African-Americans and Political Participation

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African Americans had been denied access to the ballot particularly in the South in the United States up until 1965. First, I investigated how this was possible, paying particular attention to the three major tools : literacy test, poll tax and white primaries.Since 1965, African Americans were guaranteed access to the ballot, but they could not elect their own representatives. It was the limitation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In 1982, the law was amended in such a way that in the post 1982 years, African Americans could be fairly represented. To that end, they demanded the creation of as many black-majority districts as possible. In many cases, however, such an effort resulted in stragely shaped congressional districts. This was later called "racial gerrymandering"and became the center of controversy at courts-in-law.In 1995 and 1996, the U.S.Supreme Court ruled that racial gerrymandering was contrary to the Constitution, and discredited most of black majority districts. In the post 1996 rulings, African American will have to search for other means for their political empowerment.