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Home , Grandfather clause, Voter suppression

Social Education 84(4), p. 204–208 ©2020 National Council for the Social Studies Beyond the 19th: A Brief History of the of Black Americans Anthony Brown, Joanna Batt, and Esther June Kim

The history of rights for has been tumultuous. It began to vote in 1920 and far beyond. After the at the moment West Africans became the chattel of white men and women. For the 15th Amendment, Black women would next 200 years, enslaved African Americans had virtually no voting rights. In the continue and intensify their activ- Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Supreme Court declared that even “free” African ism, digging into the Black “woman ques- Americans did not have the right to be citizens. After this, African Americans went tion.”5 Even after the 19th Amendment through varied periods where the vote was repeatedly given and taken away. What for women’s suffrage was ratified in 1920, anchors this history is what Derrick Bell calls the permanence of , which is Black women were subjected to the same the idea that racism remains a stable feature of American society.1 We contend in this restrictions on voting faced by Black men. essay that the story of voting rights of African Americans from Post-Reconstruction These restrictions came in various forms, to the present illustrates how racism has changed over time. In this essay, we focus on all cloaked with guile and creativity to three periods of history: Post-Reconstruction, Civil Rights, and Post-Civil Rights. In execute the same egregious purpose: stop- the sections that follow, we offer a brief history of voting rights for African Americans ping African Americans from voting at all during these periods. We conclude with some recommendations for how teachers costs. For instance, something called the might approach this history. “” was publicly penned as a nod towards allowing the right to vote ‘The Nadir’: The Vote is Given and expanded citizenship via enhanced con- for certain parties. A closer look, however, Taken Away stitutional powers of the federal govern- shows that states adopted this discrimi- The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, ment. But the 15th Amendment did not natory practice in order to give the right often called the “Civil Rights Amend- eradicate racist forces bent on suppres- to vote only to men whose grandfathers ments,” are an example of something we sion of African Americans—both in their had voted before the years 1866 or 1867.6 as educators might preach as progress in right to vote and in their aim to live free This effectively cut out most Black men, a history classroom. But such pedagogy in Jim Crow America.3 The time period for their grandfathers had been enslaved without the whole story can hide great from Reconstruction’s end until the start before the 15th Amendment of 1870 nuance—and insidious white supremacist of the civil rights movement is called and had therefore been unable to vote —when it comes to the rights ‘the Nadir’ for its deliberate removal of in 1866/67. actually fulfilled for African Americans African American voting rights.4 Other flagrant efforts at suppressing from 1877–1954. Although the amend- We often associate the 15th Amend- the exercise of the franchise by African ments’ creation and existence are indeed ment of 1870 with voting rights for African Americans included literacy tests, poll key features of Radical Reconstruction Americans, and the 19th Amendment taxes, “losing” the of Black vot- and post- steps towards equity of of 1920 with voting rights for women. ers, changing polling places right before African Americans, the 15th Amendment However, before examining these periods the vote without informing Black citizens, fell short of securing the right to vote for of suffrage, it’s important to spotlight this setting up polling places in locations Black communities and Black women, crucial fact: no women of color received African Americans could not reach and especially in the South.2 Its creation the right to vote in 1870, and nearly all arresting drivers in advance, or simply speaks volumes about the possibilities of had to fight Jim Crow barriers for a right locking the doors of polling places in

Social Education 204 certain communities. In addition, tac- tics of intimidation and racial violence helped to repress the Black vote.7 Throughout all this, Black women continued the fight to obtain the vote for all women. The women of color who splintered off from the women’s suffrage movement after the 15th Amendment excluded them were again marginal- ized in the new century under Jim Crow pressures. Susan B. Anthony, fearing racial repercussions, asked her friend Frederick Douglass not to speak at an 1895 Atlanta suffrage rally; and Alice Paul infamously requested that Ida B. A marcher holds up a National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) sign at the March on Wells-Barnett and her all-Black Alpha Washington, August 28, 1963. The NCNW, founded by Mary McLeod Bethune, was active Suffrage Club of Chicago march at the in registering and educating Black women on the importance of voting. (Photographer: Marion S. Trikosko. Courtesy of the Library of Congress) back of the 1913 D.C. suffrage parade.8 At the same time, Black women regu- larly faced traumatic physical and sexual Americans.11 However, sustained activ- cratic ideals outlined by the 15th amend- violence under local laws that turned a ism and a convergence of interests even- ment. By contrast, nationalist activists blind eye to their rape or murder, while tually helped to galvanize support for viewed the VRA as an opportunity for also penalizing them with incarceration African American voting rights. After African Americans to gain local control just as harshly as Black men for any small on-going public pressure on the Johnson of political power. The problem, how- infraction.9 These tactics may have var- administration, the Voting Rights Act ever, according to Guinier, was that the ied by county, state, or even gender. But (VRA) passed in 1965, calling for the VRA’s attention to representational poli- as governor and then senator James K. end of legal barriers preventing African tics presumed that a Black person elected Vardaman from Mississippi stated in Americans from exercising their consti- to office would automatically pursue or the language of plain racist hatred, the tutional right to vote at the state and work for Black interests. She referred local laws existed with barely “no other local level. In theory, this legislation to the promise of presuming that Black purpose than to eliminate” African would fulfill the promise of the 15th leaders would address Black politics Americans from voting altogether.10 Amendment by extending the vote to as a form of racial tokenism.13 Guinier African American men, as well as enact- affirmed that VRA’s failure was in the The Voting Rights Act: ing the right to suffrage for Black women civil rights movement’s inability to trans- A Pyrrhic Victory? by way of the 19th Amendment. form the structural issues that sustained Despite the racial politics of the South, Legal scholar Lani Guinier described political inequality. Guinier stated, the region of the country in which these the VRA as a landmark piece of legis- restrictions were used most aggres- lation in its ability to directly respond In that vision, the purpose of sively and comprehensively, activists to “impediments to registration and political equal opportunity forged on. While there were a number voting.”12 Guinier further noted that the was to ensure fairness in the of issues that the civil rights movement effectiveness of the legislation was in its competition for favorable policy prioritized through the mid-20th cen- ability to span the ideological continuum outcomes, not just fairness in tury, the central and core issue was suf- of African Americans (between integra- the struggle for a seat at the frage. Concerns over voting rights would tionism and nationalism). The African bargaining table. In addition, come to a head in the mid-1960s when American integrationalist viewed full legislative responsiveness it became clear that voting rights legisla- integration into U.S. society as the key would not be secured merely by tion was not a priority of the Kennedy pathway to equality, whereas the Black day ratification of black or Johnson administrations. Ryan nationalist viewed separation and self- representatives.14 Crowley’s detailed analysis of the phone sufficiency as the keys to social change. transcripts between President Lyndon The legislation’s appeal rested on its In the decades following, the mass B. Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther promise of changing African Americans’ incarceration of Black men would have King, Jr., manifest the tensions around access to power. Integrationists saw the a significant impact on persistent disen- prioritizing voting rights for African VRA as America’s living up to the demo- franchisement.15

September 2020 205 Voter Suppression: has threatened, in the words of Justice “The online master’s “Post-racial” Jim Crow Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “the precious Policies and laws have not adequately right to vote.”18 While both parties are program in history was nor effectively addressed the issues of guilty of employing this technique to truly life changing.” African American suffrage. Despite produce electoral outcomes that are passage of the 15th and the 19th more favorable to their own party, the Amendments, in addition to the VRA, 2010 census offered the Republican current challenges attest to the need Party, which controlled more states at for protecting the right to vote and the time, the means to redraw congres- its access from an intersectional lens. sional districts in its favor to an absurd Not only gender, but race and class extent. For example, states such as have again come to the fore since pro- Wisconsin and Pennsylvania recorded tections from the Voting Rights Act of more popular votes for Democrats, yet 1965 were removed in the Supreme remained firmly in Republican con- Court decision Shelby v. Holder trol.19 Although partisan gerrymander- (2006). Additionally, the Supreme ing has historically been acknowledged Court decision in Citizens United v. as a threat to U.S. democracy, a split Federal Election Commission (2010), Supreme Court led to a plurality deci- which granted corporations the same sion, Vieth v. Jubelirer (2006), in which rights to political speech as people, partisan was consid- opened a path for the Republican ered a political issue, not a constitu- Party and conservative lobbies to tional one, and so outside the scope of enact strategies that disenfranchised the judiciary.20 Gerrymandering based those who lean Democrat, particu- overwhelmingly or solely on race, how- larly people who are Black, Latinx, ever, was considered illegal, based on “I started with the plan of taking Asian American, or poor.16 Since the of the 14th a couple history classes at the 2008, voter ID laws have been espe- amendment. Yet this practice of racial University of Nebraska at Kearney cially effective in stripping away vot- gerrymandering is closely linked to — and I was hooked after the ing rights as many Republican con- partisan gerrymandering, as non-white first class. The quality of the trolled states pared down the list of voters tend to vote Democratic.21 Thus, curriculum and professors made acceptable forms of identification not only does racial gerrymandering me decide to keep going and get my (ID) for voting, discarding some gov- lead to token non-white representa- master’s degree. After earning my ernment-issued options used most tives when packing districts, but the degree, I was named Texas History commonly by Black and poor voters. practice has also diluted the number of Teacher of the Year, and was The spreading of misinformation that Democrats elected to office. In Texas, recruited from the classroom to a raised fears of voter enabled the state gained several more congres- district leadership role.” many U.S. states to enact such require- sional seats, solely through the growth ments despite the fact that actual voter of Latinx and Black communities; how- Steve Sonksen fraud is rare. Coordinated efforts to ever, this demographic change some- History, MA shut down agencies that issue driv- how led to an increase in Republican University of Nebraska at Kearney ers’ licenses in predominantly Black held seats.22 When challenged in court, neighborhoods and efforts to require the decision in Abbott v. Perez (2018) expensive or unobtainable paper- almost completely absolved the state work have been supported by many of racial gerrymandering, citing a sup- online.nebraska.edu legislatures, courts, and government posed lack of evidence proving inten- officials, despite challenges by legal tional ,23 the standard organizations such as the ACLU and required by the Supreme Court. The the NAACP.17 precedent set by this decision will have Efforts to suppress Black voters long reaching effects. Challenging vot- have gone beyond voter ID laws to ing laws that discriminate, including gerrymandering, or drawing voting those based on race, has been made districts in ways that favor one party more difficult due to the cumulative over the other. Racial gerrymandering effects of legislative policies and judi-

Social Education 206 cial decisions over the last two decades, a “hook” around a topic that is relevant especially as the judiciary has tilted to students (think dance theme, field conservative.24 Even so, the passage of trip experience, or actually registering laws that ensure or protect the right and seniors to vote) for a powerful, inter- access to vote by marginalized com- active introduction. This fosters own- ONLINE HISTORY, MA munities, such as the 19th amendment, ership of voting rights, and makes it should be celebrated. However, they real when followed up by hard-hitting, University of Nebraska at Kearney must be examined with consideration historically-grounded questions about of the many that con- how it would feel if they had not been tinue to determine which bodies are able to partake afterwards, and how granted the privilege of participation this still happens to people today (for in positions of power in our society.25 instance, incarceration is an unfortu- The intent of VRA was to keep federal nately rich and timely tie-in with race Application Deadlines oversight over voting districts that had and voting rights). a standing reputation of voter repres- Another activity could start with Approaching sion. In subsequent years, however, this students making voter ID cards of oversight was perpetually challenged, people who fought hard for the right and new racial barriers emerged to sup- to vote in America. Reach for unsung press the enfranchisement of African yet integral individuals in the suffrage Americans. battle too often left out, including women such as Hallie Quinn Brown, Lesson Recommendations Fannie Lou Hamer, Marie Louise In considering these dimensions of sup- Bottineau Baldwin, Adelina Otero pressing the vote of African Americans, Warren, Mabel Lee, Coralie Franklin there is much educators can do to help Cook, Lucy Stone, Anna Julia Cooper, students understand the significance of Vilma Martínez, and others—and then these still-present realities. Whether have students reflect in mini-research • Thesis and Non-Thesis students are in kindergarten or high circles if those people (1) could vote Options school, asking students who, when, in their lifetimes, (2) what impedi- and why in regards to voting rights is ments they encountered, and (3) how • Low Student to Faculty essential. Open-ended questions can they fought collectively to overcome Ratio elicit prior knowledge that students suffrage obstacles via activism and pro- bring into the classroom about which test. If you follow this up with a jigsaw • Extensive Online Course groups students believe suffered from discussion and queries on why we aren’t Offerings in Areas Such voting suppression. Fruitful classroom likely to see these women prominently discussions must be rooted in critical listed in today’s textbooks, the activity as American, European, history, spotlighting the hard-won and can powerfully push back on history’s World, Public and ongoing fights of collective individuals dominant narratives.27 Digital History and social/political movements, rather Stirring up student compassion than an arc of progress framing (usu- evokes interest in the lives of people ally male) heroes as the harbingers of who suffered and suffer from oppres- democratic change. Support this idea sion. But when wading into an inter- with sources such as a 1964 active lesson space, skip unintentional (featured in a 2013 tactics of garnering inauthentic empathy article 26), which can show students the via the slippery slope and problem- online.nebraska.edu traumatic unfairness of these policies atic exploitation found in simulations. first-hand. After fielding student reac- However a teacher chooses to walk stu- tions to the fact that this test was actu- dents through the three epochs of voter ally given to African Americans, explain suppression, the pedagogical choices that this was one of dozens of historical might include: reading biographies obstacles to voting participation. and primary sources; considering laws When engaging with this historic and court cases; and discussing lead- content, consider staging a class vote as ers’ choices for tactics and strategies as

September 2020 207 part of the struggle. Above all, keep in especially African American women, 19. “Solving the Problem of Partisan Gerrymandering,” mind that one group’s historical suffering offers a powerful narrative for students Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (March 13, 2018), www. ced. is not a clever entry point for another’s to understand and explore the ten- org/reports/solving-the-problem-of-partisan-gerry educational empathy. Justice and power sions and persistent struggles for a true mandering. 20. “Vieth v. Jubelirer,” Brennan Center for Justice reside in identifying with historical fig- democracy. (April 28, 2004), www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ ures sans simulations, and echo the C3 court-cases/vieth-v-jubelirer. Framework’s push for inquiry at the Notes 21. Anderson, One Person, No Vote. heart of teaching towards young people’s 1. Derrick Bell, “Racial Realism,” Connecticut Law 22. Will Weissert, “Analysis: Texas Gave House GOP Review 24, no. 2 (Winter 1992): 363–379. Biggest Gerrymandering Bump,” Associated Press responsibilities as future voters—because 2. Eric Foner, Reconstruction (Updated Edition): (June 25, 2017). https://apnews.com/bfbf76adbcf84 pretending to be historical figures, espe- America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 61eab9096ca7ab4cf83/Analysis:-Texas-gave-House- (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, GOP-biggest-gerrymandering-bump. cially people of color, is a far cry from 2014). 23. “Abbott v. Perez,” www.oyez.org/cases/2017/17-586. 28 an interactive research project on them. 3. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass 24. Anderson, One Person, No Vote. These racialized understandings of ethics Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New 25. Kimberle Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: York: The New Press, 2020). , Identity Politics, and Violence in the classroom guide students’ current 4. Rayford Whittingham Logan, The Negro in Against Women of Color,” Stanford Law Review and imminent civic lives. American Life and Thought: The Nadir, 1877– 43, no. 6 (1991): 1241-99. Above all, knowing one’s students 1901 (New York: Dial Press, 1954). 26. Rebecca Onion, “Take the Impossible ‘Literacy’ 5. Martha S. Jones, All Bound Up Together: The Test Louisiana Gave Black Voters in the 1960s,” deeply is essential in teaching this dif- Woman Question in African American Public Slate (June 28, 2013), https://slate.com/human- ficult history of voter suppression. Will Culture, 1830–1900 (University of interest/2013/06/voting-rights-and-the-supreme- Press, 2009); Kimberle Crenshaw, “Mapping the court-the-impossible-literacy-test-louisiana-used-to- educators need to amend parts of activi- Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and give-black-voters.html. ties because their students and/or fami- of Color,” Stanford Law 27. Daniel G. Solórzano and Tara J. Yosso, “Critical lies currently experience the very voting Review 43, no. 6 (July 1991): 1241. Race and LatCrit Theory and Method: Counter- Storytelling,” International Journal of Qualitative blocks taught? Does the class have dis- 6.. Ibid 7. Thirteen Media With Impact, The Rise and Fall of Studies in Education 14, no. 4 (July 1, 2001): 471- cussion norms for the heft of the topic? Jim Crow, Educational Broadcasting Corporation 95. When doing inquiry around a literacy (2002), www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/voting_ 28. S.G. Grant, Kathy Swan, and John Lee, “Bringing sheriff.html the C3 Framework to Life,” Social Education 79, test, has content been scaffolded so stu- 8. Sharon Harley, “African American Women and the no. 6 (2015): 310-315. dents of color don’t feel ostracized come Nineteenth Amendment,” National Park Service discussion time? Also, keep in mind the (2019), www.nps.gov/articles/african-american-wo men-and-the-nineteenth-amendment.htm; Morgan value of ending the lesson with a dialogue Greene, “Ida B. Wells Receives Pulitzer Prize about where we stand today and a re- Citation: ‘The Only Thing She Really Had Was the Truth,’” Chicago Tribune (May 4, 2020), www. visitation of how racial barriers to voting chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-ida-wells-puli- Anthony L. Brown is Professor of Curricu- are overlapped and thus bolstered by sex, tzer-citation-20200505-rlt4ujeeenf7vi5z6qt7e4 pmha- lum & Instruction at the University of Texas at story.html. Austin. He also is an affiliated faculty in the religion, ethnicity, immigration and more. 9. Sarah Haley, “‘Like I Was a Man’: Chain Gangs, areas of cultural studies in education, the John This will provide a clear-eyed view of Gender, and the Domestic Carceral Sphere in Jim Warfield Center of African and African Ameri- how many Americans at different histori- Crow ,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 39, no. 1 (2013): 53–77. can Studies and the Department of African cal time periods were blocked from vot- 10. Neil R. McMillen, Dark Journey: Black Mississip- and African Diaspora Studies. His most recent ing due to their race, sex, ethnicity and pians in the Age of Jim Crow (University of Illinois book, Reclaiming the Multicultural Roots of U.S. more—and still are. It’s also an exercise in Press, 1990), 43. Curriculum: Communities of Color and Offi- 11. Ryan M. Crowley. “‘The Goddamndest, Toughest cial Knowledge in Education, was published by the comprehension of historical change Voting Rights Bill’: Critical Race Theory and the Teachers College Press (2016). Joanna Batt over time. Lastly, research about people Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Race, Ethnicity, and is a third-year doctoral student and Donald D. who are underrepresented in popular Education 16, no. 5 (November 2013): 696-724. Harrington Fellow at UT Austin's College of 12. Lani Guinier, “From Racial Liberalism to Racial Education in the Department of Curriculum culture and history textbooks is an act Literacy: Brown v. Board of Education and the and Instruction. A former high school U.S. his- of curricular resistance unto itself, to be Interest-Divergence Dilemma,” The Journal of tory teacher, Joanna studies secondary social American History 91, no. 1 (June 2004): 92–118. practiced wisely and often. studies education with an emphasis on race, 13.. Ibid gender and sexuality, researching how critical The historical content of voter sup- 14. Ibid., 1134 history teaching and multimodal curricula can pression of African Americans—as well 15. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass amplify equity in education and student agency. as many other groups—needs to show Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New She also leads a racial literacy book club for mid- York, N.Y.: New Press, 2011), 158. dle schoolers. Esther June Kim is an Assis- up in today’s curriculum, accompanied 16. Carol Anderson, One Person, No Vote: How Voter tant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at by thoughtful pedagogy rooted in social Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy (New the College of William and Mary. A former high justice. Richer, more active civic partici- York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018). school Humanities and World History teacher, her research interests include how ideological pation from young people is essential in 17. Ibid., 56. transformation is shaped by race, religion, and 18. Oral Arguments, “Gill v. Whitford” (No. 16-1161, today’s political climate. The history of counter narratives. voting rights for African Americans, and October 3, 2017), 24.

Social Education 208