Black History

Why The 2020 Election Is Being Compared to Elections After The Civil War

Published

5 years ago

October 25, 2020

Historians and political scientists are turning to the past to frame the discussion about the more than 50 million Americans who have already voted before Election Day, many of whom have stood in line for hours. Media outlets are comparing an obviously energized electorate to the percentage of voters who participated in the elections after the Civil War, but at least one political scientist, Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State, hesitates to compare the percentages of voter turnout.

“It’s much easier to make that conclusion if the voter eligible population is very narrow and much smaller,” says Franklin. “So, I’m very reluctant to do century-to-century or regional comparisons when the number of eligible voters was much narrower than today.”

According to USA Today, the nation “saw the highest eligible voter turnout rate, 82.6%, in 1876, when Republican Rutherford Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel Tilden. In 1860, when Abraham Lincoln defeated John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas, 81.8% of eligible voters turned out.”

And voter turnout climbed above 80% in at least four other elections in the 1800s.

Why So High

With the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, newly freed slaves embraced their right to vote. Before the passage of the Amendment in 1869 granting Black men the right to vote, voting rights advocates questioned the logic behind disenfranchisement and pushed for the inclusion of Black men.

Delegates attending the 1864 National Convention of Colored Men in Syracuse, New York asked, “Are we good enough to use bullets, and not good enough to use ballots?”

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass attended the Convention and said, “We are here to promote the freedom, progress, elevation, and perfect enfranchisement, of the entire colored people of the United States; to show that, though slaves, we are not contented slaves, but that, like all other progressive races of men, we are resolved to advance in the scale of knowledge , worth, and civilization, and claim our rights as men among men.”

And there was Congressional assistance in the effort. In 1867, Republicans in Congress passed a series of Reconstruction Acts, overriding President Johnson’s veto. The first act required former Confederate states to form new governments that enfranchised all “male citizens…twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color, or previous condition” before they could be readmitted to the Union.

The next election saw Black men finally allowed to participate at the polls which explains, in part, the high turnout numbers in 1868, 1872, and 1876.

Franklin points to the impact of what some historians call “the squeeze” or in his words, “white voters in the South who were still committed to the Confederate Cause.”

And he describes the 1876 election as “full of fraud and voter intimidation, particularly talking about African American voters.”

It was the 1877 Compromise when newly elected Republican President Hayes struck a deal to clinch the White House which included removing federal troops from southern states that ushered in the end of Reconstruction.

More than a century after that fateful 1876 election, Franklin cites the issues of today as offering the most striking historical parallels.

“Those were elections in which race and federalism were at the front and center,” he says. “And so I think, if you were to look at the election today and what may be animating in the electorate, on the one hand, you have Black and Latinx voters, perhaps…at least Black voters, some Latinx…and still a pretty dogmatic, white racial grievance that’s gravitated towards Trump. That those things are animated in that election as they were animating in the election in the late 19th century.”

Black History

Trump Signs Executive Orders That Will Impact HBCUs and Black Schoolchildren

Published

24 hours ago

April 24, 2025

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and establish a White House Initiative on HBCUs to “deliver high-quality education to a growing number of students.”

According to the White House, the Initiative will help develop private-sector partnerships, institutional development and workforce preparation in technology, health care, manufacturing and finance.

The president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dr. Harry L. Williams said, “Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities. This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”

On the same day, Trump signed another executive order that removes safeguards for African American schoolchildren by eliminating an Obama-era initiative to protect Black schoolchildren from excessive disciplinary action.

During the Obama administration, the first Black president’s administration created guidelines that sought to prevent school discipline from having a disproportionate effect on minority students. Trump revoked the civil rights initiative during his first term and Biden did not formally restore it.

At his signing today, Trump said his decision was especially important to the current Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who held the signed order.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,” McMahon said in a statement. “Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety – encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion.”

She added, “Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.

Studies show that Black students are punished more often than their white counterparts.

Black History

President Jimmy Carter Appointed the First Black Woman to Lead a Federal Agency

Published

4 months ago

January 9, 2025

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President Jimmy Carter advanced opportunities for African Americans throughout his life,
advocating for justice and peace consistent with the Christian values he embraced. Since his
death on December 29 at age 100, Mr. Carter’s praises have been sung from his home state of
Georgia to points around the globe. And while the former president’s one-term in the White
House is dismissed by some political pundits for a lack of policies or accomplishments that
changed the course of history, his character and integrity set him apart.

Carter became the first president to appoint a Black woman head of a federal agency. He chose
Patricia Roberts Harris to lead the Housing and Urban Development when he took office in
1977.

Harris said, “I feel deeply proud and grateful this President chose me to knock down this barrier, but also a little sad about being the ‘first Negro woman,’ because it implies we were not
considered before.”

Senator William Proxmire questioned Carter’s choice, saying Harris came from too much wealth and influence to be an effective leader. But Carter stood by his decision, and Harris stayed in the position for two years.

The 39th president’s name is also included on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame.

Civil rights activist, Rev. Al Sharpton recalled a conversation he shared with Carter.

“It was very significant, I was talking there at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and I was talking to President Clinton and President Carter,” Sharpton recalled. “And when Clinton and I finished talking, President Carter touched me on my arm and said, ‘How are you doing with your ministry, Al? I see you out there with your activism. Don’t leave your ministry … keep your prayer life going.’ And you could tell he sincerely meant it. He was not one who talked about his religion as a political kind of something you could say to voters.”

President Joe Biden declared January 9, 2025, a national day of mourning. Millions watched the former president’s funeral on television as he was remembered as a man of honesty,
compassion and faith – which included championing the rights of Americans who knew firsthand the struggle of injustice

Black History

The Congressional Black Caucus Prepares for “Important” Work

Published

4 months ago

January 3, 2025

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The Congressional Black Caucus started the 119th Congress with its largest membership. There were 62 members sworn in today.

“On behalf of the entire Congressional Black Caucus, congratulations to the members of the Executive Committee of the 119th Congress. 53 years after our Caucus’ founding, our work to improve the lives and conditions of Black people in America is more important than ever before,” said CBC President Steven Horsford.