African Americans And The Voting Rights Act Of 1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (qtd. in “Voting Rights for”). This amendment passed in 1870 allowed for every U.S. citizen to have the right to vote, however, inequality among groups of people has been a pressing issue in the United States for numerous centuries. From the influx of native Africans during the slave trade to the Americas in the 1700s, African Americans have endured extreme amounts of discrimination and oppression. Over the past few centuries, African Americans have

In Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it says, “The purpose of this Act is to ensure that the right of all citizens to vote, including the right to register to vote and cast meaningful votes, is preserved and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution.” The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was an event important enough to remain in the new textbook because socially it increased the number of African American voters, politically because it allowed more African Americans the right to vote in elections, and it prohibited the cultural restrictions on voting. Prior to 1965, the number of African American voters in the United States, particularly in the Deep South, had been incredibly low as a result