Plessy was only one eighths black and seven eighths white
Plessy was only one-eighths black and seven-eighths whiteIn a perfect world, racial bias and discrimination against minorities would not exist. We would all
prefer to live in a color-blind society, but that is simply not reality. The fact is that race has
always mattered in the society we live. Up until the middle century, African-Americans were
locked out of the political process and rendered second-class citizens solely because of their skin
color.
Looking back at a critical time in US history, the end of the civil war, one can see the
steps that had to be taken in order to get where we are today. By reviewing and studying the
past, further steps can be taken in order to ensure mast mistakes will not be repeated.
As reconstruction drew to a close more than 100 years ago, the several hundred African
Americans elected to serve in Southern State Legislatures and in congress had dwindled to a
handful. Although reversing this pattern of exclusion had taken much of the 21st century. Today,
Congress has a critical mass of 40 black members who comprise the influential Congressional
Black Caucus, and nearly 5, 000 African-Americans hold elective office across the south.
Most people believe this change is the direct result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
probably the most effective civil rights law ever enacted. The Act immediately outlawed the
worst Jim Crow laws, such as literacy tests and other devices that kept African Americans out of
the voting booth.
In the 19th century, during the early days of Reconstruction, Congress passed two
Amendments to the constitution; the fourteenth, which granted African-Americans equal rights
under the law, and the fifteenth, granting black men the right to vote. During that era, 22
African-Americans were elected to Congress. The Act that has made such a huge and progressive
change in our society is stated as follows:
A nationwide provision that prohibits the use of voting laws, practices or procedures that
discriminate in either purpose or effect on the basis of race, color, or membership in a minority
language group. All types of voting practices and procedures are covered by Section 2, including
those relating to registration, voting, candidacy qualification, and types of election systems.
Section 4
Sets forth the formula under which a political jurisdiction is “covered” by and, therefore, subject
to the preclearance provisions of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Section 4 has various dates that trigger coverage, e.g., if a jurisdiction used a “test or device” such
as a literacy test as of November 1, 1964 and less than 50 percent of the age eligible citizens were
registered or voted in 1964, it became a covered jurisdiction. Section 4 further covers a
jurisdiction if the jurisdiction provided English-Only voter registration/election materials,
contained a registered voting age citizenry (or citizens actually voting) of less than 50 percent,
and contained a single language minority group of greater than 5 percent of its citizens.
Covered jurisdictions include the entire States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia and counties and towns...
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