To the Point
Has the South Outgrown the Voting Rights Act?
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped other minorities get the right to vote in states of the former Confederacy. But Alabama and other states insist that times have changed.
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenConservatives and Liberals agree that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped blacks and other minorities get the right to vote in states of the former Confederacy. But Alabama and other states insist that times have changed, and next week the US Supreme Court will hear their challenge. Does the law infringe on state sovereignty? What about efforts to limit voting in last year's elections? Also, the Supreme Court considers campaign funding limits, and the true story behind John Ford's greatest Western movie sheds light on how American mythology is made.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on, August 6, 1965.
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Read the story8 minHas the South Outgrown the Voting Rights Act?
After the re-election of America's first black president, Alabama and other states want the US Supreme Court to throw out a key section of the Voting Rights Act . It requires states and localities with histories of racial discrimination to check with the Justice Department when they change voting laws.
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