Civil Rights and the Voting Rights Act
"No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color”
- Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act -
For decades, people of color and other marginalized groups were denied the right to vote and met with violence and intimidation when they challenged the status quo. Civil rights organizers worked at various levels to challenge the discriminatory laws and segregationist attitudes prevalent across America for many decades. As these groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and their leaders gained greater visibility, so did their demands for equal rights. As a result, there were increased demand to change discriminatory laws and more structured and visible efforts to register voters.
During the height of the Civil Rights movement the increased brutality inspired greater activism, which in turn led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The landmark legislation sought to combat voting laws that discriminated against voters on the basis of race.
Unfortunately, the wording of the Voting Rights Act did not go far enough to ensure lasting protections of all voters. State politicians again found legal loopholes to exclude marginalized populations from voting, and mechanisms such as gerrymandering became more sophisticated, ensuring politicians' position within a district by "packing" and "cracking" voting groups into voting districts.
Because the act was not an amendment to the Constitution, it has required numerous renewals since its passage. Civil rights advocates have had to fight to retain the protections of this legislation each time the act has expired and as the constitutionality of the law has been repeatedly challenged in the Supreme Court. In a 2013 decision, a crucial section of the VRA was deemed unconstitutional, removing the requirement that states with histories of discriminatory legislation obtain pre-clearance for changes to their voting laws.
Selma, AL, 1965. Baltimore News American collection
NAACP youth parade for voter registration, 1971. Frontlash records
WARNING
Offensive LanguageThe archival resources in this exhibition contain offensive and outdated language. We chose not to censor these items in order to accurately represent the bias and prejudice of the time. We strongly condemn the use of such language and ask exhibition visitors to engage with this material carefully and critically. Explicit warnings have been provided for those items with the most offensive language.
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the hallmark of Civil Rights legislation in the U.S. It aimed to prevent discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin; strengthen the enforcement of voting rights; and end the application of Southern "Jim Crow" laws. Unfortunately, measures regarding the vote were relatively weak and did not ultimately prevent states and election officials from disenfranchising Southern Black voters. Activists continued the fight for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to better protect the Black vote.