Bending toward justice: the Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy
Author:
Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
2013
Language:
English
Lexile measure:
1210L
Description
When the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote, it seemed as if a new era of political equality was at hand. Before long, however, white segregationists across the South counterattacked, driving their black countrymen from the polls through a combination of sheer terror and insidious devices such as complex literacy tests and expensive poll taxes. Most African Americans would remain voiceless for nearly a century more, citizens in name only until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act secured their access to the ballot. In Bending Toward Justice, celebrated historian Gary May describes how black voters overcame centuries of bigotry to secure and preserve one of their most important rights as American citizens. The struggle that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act was long and torturous, and only succeeded because of the courageous work of local freedom fighters and national civil rights leaders -- as well as, ironically, the opposition of Southern segregationists and law enforcement officials, who won public sympathy for the voting rights movement by brutally attacking peaceful demonstrators. But while the Voting Rights Act represented an unqualified victory over such forces of hate, May explains that its achievements remain in jeopardy. Many argue that the 2008 election of President Barack Obama rendered the act obsolete, yet recent years have seen renewed efforts to curb voting rights and deny minorities the act's hard-won protections. Legal challenges to key sections of the act may soon lead the Supreme Court to declare those protections unconstitutional. A vivid, fast-paced history of this landmark piece of civil rights legislation, Bending Toward Justice offers a dramatic, timely account of the struggle that finally won African Americans the ballot -- although, as May shows, the fight for voting rights is by no means over. Gary May is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. Winner of the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians and author of four books, including The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, May lives in Newark, Delaware.
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | f760d588-1425-59b7-258f-28d0d0fa218e |
---|---|
Grouping Title | bending toward justice the voting rights act and the transformation of american democracy |
Grouping Author | gary may |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-04-30 06:18:40AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-30 22:41:57PM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
May, Gary, 1944-
author2-role
hoopla digital
author_display
May, Gary
available_at_eh
East Hampton Public Library
detailed_location_eh
East Hampton Adult Nonfiction
display_description
When the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote, it seemed as if a new era of political equality was at hand. Before long, however, white segregationists across the South counterattacked, driving their black countrymen from the polls through a combination of sheer terror and insidious devices such as complex literacy tests and expensive poll taxes. Most African Americans would remain voiceless for nearly a century more, citizens in name only until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act secured their access to the ballot. In Bending Toward Justice, celebrated historian Gary May describes how black voters overcame centuries of bigotry to secure and preserve one of their most important rights as American citizens. The struggle that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act was long and torturous, and only succeeded because of the courageous work of local freedom fighters and national civil rights leaders -- as well as, ironically, the opposition of Southern segregationists and law enforcement officials, who won public sympathy for the voting rights movement by brutally attacking peaceful demonstrators. But while the Voting Rights Act represented an unqualified victory over such forces of hate, May explains that its achievements remain in jeopardy. Many argue that the 2008 election of President Barack Obama rendered the act obsolete, yet recent years have seen renewed efforts to curb voting rights and deny minorities the act's hard-won protections. Legal challenges to key sections of the act may soon lead the Supreme Court to declare those protections unconstitutional. A vivid, fast-paced history of this landmark piece of civil rights legislation, Bending Toward Justice offers a dramatic, timely account of the struggle that finally won African Americans the ballot -- although, as May shows, the fight for voting rights is by no means over. Gary May is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. Winner of the Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians and author of four books, including The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, May lives in Newark, Delaware.
format_category_eh
Books
eBook
eBook
format_eh
Book
eBook
eBook
id
f760d588-1425-59b7-258f-28d0d0fa218e
isbn
9780465018468
9780465050734
9780465050734
itype_eh
ADULT BOOK
last_indexed
2024-05-01T04:41:57.988Z
lexile_score
1210
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_eh
342.73 MAY
owning_library_eh
East Hampton Public Library
owning_location_eh
East Hampton Public Library
primary_isbn
9780465018468
publishDate
2013
publisher
Basic Books
Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group
Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
African Americans -- Suffrage -- History
Election law -- United States -- History
Electronic books
Minorities -- Suffrage -- United States -- History
United States. -- Voting Rights Act of 1965
Election law -- United States -- History
Electronic books
Minorities -- Suffrage -- United States -- History
United States. -- Voting Rights Act of 1965
title_display
Bending toward justice : the Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy
title_full
Bending Toward Justice : The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy [electronic resource] / Gary May
Bending toward justice : the Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy / Gary May
Bending toward justice : the Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy / Gary May
title_short
Bending toward justice
title_sub
the Voting Rights Act and the transformation of American democracy
topic_facet
African Americans
Election law
Electronic books
History
Minorities
Suffrage
Election law
Electronic books
History
Minorities
Suffrage
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT15982533 | Online Hoopla Collection | Online Hoopla | eBook | eBook | 1 | false | true | Hoopla | https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/14954962?utm_source=MARC&Lid=hh4435 | Available Online | |||
ils:.b22530964 | .i52541460 | Hamden/Miller Adult Nonfiction 3rd Floor | 342.73/MAY | 1 | false | false | Display | hmanb | |||||
ils:.b22530964 | .i60109166 | East Hampton Adult Nonfiction | 342.73 MAY | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | ehan | |||||
ils:.b22530964 | .i47267975 | Guilford Adult Non-Fiction | 342.73 MAY | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | guan | |||||
ils:.b22530964 | .i48159499 | Westbrook Adult Non-Fiction | 342.73 MAY | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | wsan |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT15982533 | eBook | eBook | English | Basic Books | 2013 | 1 online resource (336 pages) | ||
ils:.b22530964 | Book | Books | English | Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group | 2013 | xxi, 314 pages ; 24 cm |
scoping_details_eh
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT15982533 | Available Online | Available Online | false | true | false | false | false | false | ||||
ils:.b22530964 | .i52541460 | On Shelf | Display | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b22530964 | .i60109166 | On Shelf | On Shelf | true | true | true | false | false | true | 9999 | ||
ils:.b22530964 | .i47267975 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b22530964 | .i48159499 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 |