60 Year Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act - Poster of the Week
- politicalgraphics
- Aug 8
- 3 min read
Selma
National Voting Rights Museum and Institute
Offset, 2015
Selma, AL
83685
CSPG's Poster of the Week honors the 50th anniversary of the sacrifices and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in expanding voting rights in 1965.
The political hub of Black voting rights activity was Alabama. In 1963, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) tried to register African American voters in Dallas County, Alabama, but the number of obstacles were prohibitive. Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964–which legally ended discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin–SNCC increased its protest efforts and were met with violent retaliation by local police.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its leader Martin Luther King, Jr. joined the fray in late 1964. Demonstrations and police violence continued to escalate into 1965, and on Sunday, March 7, Dr. King led a march out of Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Before they could fully cross the bridge, demonstrators were tear-gassed, spat on, overrun by horses, and severely beaten. Over 50 marchers were hospitalized. The incident was caught by TV cameras and aired to millions nationally, becoming known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Protests exploded in outrage across the country, and a week later, a previously hesitant President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced voting rights legislation to Congress. On August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. The poster’s illustration of Black individuals surrounding the Edmund Pettus Bridge, famed site of Bloody Sunday, honors the bravery and sacrifices of the thousands who protested for the right to vote.
The Voting Rights Act outlaws any voting rule that results in the denial of the right to vote of any minority group, such as literacy tests. The Act successfully increased voter registration and turnout and had many positive outcomes including greater Black representation in local and national offices.
We are now sixty years removed from its signing, and unfortunately, the Act has been weakened in recent years. In 2013, the Supreme Court determined that federal preclearance of voting policy changes were no longer necessary. The decision opened the door to widespread voter suppression laws and racialized gerrymandering that have had significant negative effects on Black voting power, such as Texas’ voter ID law. The 2019 Rucho v Common Cause case further weakened the Voting Rights Act by permitting political gerrymandering. Additionally, in 2021, the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee case made it more difficult to challenge discriminatory voting laws.
More recently, the second Trump administration has sent requests for voter registration information to at least 19 states in his hunt for proof of alleged “voter fraud,” despite there being no evidence of fraud. Trump has also signed an executive order that would require document-based proof-of-citizenship on the federal voting form–potentially disenfranchising citizens who don’t have access to necessary documents, including millions of married women.
He has also ordered states to re-district themselves to gain Republican representatives in the House–a highly unusual request given that states only redistrict every ten years, following a census. This clear power grab has resulted in 51 Texas Democrats fleeing Texas this week to prevent a quorum that would pass a redistricting map giving Republicans up to five more House seats. Warrants have been issued for their arrest and Texas Governor Greg Abbott now has the FBI involved. In retaliation, some Democrat-led states like California are threatening to gerrymander their own boundaries in the coming year to increase the amount of Democrat seats in the House.
These are but a few of the current threats to the Voting Rights Act that are currently taking place across the country. All attempt to disenfranchise minority voters who tend to vote Democrat. The fascists in power fear the 2026 midterms because they know that Republican policies under Trump are becoming increasingly unpopular.
They should be scared.
Stay involved in local politics. Make sure you and your neighbors are ready and registered to vote. America must be a democracy for ALL, not just those who support the whims of a tyrant.
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