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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 cram
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 cram
Political effects of jim crow laws
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The Voting Rights Act marked a significant shift in American democracy, ensuring the right to vote for all regardless of race, religion, or sex. The key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Section IV and Section V, ensured the overview of all state mandated voting laws, safeguarding constitutional values despite racial opposition. The breaking down of this provision under Supreme Court Ruling Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General has the potential to undo decades of progress to tackle racial barriers, isolating and withholding the right to vote for the weak, effectively dissolving democracy for the ones who need it the most. Throughout American History, people of power have isolated specific racial and gender groups and established policies to limit their right to vote. These politicians, in desperate attempt to elongate their political reign, resort to “anything that is within the rules to gain electoral advantage, including expanding or contracting the rate of political participation.”(Hicks) Originally in the United States, voting was reserved for white, property-owning gentleman Society cannot let factions become disenfranchised and lose their self determination. The United States, a country founded upon the ideals of freedom and individual prosperity, cannot hold unjust elections brought upon by the current dominant political party. President Johnson created a bipartisan effort to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, enriching democracy and continuing the American spirit of democratic values. Johnson united Congress with the simple message, “Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.” (Johnson) Today, the citizens of the United States must push Congress formulate an oversight measure to fix voter
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
Although establishing rights for many different members of society, the voting rights act isn’t the end of this concern. We can learn from history that the interpretation of voting rights will always be in question by some new player. The best we can do is to understand that voting rights in American history has had much to with time and place, thus the reason for the ongoing change in the interpretation.
It is often difficult for congress to deliberate and produce laws that are in the interest of national majority. Although the House and senate are representatives of all the citizens of the United States, they don’t necessarily represent the people in terms of demographics. Since the establishment of the US government, white males have predominated all political decisions made in congress. Although their numbers have been on a rise, women and people of racial minorities, such as blacks and Hispanics, have a small percentage of seats in congress. Gay and bisexual members make up an even less percentage, with only seven openly gay or bisexual members, all belonging to the Democratic Party (Kernel, 252). Because of this underrepresentation, the benefit of many of the citizens isn’t considered when laws are being deliberated. Although these citizens can vote for people of their race, gender and sexual orientation, they often do not because they would not have
Although the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in theory guaranteed equal protection and voting rights to every US citizen, regardless of race, in practice American society remained racially segregated both economically and socially throughout the early 1900s (Henretta 870). Poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud, coercive tactics, and "white primaries" in southern states eroded the Fifteenth Amendment's promise of equal democratic participation, leaving many African Americans without a political voice despite constituting a sizable portion of the population (Henretta 871). Similarly, Jim Crow segregation in the South-consisting of segregated public facilities, including bathrooms, restaurants, and transportation-condemned African Americans to
Our political system doesn’t represent the average American anymore and must be changed. Smith writes“Average Americans have become disenchanted and politically disengaged and, as a consequence, disenfranchised.” (Smith 411) And why shouldn’t they, the middle class is being ignored. As Smith notes here “When Larry Bartels of Princeton University analyzed a host of congressional votes in the 1980s and 1990s, he found that senators were “Vastly more responsive to affluent constituents” than to middle class and poorer voters.” (Smith 412) The rich get their voice heard while the poorer folks are ignored. To fix this injustice, Smith as two major points. First, he suggest we try as hard as we can to reduce the influence of money in politics. Second, he suggests that the primary system must be open to third parties. The two party system, held by the primary system, doesn’t represent the people. Its a congress of stalling and waiting. Smith notes the ugly use of filibusters by congress to stale bills that would help our economy. The most common offender is the Republican party, Smith writes “They put ideological purity ahead of winning short-run victories. Their technique has been to sharpen partisan divisions by exploiting wedge issues that play upon white middle-class religious voters, such as abortion,school prayer, and ERA (women’s rights), and by taking extreme positions and then wagon uncompromising battles on “anti”issues - anti-tax, anti-union, anti-gay anti-Washington
...tion has focused attention on the problems of our current system of voting. With the disproportionate amount of minorities being represented in Congress today, a change in the voting system is inevitable unless the two parties make a concerted effort to draw larger minority support and offer up minority candidates.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.A. § 1973 et seq.) prohibits the states and their political subdivisions from imposing voting qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or standards, practices, or procedures that deny or curtail the right of a U.S. citizen to vote because of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.
The government’s power allowed them to create laws that restricted uneducated and poor blacks from voting simply because of their skin color and the stereotypes that said they were “savage” and “uncivilized.”[2] These examples show how the stereotypes given to Japanese Americans and African Americans at the time influenced the government to use their power to limit the rights and liberties of the two
This bill will strike down restrictions on voting in all elections -- Federal, State, and local -- which have been wrongfully used to deny Negroes the right to vote in the past. However, these events will stay in the past. This bill, our bill, will provide a uniform standard which cannot be used to flout our Constitution. If an unlawful State official refuses to register anyone, this bill will allow the citizen to register to vote by officials of the United States Government. We, will eliminate unnecessary lawsuits which delay the right to vote. And finally, our legislation will ensure that officially registered citizens will not be prohibited from
Conference, T. L. (n.d.). Voting Rights Act. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://www.civilrights.org/voting-rights/vra/
Why is it that people are so against the idea of change? Change isn’t scary or frightful. For those people who are scared of change, are the ones who make unfair laws and rules that people who are different have to follow. Like African-Americans, who had far few rights then they do today.
As a democratic government, voting is the foundation of the American governmental system and, in extension, the American way of life in general. Voting is considered to be so incremental to the American way of life that it is mentioned in four Constitutional Amendments. These "four separate Amendments – the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th, even use the same powerful language to protect Americans right to vote: 'The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged ...'" (Donnelly). The question is, however, are new voting laws designed in a way that inherently infringes on the rights of people, or is their purpose primarily to protect the integrity of the voting system? While this issue is controversial, the limits
Martin Luther King Jr. persuaded people that it was wrong what people were doing with voting rights and other rights; therefore, he got people to join them and help them rally getting the rights that they deserve. He got them the civil rights act and the voting rights act, furthermore, they were happy which was big because it’s the one everyone wanted they all wanted a voice and Martin Luther King Jr. got them it with that act. With the civil rights act, they got treated better which was also a good achievement by Martin Luther King Jr. and his group. He made it so that the white people would get really mad in Selma and they beat them on camera. Thus, it got in the newspaper and on television so people
The article tells us that in the past the presidential election has consisted of mostly white voters. Minority groups were small enough that their votes didn’t really matter. This is an example of coercion, “power that people do not except as rightly exercised over them.” (Page #306) But, as the number of minorities grow, the more important their votes become to politicians. There are a large number of minority voters in the southwestern states and Florida which were the focus of this article.
In today’s society, most citizens of the united states register to vote without any regard to race of color. However, prior to passage of the federal voting rights act in 1965, southern states disenfranchised nonwhites in many ways.