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“At
times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to
shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom.
So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox.
So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. There is no Negro problem.
There is only an American problem. Many of the issues of civil rights
are very complex and most difficult. But about this there can and
should be no argument. Every American citizen must have the right
to vote…Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this
country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are
Negroes…No law that we now have on the books…can insure
the right to vote when local officials are determined to deny it…There
is no Constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution
is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong—deadly wrong—to
deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.
There is no issue of States’ rights or National rights. There
is only the struggle for human rights”
- President Lyndon B. Johnson (1965).
Since
its inception, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has become one of the
most influential--- and perhaps most controversial--- acts in recent
political history. Although originally intended to promote greater
access for African Americans, the VRA and its subsequent extensions
have opened up the electoral process to other marginalized groups
such as Latinos, American Indians, and language minorities. As a
result, the VRA highlights the unique relationship between public
policy, grassroots mobilization, and the institutions of government.
We mark the fortieth anniversary of the Act with a critical assessment
of its impact on both the study and practice of politics. We seek
to examine how the Act transformed the political landscape and,
in so doing, helped reduce the gap between the principle and practice
of democracy. Given that key provisions of the Act will go up for
renewal in 2007, we also evaluate debates concerning purpose versus
implementation. And finally, we evaluate contemporary challenges
to the Voting Rights Act. It is our hope that this conference, and
its subsequent book, will help initiate a critical dialogue concerning
the quest for full voting rights and representation in this country.
**Panel sessions are free and open to the public. Pre-registration
is requested**For reservations or more information, contact Pamela
Greene, (203) 432-3052, pamela.greene@yale.edu . Khalilah Brown-Dean,
Conference Chair.
This
conference is being sponsored by the Center
for the Study of American Politics, with support from the Yale
Law School and the Department
of Political Science, Yale University. |
