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Professor David Garrow,
Research Professor of History and Law University of Pittsburgh School of Law Pittsburgh, PA Field: U.S. Black Freedom Struggle Since 1945 Pulitzer Prize Winner for: "Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference" Email Interview December 12, 2012 |
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1) What are the main unfinished tasks that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has not yet accomplished as of today?
On #1, I frankly believe that the VRA of '65 *has* accomplished all of the ends that were envisioned for it, and that none remain unfulfilled;
2) What do you see as the future of the Voting Rights Act?
On#2, I very firmly do *not* believe that it will be *any* sort of tragedy if the Supreme Court indeed rules that the Section 5 "trigger formula" is no longer an appropriate constitutional means for combatting racial discrimination (given how the trigger is based upon 1964 voter data); and,
3) Can the Voting Rights Act of 1965 be called a "Turning Point" in history?
on #3, I do indeed believe that the VRA was a major turning point in American history, for it finally resolved the huge racial discrimination barriers to black voter registration in the deep south states that dated to the late 1860s and which had *not* been solved by Supreme Court rulings in the 1930s & 1940s nor by the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, & 1964...
All best wishes,
Dave Garrow
--
David J. Garrow
Research Professor of History and Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
www.davidgarrow.com
On #1, I frankly believe that the VRA of '65 *has* accomplished all of the ends that were envisioned for it, and that none remain unfulfilled;
2) What do you see as the future of the Voting Rights Act?
On#2, I very firmly do *not* believe that it will be *any* sort of tragedy if the Supreme Court indeed rules that the Section 5 "trigger formula" is no longer an appropriate constitutional means for combatting racial discrimination (given how the trigger is based upon 1964 voter data); and,
3) Can the Voting Rights Act of 1965 be called a "Turning Point" in history?
on #3, I do indeed believe that the VRA was a major turning point in American history, for it finally resolved the huge racial discrimination barriers to black voter registration in the deep south states that dated to the late 1860s and which had *not* been solved by Supreme Court rulings in the 1930s & 1940s nor by the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, & 1964...
All best wishes,
Dave Garrow
--
David J. Garrow
Research Professor of History and Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
www.davidgarrow.com