Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Bakke/EOTO)

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has said to have been the most influential statutory change regarding voting since the Reconstruction Era. This act cleaned up the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by completely obliterating and removing all Jim Crow Era practices regarding voting. This included outlawing literacy tests, providing Federal examiners in places where Jim Crow practices were prominent, and prevented states from changing their voting practices without consent from Federal government officials. The examiners were assigned to voting districts where less than 50 percent of the non-white minority community were registered to vote. Although this act did ban literacy tests, it is important to note that poll taxes were not abolished in state elections until 1966. 

President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in to law

Although the act was not properly enforced until a few years later, it was successful in increasing the black voting turn out. In Mississippi, the percentage of the black population that voted increased from 6% in 1964 to 59% in 1969. 

As stated above, the act was not properly enforced. However, this allowed for blacks and other minorities to be able to take their cases to court and win. Two cases where this occurred are South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966) and Allen v. State Board of Elections (1969). Both cases tried to challenge the barring of Jim Crow era practices, like the literacy test. 

The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signified very important changes in American society. Society no longer wanted to view African Americans as being inferior, and instead wanted them to have the same opportunities and freedoms as every other American. 

It is interesting to note that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was only created as a counter measure to violence against African Americans. On March 15, 1965, President Johnson gave a speech to a joint session of Congress. He introduced a bill that aimed to finally end voter discrimination against blacks. Congress then revised the bill to create the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

President Johnson gives his "We shall Overcome" speech following "Bloody Sunday"

Another way to look at this is because state troopers in Alabama attacked a group of civil rights activists, voter discrimination was eliminated by the President. It makes me wonder how much longer it would have taken before laws that would protect minority voters to pass if the state troopers had not attacked the activists.

This also has me thinking of the current day and age. With things like healthcare, immigration, global warming/pollution, and other issues our nation faces, it makes me wonder: what will our Bloody Sunday be for these issues? Does there have to be an event to spark major change? Or can the change be gradual? 

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed due to gradual change, there were major events that sparked their passage. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed due to The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed due to Bloody Sunday. Just how these events were the driving force behind the legislation passing, I wonder what our next events will be.