Why Latinos Are Still Fighting For The Voting Rights Act

*Lot’s of developments this past week on the voting rights front: The 50th anniversary of the VRA and a Texas lawsuit that found strength in Section 2 of the Act – voter ID was successfully pushed-back. I like this piece becasue it summarizes the arguments for keeping the VRA alive and moving toward an updated, more comprhehnsive voting rigths act. VL

By Cedar Attanasio, Latino Times

Thursday Aug. 4 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which defined the responsibilities of the federal government to intervene in state elections where minority voters were being discriminated against. The legislation was one of the tangible outcomes of the mid-20th century African-American Civil Rights movement. Initially designed to combat racial discrimination, it was later expanded to protect other minorities, like Latinos who were denied equal access to voting if they were Spanish speakers. What did the VRA change? Let us quickly travel back to the end of the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but he didn’t ensure African-American citizens the right to vote. By 1870, America ratified the 15th Amendment which guaranteed the right 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.” Pretty clear, right? But while the federal government is bound to protect the constitution, it doesn’t directly run elections. That duty is left to the states, where some were not happy that black men could vote. In the 100 years that followed states sidestepped the 15th amendment, intentionally discriminating against minority voters. For example, some southeastern states culled black voters from the rolls with literacy tests and poll taxes, while excluding less literate or poor whites with “grandfather” clauses.