Lyndon B. Johnson
36th U.S. President // November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969 // b. August 27, 1908 // d. January 22, 1973 (aged 64)
36th U.S. President // November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969 // b. August 27, 1908 // d. January 22, 1973 (aged 64)
11.3.20
Although the 15th Amendment, adopted in 1870, legally granted Black men the right to vote, Southern laws, including literacy tests and poll taxes, still prevented many African Americans from voting for decades. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination on both the state and local level. In 2013, however, the Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the act that required areas with a history of discrimination to obtain approval prior to altering voting rules.
—Celine Castronuovo, "99-year-old Black man born on a plantation votes: 'I just hope that things get better,'" 3 Nov. 2020 {4:24 PM EST} *
Although the 15th Amendment, adopted in 1870, legally granted Black men the right to vote, Southern laws, including literacy tests and poll taxes, still prevented many African Americans from voting for decades. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination on both the state and local level. In 2013, however, the Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the act that required areas with a history of discrimination to obtain approval prior to altering voting rules.
—Celine Castronuovo, "99-year-old Black man born on a plantation votes: 'I just hope that things get better,'" 3 Nov. 2020 {4:24 PM EST} *