to organize a protest march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama.” (www.crf-USA). To make restriction on the voting rights act, state government sent troops, used sheriff and other authority to make delay
There many arguments that supported the voting rights act of 1965, most of the congressman and Senators showed many facts that supported voting rights act. “The story of Negro voting rights Dallas county, Alabama, of which Selma is the seat, could---until February 4---be told in three words: intimidation, discouragement, and delay.”(Nicolas). The way of approving the act was not that much smooth, specifically in Alabama the situation was more difficult. Constitution from 1865 gives equality to African American but in reality they couldn’t enjoy their most important right which is voting right. Voting rights could fulfill equal rights for African Americans by participating a black representative for government “Southern blacks also risked harassment, intimidation, economic reprisals, and physical violence when they tried to register or vote. As a result, African Americans had little if any political power, either locally or nationally. In Mississippi, for instance, only five percent of eligible blacks were registered to vote in 1960.”(Core-online.org) “The constitution of the United States fixes the places of all us in America and God fixes the places of all men white men or Negro or those of any color, born or naturalized in the United States, are citizens of America under one flag, dying if need be, for one cause supposedly protected by one constitution.”(Claude)
There were some arguments against that were the big obstacle for voting rights act, most of the obstacle came from the state government of South.

“It is an indispensable intrusion by the federal government into an area where it has no constitutional right”(George Neu) It was a big tension between federal government and state government. But some of them blamed it as a controversy at that time because most of the federal government head supported that. “Virginia senator Henry Byrd, an opponent of the 1965 voting rights act, claimed Lyndon Johnson would only increase racial tensions by “inflaming so-called civil rights issues” if he pursued the legislation.” (Finley) By Refusing all kinds of argument against voting rights the congress had passed the voting rights act to give African American exact equal rights.”The voting rights bill was passed in the U.S. senate by a 77-19 vote on may 26, 1965. After debating the bill for more than a month, the U.S. house of representatives passed the voting rights Act into law on August 6, with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders present at the ceremony.”(history.com) a major part the congress voted for the voting rights act in order to “This great, rich, restless country can often opportunity and education and hope to an….black and white, North and South, Sharecropper and city dweller. These are the enemies….poverty and ignorance….and not our fellow men...And these two should be

overcome”
After passing the voting rights act the main struggle for the country was to enforcement of this law. There were many problem to enforce this act, “Congress had found that case-by-case litigation was inadequate to combat wide-spread and persistent discrimination in voting, because of the inordinate amount of time and energy required to overcome the obstructionist tactics invariably encountered in these lawsuits. South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 327-28 (1966).” There were some gap in the act because in the act it assured that black can vote but the structural changes made some restriction from the “During the hearings on these extensions Congress heard extensive testimony concerning the ways in which voting electorates were manipulated through gerrymandering, annexations, adoption of at-large elections, and other structural changes to prevent newly-registered black voters from effectively using the ballot.”
There were some authorities that didn’t take this act seriously they just refused “A Supreme Court ruling striking down Section 5 would unilaterally disarm federal officials, disabling their ability to effectively fight for minority voting rights at the precise historical moment when those rights are being jeopardized again by new a new generation of suppression efforts.”(theatlantic.com) The problems of voting rights act remain same by supreme court ruling, this ruling created lots of restriction for other authorities to solve or support the voter rights act.
After passing the voting rights act it’s been more than 4 decades but the enforcement of law is still weak. These days voting system got more difficult which cause lots of people losing their voting rights. “First, state lawmakers passed a strict photo ID law that made only five documents acceptable for voting: a state-issued driver's license or identification card, a military photo ID, a passport, a U.S. citizenship certificate with a photo, or a concealed-carry handgun license.”(Judith Browne Dianis, Huffingtonpost.Com) All of the requirements made the voting system really hard for the voter to vote. Every citizen doesn’t have passport or driving license in the USA. There were lots of identification proof that could be used but they gave only five option. “Tea Party group True the Vote has been challenging voter eligibility in Florida in a heavily African-America area, meaning some voters won't know until they arrive at the polls whether or not they've been cleared to vote or not.” In some places voting system was inactive that causes lot’s of voter to lost their chance to vote. For all of those reason voting right is still inefficient.
In present part of our federal government has made some mistake which is done by the supreme court ruling during 2013 “The Supreme Court on Tuesday effectively struck-down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a 5-to-4 vote, freeing nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval.” But most bad effect of supreme court ruling had on those states which has the big population of black ““first-generation barriers to ballot access” to “second-generation barriers” like racial gerrymandering and laws requiring at-large voting in places with a sizable black minority.”By the supreme court ruling the situation of voting rights went to it’s old place when black people get many trouble to get their voting rights.
The voting rights act of 1965 made a big social change for African-American. Because of that act, minority group like African-American. By that act, minority group like African-Americans started to have participation in congress. In African-American history, voting rights act is a biggest victory for them to have because it gives African-American political powers in the country which can bring real equality. African American were slave for more than centuries. They got their freedom at 1865 but they didn’t get the equality over a century. The voting rights act of 1965 have given them a chance that can help them to be part of American politics. But still they don’t have equality in voting rights, if we don’t fix that problem right now then it will take another century and they will suffer for another century