The Right to Vote Didn't Come Easy

“My grandmother and my uncle experienced circumstances that would break your heart. When they went to vote, they were asked impossible questions like, ‘How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?’ When they couldn't answer, they couldn't vote,” said Dr. Maya Angelou.

She was referring to the “Black Codes” that were passed the same year that all men over the age of 21 were given the right to vote by the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870). The “Black Codes” restricted the freedoms of African Americans. Among the freedoms restricted was the freedom to exercise the right to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, hiding the locations of the polls, economic pressures, threats of physical violence, and other strategies to suppress the African American vote were either found in the Black Codes or flowed from them[1].”

When America was founded in 1776, only white men over the age of 21 who owned property had the right to vote, except for Catholics, Jews, and Quakers[2]. But through centuries of suffrage movements, marches, etc. other groups gained the right to vote.

Take a look at the voting timeline to see when different groups got the right to vote.

Voting Timeline

1920 (19th Amendment)	Women – The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) prohibits the United States or the states from denying or abridging the privilege of voting "on account of sex"[3].
1924	Native Americans – Native Americans can vote in 1924 when Congress grants full U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans via the Indian Citizenship Act. This Act declares all Indians who have not yet been granted citizenship through marriage, military service, treaties, or other specialized laws and who were also born within the U.S. to be citizens, giving them the right to vote. However, many Native Americans continue to be denied the right to vote by states until 19482.
1961 (23rd Amendment)	Residents who live in the District of Columbia are granted the right to vote3.
1964 (24th Amendment)	Made it illegal for states to charge poll tax to voters[4].
Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965	It banned literacy tests and provided federal enforcement of voting registration and other rights in several Southern states and Alaska1.
After 1965	Asian Pacific Americans2
1971 (26th Amendment)	Lowered the voting age across the nation to 184.
1975	Latinos2
Voting Rights Act of 1970	A federal law that seeks to prevent voting discrimination based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group3.
Disabilities Act of 1990	It provided for ballot and poll access for those with disabilities1.

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[1] History of Voting Rights in America. (2004). Cobb-LaMarche '04. Retrieved from www.iwantmyvote.com/recount/history.

[2] Eddins Zabela Geri. (2012). Who Gets To Vote? Retrieved from www.ourwhitehouse.org/whogetsvote.html.

[3] Voting Rights. (2003). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Voting_rights.aspx.

[4] Historical Facts. Retrieved from www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/hancock/pol204/history.htm.

Youtube Channel

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When you get a chance, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKrhoq7oduc&feature=plcp to view my latest video, “That Name” originally recorded by Yolanda Adams, my other posts and artists that I have subscribed to. 

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Baby, You Ain’t in the South



Phenola Moore
This is the outfit I was wearing.

“Baby, you ain’t in the South,” yelled the male passenger in the car that zoomed past me. He was pointing to my clothing as I was walking across the street at the shopping center. It was a warm mid-September day and I was decked out in a multi-colored orange/cream/fuchsia top, off-white skirt with matching shoes.

His comment was wrong on two ways. One, Maryland is a southern state. And two, you can wear white after Labor Day.

Although I am not a fashion guru, I was taught that you can wear white. It just depends on how you wear it, where you live, the occasion and thickness of the fabric.

“Dispelling the Myth: Wear White After Labor Day,” article stated, “… beginning in the early 20th century, white clothing was a symbol of “well-to-do” Americans. It was a status symbol for those who were able to change their clothes by season, white during the summer and darker colors in the winter. It wasn’t proper etiquette to wear white after Labor Day, specifically any clothing below the waist.” (http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/08/30/dispelling-the-myth-wear-white-after-labor-day/). Therefore, wearing a pure white blouse, shirt, tie, etc. was acceptable and is still worn without questioning all year round.

And people in warmer clients usually don’t haggle over whether they can wear white after Labor Day. Ryan Patterson, Access Hollywood said, “Here in Southern California and in places like Florida and Hawaii, white can absolutely be worn after Labor Day,” (http://www.accesshollywood.com).

Also, wearing white during certain religious services year round is acceptable. Traditionally, the bride and flower girl wore it during the wedding ceremony. And now, sometimes the groom and other participants in the wedding party wear it, too.

Members of the clergy wear white robes. And congregants in certain denominations wear white during ceremonies like Communion.

A white linen jacket may be too thick to wear during a New England winter. But white clothing in thicker fabrics like that in a downs coat, leather, corduroy, etc will work.

But if you are still uncomfortable with wearing a pure white suit, jacket, pants or dress, other shades of white like ecru, off-white, cream, winter white, will satisfy your white attire requirement.

Finally, Project Runway Mentor, Tim Guinn’s said in a “Shine” article “I really believe most of these rules are made to be broken. Maybe not head-to-toe white after Labor Day, but for goodness sakes, it's still hot out! People should simply dress in a way that they feel confident and that they feel they look good in.” (http://shine.yahoo.com).

Click on http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/short-but-sweet-michelle-obama-talks-about-first-kiss-with-the-president-on-the-steve-harvey-show to view Michelle Obama in her off-white pants suit that she wore on the Steve Harvey Show in October.

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To read the rest of my writings, log onto www.pressonwebzine.com. Thank you.