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The Fifteenth Amendment
An article titled “Free the Ballot,” about voting rights during the civil rights movement, from Memphis World newspaper, February 13, 1960.

An article titled “Free the Ballot,” about voting rights during the civil rights movement, from Memphis World newspaper, February 13, 1960.

Memphis World was a black newspaper published between 1931 and 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Transcript:

Transcript:

Free The Ballot

America is not fully free so long as the ballot is fettered in any part of the United States of America. The right of the Negro citizen to vote is embedded in the Fifteenth Amendment of the federal constitution. In a number of states the right-to-vote amendment has been frustrated, negated and butchered.

In the South there is only token Negro voting on an average basis. In a number of Southern counties with more Negro citizens than white citizens there are no Negro voters. This is a tragic commentary on American democracy. Excuse given for such racial denial of voting is the preservation of "white supremacy" and to prevent "Negro bloc voting". The bogey of "Negro rule" and the preservation of "white rule" are other scares.

Still much is said of "States' Rights" and "local rule." Yet local rule should be based upon the rule of the local people. States' rights envision a respect for personal and individual rights. Southern politicians tend to distort the theory of states' rights and to misapply the idea of local rule.'

The Fifteenth Amendment bestows upon the Negro citizen a right which constitutionally cannot be removed by state action or states' rights doctrines. Yet that very thing is being done in the South and the Congress has been indifferent and laggard about using its authority and power to protect, guard and actuate the Negro citizen's right to vote in the South.

A number of bills have been introduced in the Congress seeking to implement the Fifteenth Amendment. The Republican Administration and the Democratic Majority Leadership together with individual lawmakers have submitted bills designed to make voting rights practical opportunities for the Negro group. Introduction of bills, press releases about them and the criss-cross of quibbling partisan criticism, do not always produce legislation.

Therefore if the President of the United States actually means that he is for meaningful voting by the Negro group in the South he is going to have to begin to fight with all of his power for such legislation. He probably will need to carry the fight to the people in a special nationwide civil rights speech. We would like to see President Eisenhower carry the fight for practical voting opportunities to the people and exert bold and uncompromising leadership for the right to vote.

In the meantime, those who want Negro voting opportunities established and materialized in the South should build a fire under Congress. A hard fight is a hand and the Southern lawmakers in Congress are tough, skilled and experienced counter fighters, let Congress have no peace of mind, no easy conscience and no happy time at the polls until adequate civil rights legislation is passed in the current session.

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Citation Information
“Memphis World: Free The Ballot,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/0de2fb82c1ab1d00aa0bdbb82733392d.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of Rhodes College Crossroads to Freedom via Tennessee Digital Library.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 15 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Fifteenth Amendment

Previous Item
The joint resolution of the United States Congress proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, December 7, 1868.
A resolution by the Georgia state legislature to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment, February 2, 1870.
An 1870 print depicting the celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment as well as vignettes that represent the significance of the amendment.
An 1870 print depicting the celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment as well as vignettes that represent the significance of the amendment.
Lyrics for “The Fifteenth Amendment” by African American songwriter Joshua McCarter Simpson.
An excerpt from a speech by Henry McNeal Turner in Macon, Georgia on April 19, 1870 regarding the benefits of the Fifteenth Amendment.
A portrait of Henry McNeal Turner, Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, ca.1880s.
A letter from April 1870, written by Samuel May to Richard Davis Webb, mentioning Boston’s celebration of the Fifteenth Amendment.
A portrait of Octavius Catto, an African American activist, educator, and political organizer, ca.1871.
An excerpt from a pamphlet called The Trial of Frank Kelly For The Assassination and Murder of Octavius V. Catto, on October 10, 1871.
An 1869 broadside in response to the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, titled “Republicans! Democrats! A Word with you about Negro Suffrage.”
A print depicting the first African American senator and representatives, who served in the Forty-First and Forty-Second Congresses, 1872.
An excerpt from a 1905 essay by A. H. Grimké called “The Meaning and Need of the Movement to Reduce Southern Representation.”
Robert S. Anderson’s poll tax receipt, Memphis, Tennessee, April 25, 1940.
An article titled “Free the Ballot,” about voting rights during the civil rights movement, from Memphis World newspaper, February 13, 1960.

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