NEW (Week 3) READING ASSIGNMENT BELOW, but first…
A Jim Crow Tactic Being Used in 2023
I want to share with everyone an important takeaway from our voting rights course this week…an example of how lawless Jim Crow tactics repeat themselves today.
And that tactic couldn’t me more straightforward: defying and delaying justice denies justice.
In the video above, I offer the example of how more than a century ago, Oklahoma successfully delayed justice for decades by openly defying a United States Supreme Court decision striking down its discriminatory “grandfather clause.” 24 years (!) passed before the Court stepped back in to right the wrong. 24 more years of injustice and voter suppression!
And as maddening as that is, that history is replaying itself before our eyes. What Oklahoma did more than a century ago is exactly what the Ohio, North Carolina and Alabama legislatures have done of late to cling to power despite adverse court rulings. They defy and delay to get their way as long as possible…and it works!
Ohio’s defiance succeeded in locking in illegal maps we are living under right now and the foreseeable future. North Carolina succeeded in delaying matters until a new/friendly court got seated. That new court has already reversed decisions from the prior court, and guarantees that an even worse gerrymander is on its way there.
And Alabama is following the same approach right now. After a major US Supreme Court loss only months ago, Alabama’s legislature enacted a racially gerrymandered map with the very same flaw as the one that was struck down. Their goal could not be more clear—like Ohio, delay and defy enough until it is too late to correct for the next election.
Bottom line: Courts have to see through and stand up to these tactics, and demand swift accountability when legislatures defy them, the law and their own orders. Without that accountability, these gerrymandered leaders are happy to ignore court rulings—or worse, directly attack courts and judges (happened in Ohio, and happening in Wisconsin) —for as long as they can get away with it. Which, as in Oklahoma between 1915 and 1939, and Ohio in 2021 and 2022, turns out to be long enough to succeed.
Voting Rights Academy, Week 3: Literacy Tests, Poll Taxes and Other Suppression
For those enrolled in my Voting Rights Academy (and if you’re not in yet, join us—all past classes are available below), the coming week explores other infamous tools of suppression and the cases (three of the most important in American political history) that addressed them. So here’s the brief reading I suggest:
Robert Caro, “Master of the Senate” — if you happen to have this book at home, read the first four pages of the introduction for a bracing summary of the hurdles a Black voter faced trying to register and vote in the 1950s, including the operation of a “literacy test” (if you don’t have it, I can’t more highly recommend a book to put on your list)
Literacy tests: the central case to read is Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elecctions
Poll taxes: Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections
Exclusion of “Disinterested Voters”: Kramer v. Union Free School District
Finally, as we reach moments of historic change, it’s a good time to review LBJ’s 1965 speech, “The American Promise,” to Congress, advocating for the Voting Rights Act only days after the violence of “Bloody Sunday” at Selma. (Once you appreciate all the history we’ve covered, it’s clear what a groundbreaking moment this was, especially when LBJ had risen to power under the tutelage of long-time Southern segregationists.)
You can:
WATCH the full speech here
Here is the remarkable snippet where LBJ uses the words “We Shall Overcome”. MUST WATCH
READ it here
REVIEW: Voting Rights Academy
All the prior classes and readings are available on my Substack site, but here’s a quick list (with links) for those who missed some emails and want to go back and review — or for those who want to start the course now. After all, it’s never too late (in fact, it’s always a good time) to understand the history and law of voting rights in this country—especially given what we face today:
Week 1: Origins:
Week 2: From Evolution to Revolution
Readings: The History They Want to Censor
Class 4: Baker v. Carr — the First Big Battle Over Districting
To access all these materials, you can sign on as a paid subscriber here:
Share the opportunity for those you know here:
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Justice Delayed = Justice Denied