Trib Live Opinion on the Anniversary of the 15th Amendment

“Lawrence McCullough: Anniversary of 15th Amendment & vigilance for voting rights”

Trib LIVE, March 27, 2020

The article opens…

March 30 marks the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment’s addition to the U.S. Constitution. It’s the amendment that guaranteed the right of African American men to vote, declaring, “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.”

In 1870, the amendment’s year of ratification, only eight Northern states permitted suffrage to African Americans. Pennsylvania had rescinded that right in 1838, with the general assembly stating that if African Americans were allowed to vote, “it would prove harmful to the state.”

and includes a comment from B-PEP CEO Tim Stevens…

Today in Allegheny County, expanding and protecting voting rights is the mission of several organizations, from the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh and Voice Your Vote! Project to local chapters of Fair Districts PA, American Constitution Society and American Civil Liberties Union.

Pittsburgh’s Black Political Empowerment Project is engaged in continually battling what executive director Tim Stevens cites as “intrusion into the 15th Amendment and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, from the purging of voter lists, to racial and political gerrymandering and to voter intimidation at the polls. All persons, regardless of party, should have an ongoing, steadfast commitment to seeking new and creative ways to encourage voting for all citizens of the United States of America.”

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Read the full article here on Trib Live.