Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 1 No. 1 Inspiring Firsts

R A C H E L
V
oting has been a staple of American life since the
formation of the country. From the American
Revolution to now, voting has been utilized to
elect government officials for states, counties
and the country. But, just as the practice of voting
itself is universal, so are the actions prohibiting
those who can vote, specifically Black people and
people of color. Past historical obstacles in place
such as: literacy tests, the Grandfather Clause, and
poll taxes, were used as a barrier and deterrent to
accessible voting. The passage of The Voting Rights
Act of 1965 prohibited racial discrimination in voting
and led to an improvement on voter turnout in the
African American community. But throughout time,
governing bodies with interests to retain their power
formed new ways to suppress voting in communities
of color.
The most common form of voter suppression is felon
disenfranchisement, and this has been exacerbated
through the 2017 Moral Turpitude Act, passed
by Gov. Kay Ivey. This affected African American
communities the most. Even if a conviction does
not prohibit someone from voting, instances of
voters being turned away by their voting registrars
or being told to pay fees to be eligible still act as
discouragement. “It’s placing an obstacle in front of
another obstacle in front of another obstacle, and
then pretending like it’s those people’s faults not
being legally sophisticated minds,” said Dev Wakeley,
a policy analyst for nonprofit organization, Alabama
Arise.
Felon disenfranchisement is also the oldest form of
voter suppresion, with roots connected to slavery.
African Americans were subject to institutionalized
slave labor to pay off debt and barred from participating
in civic life, effectively being silenced and stripped of
their power. “Felon disenfranchisement is currently
the best way that those entrenched power interests
maintain their hold on power. It’s a racist practice.
It always has been and attempts
to maintain,” Wakeley stated.
The practice of maintaining this
power continues as evidenced
through current statistics of
the Alabama population versus
the prison population of African
Americans as discussed by Stephanie
Strong, lead organizer of Faith
in Action, a faith based, nonprofit
organization in Alabama. With goals of
dismantling systemic racism at local and
state levels, this glaring divide shows the
urgency of representation for individuals
in the African American community.
“In Alabama, the African American community
makes up 26% of the population in Alabama
and 50% of African Americans cannot vote
because of felony disenfranchisement, Strong
said. With numbers such as these, it places an
adverse effect on the ability to form a Black
electorate as well as allow for the representation
needed to enact change in policy and elections.
13