Donathan L. Brown - Voting Rights Under Fire: The Continuing Struggle for People of Color

Voting Rights under Fire

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The Continuing Struggle for People of Color

DONATHAN L. BROWN AND MICHAEL L. CLEMONS

Racism in American Institutions
Brian D. Behnken , Series Editor

Copyright 2015 by Donathan L. Brown and Michael L. Clemons

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of br9ef quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Donathan L.
Voting rights under fire: the continuing struggle for people of color / Donathan L. Brown and Michael L. Clemons.
pages cm. (Racism in american institutions)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4408-3247-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-4408-3248-2 (ebook)
1. SuffrageUnited StatesHistory. 2. Election lawUnited States History. 3. African AmericansCivil rights. 4. Civil rightsUnited States. 5. RacismUnited StatesHistory20th century. 6. United States Race relations. I. Title.
JK 1846.B76 2015
324.6'208900973dc23 2015005531

ISBN: 978-1-4408-3247-5
EISBN: 978-1-4408-3248-2

19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5

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Voting Rights under Fire is a timely addition to Praegers series Racism in American Institutions (RAI). With continued debate over existing and proposed voter ID laws and a host of other measures that seem designed to impede the ability of people of color to vote, racism as an institutional factor in U.S. voting and politics is clear. The RAI series examines the ways in which racism has become a part of the fabric of many American institutions. For example, while the United States may have done away with overtly racist policies such as Jim Crow segregation, racism still affects many of the United States established institutions from public schools to corporate offices. Similarly, schools may not be legally segregated, and yet many districts are not integrated. Voter ID laws have targeted perceived voter fraud, but there is no real fraud to speak of and hence these anti-voting measures serve to take us back to the period before the advent of the Voting Rights Act when people of color, especially black people, could not vote. These laws do not protect voting rights, they ensure disfranchisement. This open-ended series examines the problem of racism in established American institutions. Each book traces the prevalence of racism within that institution throughout the history of the United States and explores the problem in that institution today, looking at ways in which the institution has attempted to rectify racism, but also the ways in which it has not.

Voting Rights under Fire deals with a significant aspect of racism in an American institution, but one fraught with misunderstanding. It is that misunderstanding, among other important issues, that authors Donathan L. Brown and Michael L. Clemons seek to address. Both authors are well-suited to this task, having published and taught on issues of discrimination and public policy for many years. They contend that where anti-voting measures are concerned, race and racism are in numerous instances the common denominator that explains why states pass such laws. They take a longue duree approach to these issues, explaining the long history of disfranchisement in the United States as well as the overall importance of the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Most importantly, they show how the past informs the present, how numerous politicians have worked to undermine the effects of the Voting Rights Act, and how the effects of these two forces have continued to guide anti-voting measures like voting ID laws.

Donathan Brown is a recognized expert on the intersection of race and public policy. His methodology is multifaceted and cross-disciplinary, and much of that methodology guides Voting Rights under Fire. Michael Clemons is an authority on U.S. political traditions and political science, especially as it pertains to communities of color. Both authors have tackled an immense subject. Voting is the paramount way in which most Americans exercise their civil rights and participate in the U.S. democracy. Abridging voting rights in any way should be anathema to the American people, and yet anti-voting measures pass with relative ease. Understanding why that is the case may help to re-secure voting as our most cherished and treasured civil right.

Brian D. Behnken
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa