Americans are still fighting for voting rights
Americans are still fighting for voting rights
We are at a crossroads, and the direction we take will shape this nation for generations to come.
By Rev. Al Sharpton, MSNBC Opinion Columnist Aug. 28, 2021, 7:41 AM CDT
Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, also known as H.R. 4. This bill would restore significant provisions of the Voting Rights Act which were gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. While this is welcomed news, no Republicans in the House voted in favor of H.R. 4, and it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
The party’s refusal to support the bill named for John Lewis comes on the heels of Republican obstruction of the For The People Act, which aims to protect early voting and mail-in voting, end the gerrymandering of congressional districts and more. At the same time, state GOP legislators across the country have proposed hundreds of bills that threaten the fundamental right to vote. It is why this weekend, we “March On for Voting Rights.”
On Aug. 28, my organization, National Action Network, and Martin Luther King III will be joined by civil rights advocates, elected officials, clergy, activists, labor leaders and concerned citizens as we demonstrate in the nation’s capital to demand protections for voting rights. The intergenerational and multicultural assembly will march past the White House on Black Lives Matter Plaza and culminate with a rally on the National Mall. There will be simultaneous sister marches in cities that include Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix.
READ MORE: Americans are still fighting for voting rights https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/americans-ar...
We are at a crossroads, and the direction we take will shape this nation for generations to come.
By Rev. Al Sharpton, MSNBC Opinion Columnist Aug. 28, 2021, 7:41 AM CDT
Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, also known as H.R. 4. This bill would restore significant provisions of the Voting Rights Act which were gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. While this is welcomed news, no Republicans in the House voted in favor of H.R. 4, and it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
The party’s refusal to support the bill named for John Lewis comes on the heels of Republican obstruction of the For The People Act, which aims to protect early voting and mail-in voting, end the gerrymandering of congressional districts and more. At the same time, state GOP legislators across the country have proposed hundreds of bills that threaten the fundamental right to vote. It is why this weekend, we “March On for Voting Rights.”
On Aug. 28, my organization, National Action Network, and Martin Luther King III will be joined by civil rights advocates, elected officials, clergy, activists, labor leaders and concerned citizens as we demonstrate in the nation’s capital to demand protections for voting rights. The intergenerational and multicultural assembly will march past the White House on Black Lives Matter Plaza and culminate with a rally on the National Mall. There will be simultaneous sister marches in cities that include Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix.
READ MORE: Americans are still fighting for voting rights https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/americans-ar...
The Voting Rights Act was not gutted by the Supreme Court. The Congress does not have the Constitutional authority to nationalize elections.