Black Women Among America’s Most Active Voters

By Erica Gunderson via https://news.wttw.com/

Though the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, secured the right to vote for Black Americans, it would be nearly a century before all Black people could vote without intimidation.

And though the 19th Amendment of 1920 gave women the right to vote, Black women were again left disenfranchised when states immediately began enacting policies limiting who would vote.

“Those policies or rules basically disenfranchised predominantly Black communities,” said author and activist Michelle Duster. “So with grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literacy tests, a variety of different tricks that didn’t make it seem like it was about being Black, but inherently it would impact mostly Black people.”

It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, thanks to women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker and Dorothy Height, that the right to vote was finally secured for all Black Americans.

Today, Black women are considered the backbone of the Democratic Party. Though some believe Democrats are too quick to take their vote for granted, Duster says that generally speaking, the Democratic…

Read More: Black Women Among America’s Most Active Voters