October 25, 2016
Voting, Veterans and Vittles
By Eloise Graham
Voting…
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It was ratified on February 3, 1870 and adopted March 30, 1870. The next 95 years were a turbulent time for the Black voter. States implemented poll taxes, literacy tests and white only primaries. To enforce the Fifteenth Amendment, Congress enacted the Voting Rights of 1965, to provide federal oversight of elections in discriminatory jurisdictions, banned literacy tests; creating legal remedies for people affected by voting discrimination.
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920. This amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878. It was a forty-one year battle of women’s suffrage movement in the United States. Many women went to jail to fight for the right to vote.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the states and federal government from using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens who are at least eighteen years old. The student activism movement of the late 1960’s was the main motivation behind changing the age of majority from 21 to 18. The reasoning was that if the government could draft 18 year-olds to fight for their country, the 18 year-olds should have some say in the government. The amendment became part of the Constitution on July 1, 1971.
Veterans…
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the Armistice with Germany went into effect. This day was originally called Armistice Day. The U.S. holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954 – a day to honor all veterans from all branches of the service in all of the wars. To read more about the history of Veterans Day, read Karen McCoy’s article this month. These veterans and their families sacrificed much to give us the freedoms we now enjoy. They fought for the homeland, the freedom of our people to be able to have the right to vote for the government that heads this homeland.
Vittles…
The feast of Thanksgiving, with turkey or wild game and all of the delicious extras play a big part of November. So enjoy your meal as you give thanks for our country, the men and women that have made it great, the veterans that gave so much for our freedom.
