This week the House (strictly along party lines) passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR 4). In essence, this legislation was introduced to counteract more than 30 new laws in 18 states, which make it harder for marginalized Americans to vote. The act seeks to restore major parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013.
One important section of HR 4 discusses “Preclearance”. What you may not be aware of is that preclearance was the backbone of the 1965 Act. States, particularly in the south, individually enacted laws, some of which included: literacy tests, lying to Black voters about the dates and times for elections, and that they had filled out their voter applications incorrectly.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act may not pass the Senate, for the same reason that John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., and hundreds of others were beaten and bloodied by Alabama state troopers which was to stop Black people from voting!
John Lewis was a giant in the civil rights struggle, his head was bloody but unbowed!
The time for good trouble is now!
