This event will take place in Amerikahaus and as an online livestream in Zoom. School groups are welcome to join online or at Amerikahaus. Please include your prefered format in your registration e-mail.

In the landscape of American democracy, the right to vote is a fundamental pillar, but one that has been highly contested throughout history. Despite their belief in the virtues of democracy, the founders of the United States restricted voting for decades to white Protestant Christian males over the age of 21 who owned property. After the Civil War, following the abolition of slavery, Congress passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which ensured that people could not be denied the right to vote because of their race. In the decades that followed, however, many states, particularly in the South, used a variety of barriers, such as poll taxes or literacy tests, to successfully prevent African American men from voting.

It took the Civil Rights Movement to bring about change: Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which effectively eliminated these mechanisms for disenfranchising Black citizens. As a result, the number of Black elected officials has increased over the years. In response to enlarging voter enfranchisement, we have come to witness a rollback and an unprecedented wave of restrictive voting bills in recent years that once again effectively suppress the vote of people of color.

In this lecture, we explore both the history of voting rights and the ways and outcomes of racist policies that have denied this fundamental civil right to large segments of the U.S. population.

This lecture is free of charge. Reservations can be made via e-mail by school teachers and individual students grades 11 through 13. Please include the number of students and your school's name with your registration. There will be a limited number of seats available for university students available as well. Please register via e-mail at bibliothek@amerikahaus.de.


Photo above: © Marion S. Trikoso / Library of Congress