The Time Was Right
|
"It is clear that the country, the Congress and the courts are determined to secure this right [ Voting ] to all eligible Negro citizens faithfully and steadily."
- Roscoe Drummond, "Voting Rights Fight", Washington Post, February 12, 1965 |
At last in 1965, all the necessary elements for passing a voting rights bill were present: the desire of the nation, support of the courts, a fully mobilized Civil Rights movement, and a southerner as President.
|
"[President Johnson and Martin Luther King] were the indispensable leaders, in the right place at the right time to effect the end of legal apartheid in America" - Judgement Days, Book by Nick Kotz |
Desire of Nation
(Click on Play Button to view slideshow)
|
MLK - Face of Civil Rights Movement
 "let us march on ballot boxes"
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., address at end of Selma to Montgomery march, March 25, 1965 |
Visionary President
(Click on Play Button to view slideshow)
|
|
|
Support of the Supreme Court
 Source: The Fort Scott Tribune, June 16, 1967
|
"...Mr. Warren's Court, amid much dispute, elaborated a doctrine of fairness in such areas as... voting rights [and]...contributed greatly to a reshaping of the country's social and political institutions.
- Alden Whitman, New York Times, July 10, 1974 |
 Source: New York Times, March 9, 1965
|
"the enforcement provisions of the [VRA] ... were won because of court cases"
- Phone Interview, Robert Moses, organizer of Freedom Summer, March 14, 2013
- Phone Interview, Robert Moses, organizer of Freedom Summer, March 14, 2013