The Voting Rights Act of 1965 for African Americans

Glenn M.

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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 for African Americans

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Abstract

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped solidify the rights minorities fought for throughout the Civil Rights Movement. The guarantee of equal voting ensures that everyone's vote can be cast without a predisposed bias against it rooted in race. The act encountered controversy at the time of its proposal, and its sections and subsequent renewals since continue to be the subject of debate.
What problem did the bill seek to address?

Despite adopting the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and granting former slaves the initial rights toward citizenship in 1865, ratifying the 14th Amendment outlining the assurance of citizenship for African Americans in 1868, the 15th Amendment prohibiting racial discrimination of voting rights in 1870, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 voting rights were still not secure for African Americans. The discrimination was based on the exploitation of illiterate and low income African Americans to disenfranchise them from wanting to vote. Literacy tests and poll taxes were implemented to keep the vast majority of African Americans from the polls. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established that rules and procedures on voting must be implemented equally in lieu of race, but it did not eliminate the use of illiteracy tests, poll taxes, or any other voter qualification that extended beyond the inherited right to vote as a citizen.

Introduction
Adopting the 13th Amendment
Who introduced the bill, and who co-sponsored it in each chamber?
How did the bill manage to navigate the procedural hurdles to make it to a vote on the floor of each chamber?
Conclusion

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[...] Dirksen proposed that there be an exemption for those states that had a low voter turnout or had literacy tests.[8] These states would be eligible for the exemption if the state had a non-white population less than twenty percent or sixty percent of their voting age citizens registered.[9] On the House side, the subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee voted 10-1 to send the amended bill to the full committee.[10] On April 22nd, the Senate began its debate on the bill.[11] On the House side on May 12th, the Judiciary Committee passed the bill by voice vote and passed it on to the House Rules Committee. [...]

[...] Once again this can be credited to the importance of this bill. The only time cloture had succeeded prior to this was two years prior in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (this excludes the first time cloture was used to end debate on the Treaty of Versailles in 1919). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most important pieces of legislation in our nation's history. Its importance can be seen by the expeditious path it took through Congress. [...]

[...] "Civil Rights 1965 [The Dirksen Congressional Center]." Web "81st CONGRESS IST SESSION Union Calendar No H. R [Report No. 439]." Web. "Voting Rights Act: Essay." CongressLink. Web. "Voting Rights Act: Essay." CongressLink. Web. Binion, Gayle. Binion, Gayle. "Voting Rights Act: Essay." CongressLink. Web. "Voting Rights Act: Essay." CongressLink. Web. "81st CONGRESS IST SESSION Union Calendar No H. R [Report [...]

[...] "The Implementation of Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act: A Retrospective on the Role of Courts." The Western Political Quarterly 32.2 (1979): 154-73. Print. "Civil Rights 1965 [The Dirksen Congressional Center]." Web. "81st CONGRESS IST SESSION Union Calendar No H. R [Report No. 439]." Web. "Voting Rights Act: Essay." CongressLink. Web. "81st CONGRESS IST SESSION Union Calendar No H. R [Report No. 439]." Web. "Civil Rights 1965 [The Dirksen Congressional Center]." Web "81st CONGRESS IST SESSION Union Calendar No H. [...]

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