Today, voting rights are once again in peril. Commemorate their legacy and call on congress to act now.
Update 06/25/2014: Watch the powerful video of our movement in action. On June 24th, we lit thousands of candles in our nation’s capital — a candle for every signature on the petition so far. Momentum is building — add your voice now.
On June 21, 1964, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner — an African-American Christian and two white Jews — were working to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi as part of Freedom Summer ‘64 when they were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. Today, we carry on their fight.
Last year’s Supreme Court decision dismantled key sections of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark federal legislation prohibiting voting discrimination that became law after their murders.
New voting barriers have already emerged, making it more difficult for the young, elderly, poor and people of color to vote. We must call on Congress to reinstate important voting protections by passing the pending Voting Rights Amendment Act before the window for action closes this summer.
TO: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
The right to vote is a sacred cornerstone of our democracy. I urge you to support the bipartisan Voting Rights Amendment Act to restore the right to vote for all Americans.
Spread the Word
Join the Conversation
Learn the history of the Voting Rights Act
Last year’s Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder gutted the enforcement mechanisms in the landmark Voting Rights Act, halting the federal government’s ability to monitor and preempt discriminatory voting practices.
JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, IN HER DISSENT:
“Throwing out preclearance [the Section Four formula] when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
Already, we have seen a flurry of state- and local-level efforts that will make it harder for communities of color, women, first-time voters, the elderly, and the poor to cast their vote.
This is precisely why people worked so hard to pass the Voting Rights Act in the first place.
Fifty years ago, young civil rights activists traveled to Mississippi to fight for voting rights in Freedom Summer ‘64. Three of them lost their lives in the fight.
Their murders shocked the nation and galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Today, thousands of Jews across the nation are joining the national, multi-racial, and interfaith fight to pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act in Congress.
Join in and help build a groundswell of support.
GET INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN
After you’ve signed the petition, join Bend the Arc and sign up to be a leader in the campaign to protect the right to vote. We’ll provide trainings and materials for a number of meaningful on the ground actions you can take part in. Help strengthen the movement.
ABOUT BEND THE ARC
As a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Bend the Arc is working with an impressive coalition of civil rights groups, many of which were leading the fight fifty years ago. Bend the Arc is also partnered with The Andrew Goodman Foundation to reanimate the values that led thousands of Americans to work across lines of race and faith in the Civil Rights Movement.
