When Civil Rights Were on the Rise (Voting Rights Act in 1965‪)‬

IN THE UNITED STATES we proclaim our allegiance to democracy, even fight a war in Iraq to establish and extend democracy in the Middle East. Under these terms, opposition at home to voting rights strikes a contradictory pose, a fact for which I am happy and grateful. Rumbles of opposition to the renewal of the Voting Rights Act were heard this past summer and grew loud enough for Republican congressional leaders to postpone a vote on the measure on June 22, 2006. These rumblings sent shivers of apprehension through civil rights backers, including those who worked to ensure passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. I am one of these 1965 civil rights workers. I breathe easier since the renewal is accomplished fact. But laws on the books may not be laws realized on the street. Some have come to this realization recently, while some of us have carried it with us for forty or more years. It pays to remember. I cannot forget.