Black Voting Rights Quick Facts
Black suffrage (voting rights) did not begin until after the Civil War. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 to prohibit states from denying a male citizen the right to vote based on “race, color or previous condition of servitude”. This Amendment granted black men the right to vote.
It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, almost half a century later, that black women were fully able to exercise their right to vote. Although the 19th Amendment had granted women the right to vote, it did not initially extend to women of Native American, African American, Hispanic American, or Asian American descent, due to the fact that women of color were largely victims of voter suppression. (Source: Wikipedia)
Voter Suppression Facts
To this day, voter suppression still exists. Voter suppression is the effort, whether legal or illegal, to prevent specific groups of people from voting.
Some of the most well-known examples of voter suppression include:
- implementing new laws
- modifying laws or voting regulations
- voter intimidation
Most recently other forms of voter suppression have increased, such as:
- removal of mail sorting machines (source: Forbes.com)
- decrease in mail ballot drop off locations (source: The Hill)
- purging voter records (source: APMReports.org)
- decreasing the number of polling locations (source: Reuters)
These various tactics often target areas that are highly populated by minority groups. The black community has been victim of these tactics for decades.
So, with ALL of that said, you may ask yourself, ‘I don’t care about politics, so why should I vote?’
A few reasons why you should exercise your right to vote…
- To elect officials that care about humanity and our well-being as citizens of The United States of America
- To help better shape our communities with policies that directly affect us
- To ensure a safe and healthy environment for our families
- To ensure that our children have equal and quality education
- To ensure that black-owned businesses have equal access to funding and support services
- To ensure that black and minority communities have equal access to affordable healthcare
- To ensure that black and minority communities have equal access to infrastructure development
- To ensure that law enforcement is held fully accountable whenever they are in the wrong
- To ensure that our elected officials are anti-racist and will not implement policies that disproportionately target blacks or other minority and ethnic groups
- To combat against systemic racism
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