Reclaiming the Vote: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Under the Obama Administration
Abstract
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
POLICY QUESTION
Given historical accounts of discriminatory tactics directed against African Americans’
voting rights, did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 successfully incorporate African
Americans in the policymaking process?
BACKGROUND
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 attempted to solidify the goals of Reconstruction by
addressing the limitations of previous civil rights legislation. The VRA contains
two important, yet controversial, provisions that, if removed, would drastically weaken
its overall effectiveness. In 2006, President Bush signed the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa
Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act. Congress
voted overwhelmingly (390-33 in the House and 98-0 in the Senate) to extend the two
key provisions of the Voting Rights Act until 2031.
Section 2 of the VRA prohibits “voting practices or procedures that discriminate on
the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the minority groups defined by Section
4(f)(2). Section 5 prohibits any “covered” state or jurisdiction from modifying a
“voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure
with respect to voting” without prior clearance of the proposed change through the
Attorney General or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
This “preclearance” measure was a direct response to the thirteen Southern states
that used their legislatures and municipalities to circumvent federal legislation.
PROBLEM
Modern-day civil rights legislation fails to address structural racism that continues
to limit African Americans’ full participation in the policymaking process. This new
racism, also referred to as “color-blind” racism and described by leading scholars
such as Bonilla-Silva, Michelle Alexander, and Michael Omi and Howard Winant, prevents
the enactment of meaningful federal legislation. The myth of color-blindness negates
the “problem of racism as a problem of power” and utilizes cultural arguments of
inferiority to justify opposition to affirmative action programs.
Opponents of the Voting Rights Act point to sections 2 and 5 and the election of Black
representatives as evidence that the act is no longer required in a “post-racial”
society. They also highlight the high percentage of black voters in Southern states.
For example, in Mississippi, only 6.7% of black voters were registered in 1965; by
1988, 74.2% of black voters were registered. The “preclearance” determination is
now viewed as “a zero sum game between the political parties” Preclearance is granted
only if any change in the covered jurisdictions does not dilute the vote “as compared
to the status quo.” “Color-blind” advocates characterize section 5 as political racialization
and the affirmation of identity politics as the political norm.
“Race-conscious” districting is a result of the true problem: districting. Districting
emphasizes winner-take-all representation and can enforce white privilege and power
through black vote dilution. Districting rests on two critical assumptions : a group
is automatically formed from a majority of voters within a given geographic community,
and that incumbent politicians can fairly determine which group to advantage by maximizing
its power within that particular district.
African American voter disenfranchisement continues in a so-called “post-racial” society,
and color-blind federal policies fail to account for structural discrimination. The
Voting Rights Act remains under attack by conservatives and a percentage of “progressive”
liberals who believe that our nation has moved beyond racial injustice through federal
legislation. In contrast, voter data suggests that blacks are not fully incorporated
into the policymaking process and that access and full participation have different
meanings and outcomes. While voter registration efforts have been successful in the
black community, translating into high voter turnout, this does not translate into
equal access to the policymaking process.
CRITERIA
1. Ensures political feasibility.
2. Protects racial plurality through coalition building.
3. Provides tangible political outcomes to African Americans.
4. Maximizes the effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Implement a non-partisan commission on voting rights issues.
2. Designate a national voting holiday for all registered U.S. voters.
3. Create a comprehensive voter education curriculum for voters residing in “race-conscious”
districts.
4. Implement a national proportional representation system.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Implement a non-partisan commission on voting rights issues.
2. Designate a national voting holiday for all registered U.S. voters.
3. Create a comprehensive voter education curriculum for voters residing in “race-conscious”
districts.
Type
Master's projectDepartment
The Sanford School of Public PolicyPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6670Citation
Gunn, Lekisha (2013). Reclaiming the Vote: Assessing the Effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Under the Obama Administration. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6670.More Info
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