Does America still need the Voting Rights Act?



 

 

The America that we knew in 1965 was a much different America than the one we know today This  was the basic belief of the five United States Supreme Court Justices who sided with the majority when the court struck down key provisions of the historic Voting Rights Act this past  Tuesday. As Chief Justice John Roberts said when explaining the ruling, "our country has changed for the better." If Roberts' assessment of our nation is correct, then one can't help but ask, does America still need the Voting Rights Act, or has the law essentially become outdated? When the historic civil rights legislation was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses were the norm. As a result of these practices, thousands of minority voters were disenfranchised all throughout the south. The Voting Rights Act sought to change all that, and did by requiring federal oversight of voter registration in certain southern states if discrimination was presumed. That was then. Many in support of overturning the law would argue that the forms of discrimination that prevented minorities from exercising their right to vote in 1965 are no longer in existence, and if the law was designed to help eliminate those discriminatory practices, then the law served its purpose, and is no longer needed. Those who support keeping all sections of the law intact would say that in eliminating federal oversight of the electoral process in the south, the court is opening the door for continued discrimination of minority voters, just in different ways. This decision now enables a handful of southern states to set their own election laws without having to gain approval from the federal government first. Many legal experts have suggested that because of the decision by the court, many states in the south will implement stricter voter ID laws which could possibly suppress voter turnout among minorities. It has also been suggested that Tuesday's ruling could lead to gerrymandering or the redrawing of congressional districts for the sole purpose of hurting minority voters. I for one, applaud the progress we have made as a country since 1965 on this issue. None of us should rest until all forms of discrimination in voting are eliminated. Tuesday's ruling by the United States Supreme Court leaves me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I can understand and appreciate the argument that we are a changed nation, and certain provisions of this law are no longer needed. On the other hand, if the elimination of certain sections of the law open up the possibility of discrimination occurring once again, I would have a hard time believing that the Supreme Court made the right decision.

Standing in the Schoolhouse Door



During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, several showdowns occurred between state and federal authorities over the issue of segregation in the south. One of the most famous of these happened fifty years ago today on the campus of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. It was on June 11th, 1963 that Alabama Governor, George Wallace, who was an ardent segregationist, stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium to prevent African-American students Vivian Malone and James Hood from enrolling at the University. Wallace's act of defiance that day left President Kennedy no choice but to take action. After hearing of Governor Wallace's actions, Kennedy moved to federalize the Alabama National Guard in order to get Wallace to move. After being confronted by Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the National Guard, Wallace stepped aside and Malone and Hood became the first two African-American students to attend the University of Alabama. In the years following the schoolhouse door incident, George Wallace would make four unsuccessful runs for the presidency, running three times as a Democrat, and once as an Independent. It was during his 1972 campaign that Wallace's life would change forever. While visiting with potential voters at the Laurel Shopping Center in Laurel, Maryland, George Wallace was shot five times at close range. The wounds he sustained would leave him paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It was his near assassination that helped to change Wallace's outlook on a number of issues including his views on segregation. In 1979, when asked about his stand in the schoolhouse door back in 1963, Wallace said, " I was wrong. Those days are over, and they ought to be over." It's safe to say that by the end of his life, George Wallace was a changed man. An amazing transformation indeed for a man who once claimed, "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Governor George Corley Wallace died on September 13th, 1998 at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama. He was 79 years old.

History's Mysteries

With the recent news that the Amelia Earhart disappearance may have finally been solved with the discovery of part of a plane that may have belonged to her, I began to wonder... what would the average American consider to be the greatest unsolved mystery in the history of the United States? For me, it would be the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As many know, the Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy. However, in the years following the president's death, the report's findings have been questioned by many who believe the death of John Kennedy was part of a larger conspiracy. Numerous conspiracy theories have emerged over the years that have attempted to explain who shot the president. As much as I would like to believe the official government report, I have a hard time doing so. In my view, there had to have been at least two shooters taking aim at the president that November day in 1963, and more than one shooter would indicate conspiracy. I am more convinced today than ever before that the real truth about what happened that day in Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas will never be known, thereby making the Kennedy assassination a mystery of history that will possibly never be solved. While the Kennedy assassination has fascinated Americans for decades, other unsolved mysteries of U.S. history have baffled the minds of many for quite some time as well. Some of these would include, the lost colony of Roanoke, the possibility that Bigfoot really exists, and the Roswell U.F.O. incident. To completely understand history, facts are a necessity. Unfortunately, when it comes to some of the more interesting mysteries of U.S. history, all of the facts are just not known. Perhaps with the passage of time, new evidence will come to light that will help solve some of these uncertainties. In the meantime, we can continue to speculate what may or may not have happened when it comes to these particular events. Isn't that part of the fun of learning about history...to try and figure out what MIGHT have happened when we don't really know the whole truth? I think we all can agree that our nation's history is chalked full of mysterious moments. What we might not agree on is which of those moments deserves the most attention. What moment in history would that be for you?