Prior and during this time period it was very hard for African American’s to have a voice when came down to voting despite the newly ratified laws such as the nineteenth, and the fifteenth amendments of the constitution. African American’s had very little political power. Southern voter registration boards used all types of tactics against Blacks to deny them their legal rights, such as Poll taxes, literacy test, not to mention the harassment, intimidation, and the the physical violence African-Americans had to go through just to register to vote.
In the early 1960’s public protest, and private political negotiation starting taking place in hopes of attracting national media’s attention in order to pressure the government into protecting African American’s constitutional rights. In return the nation got to watch just how brutal the police department in Birmingham Alabama was against peaceful marchers, as they were beaten, sprayed with water hoes, and had tear gas used against them.
President Lyndon B, passed the twenty-fourth amendment which put a stop to poll taxes in 1964, the resolution was finally signed on August 6 1965. This new law was allowed the number of African American voters to go through the roof on the following years.
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_b.phpl
Living in a generation where technology is essential to our way of living, it makes me happy to realize the media was a huge part of this African American movement and has helped them get the attention. The entire nation awakened, especially those who hadn’t witnessed first hand the violence and the harassment African Americans were going through. This also makes me wonder and thing about the injustice other people go through today, and nothing is been done about it. Maybe with the help of media we can minimize the abuse and unfairness to those who need the help and support.
