Part II: Literacy Tests, Poll Taxes, and other 1971(a) Barriers to the Black Vote In 1962, Deputy Attorney General Burke Marshall reported that “racial denials of the right to vote” existed in eight states, with only fourteen percent of eligible black citizens registered to vote in Alabama, and just five percent in Mississippi. There were … Continue reading Voting Rights in the Early 1960s: “Registering Who They Wanted To”
Part I: Mapping the Barriers A basic law protecting the right to vote “without distinction of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” has been part of the American story for almost 150 years. The law evolved through the decades, but for much of its history, one thing remained the same: the Federal government had … Continue reading “When It Was So Rough that You Couldn’t Make It”: Voting Rights in the Early 1960s
