The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1870, stipulates: “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.”
1870: Non-white men and freed male slaves are guaranteed the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era began soon after. Southern states suppressed the voting rights of black and poor white voters through Jim Crow Laws.
This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.
Although voter suppression is still rampant throughout America, we must vote in order to honor the legacy of those who risked their lives for the rights we have today.
Albert Earl Jr.
P.S. Your VOTE matters!!! #Vote2018
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