One Book Event: "American Voting Rights: for Some or All?"

Why is it that, even in 2019, the United States of America, the world’s most prominent, successful and sustained democracy is still mired in a continuous battle for complete enfranchisement of its voting-age populace? From an intense but brief period of Black enfranchisement during Reconstruction to the disenfranchisement of Black voters between 1890 and 1965; from the contemporary disenfranchisement of mass incarceration to voting identification laws and voter purges of the last several years, there have been various causes and effects of Black disenfranchisement.  We will explore these periods of enfranchisement and disenfranchisement to illuminate not only the struggle for Black voting rights but also to highlight America’s struggle.  For millions of Black Americans, the struggle to attain and maintain voting rights in an imperfect union illuminates America’s struggle to fully realize its democratic principles.

*Each time a student attends an event or signs a pledge to do one of the activities, they are entered into a drawing to win a free three-credit class.*