Page 32 - 15th Amendment News Today

Very, very important. if you go back through history, and i hate to go there this early, but the 15th amendment was passed by one party. it was not a bipartisan vote. the 15th amendment that gave the right to vote to former slaves. so to me, one party has on horn one occasion saved this country from itself. so this thing has to have a bipartisan support to be valuable is not quite -- doesnt get it for me when it comes to the history. >> it is never too early on "velshi" for a history lesson. you...

The power to do that. so he just simply oversaw the certification which is carried out by congress. >> lets talk about the effort to pass a voting rights bill. chuck schumer is wildly expected to introduce that bill next week and republicans widely expected to oppose it. jim clyburn was on this morning. i believe we may have the sound bite. if not, here is what he said. if you go back through history and i hate to go there this early you but the 15th was passed by one party. the 15th amendment g...

Ride for voting rights to reach out to african-american voters. its going to rally public support for federal legislation to combat new state laws that are meant to restrict voting rights. youre starting this tour on juneteenth, now a federal holiday. im curious to get your thoughts about so many republicans who voted to make juneteenth a federal holiday, but yet not supporting either of the proposed voting rights bills. >> yeah, thanks for having me. and i think you pointed out the incredible i...

Acknowledging the full history of our country. >> it really is. its a big step. finally, as i mentioned, your book coming out in paperback this week. you talked about some of the things you discussed. the history of slavery and the history of the vote in restricting the vote. its something thats gone on in this country since the founding of this country. >> unfortunately, at our inception, native americans were denied citizenship. african-americans were denied humanity. women were told to be sil...

Theyre facing, the federal government is taking those seriously and will be investigating and prosecuting them, where necessary. were scrutinizing every state law that is curbing voter access to determine whether theyre violating federal law and where the facts in the law call for it. youll see us in court. these are -- this is why we are, you know, in the middle, i would say, of a pretty significant set of challenges to our democracy. nobody can deny that. it is the history of the justice depar...

Wrote there? >> voting rights. the 15th amendment. and eventually it says, everybody, regardless of previous servitude and slavery and regardless of color or race, you get to vote in this country, if youre born here. or naturalized, of course. and the congress of the united states has the power to enforce this. i think what we are doing here. we have to have voting rights. thats the right of congress, i think. empowerment of congress to make sure these laws are enforced and people get to vote. t...

Citizenship and self-government. representative john bingham, the principal author of the 14th amendment, called the right to vote the source of all institutions of democratic government. bingham and other framers of the reconstruction amendments also knew that a meaningful right to vote requires meaningful enforcement. months after ratification of the 15th amendment, congress enacted the first ku klux klan act. it reenacted the right to vote and instructed martials to bring criminal rights agai...

Promised by the 14th and 15th amendment. amos ackerman, the first attorney general president grant appointed to lead the new justice department, zealously fought to protect black voting rights, directing u.s. attorneys that it was their, quote, special duty to initiate proceedings against all violators of the ku klux klan act. in the next few years, doj lawyers successfully prosecuted hundreds of ku klux klan leaders and others. those efforts helped to secure a brief period of meaningful black v...

Hes on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the constitution and the wrong side of justice. >> bishop, i know that as you mention you met with senator manchin to discuss the minimum wage. what does he present if youre saying the people in west virginia support what you guys are calling for, what the movement is calling for and at the same time, hes saying he represents west virginians who dont want to see this quote/unquote bipartisa >> well, first of all, you know, hes lying. one of ...

Enforcement efforts by holding that the first ku klux klan act exceeded congress power under the 15th amendment. between 1890 and 1908, every southern state enacted a new constitution or amended its constitution to exclude black voters or significantly impede their participation. the courts did not stand in the way, rejecting every constitutional challenge. for the next half century, no branch of the federal government did much to protect voting rights. that began to change in the late 1950s whe...