Systemic Racism, Voting Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court |  Kathryn E. Eisenhart | 

Recording Available September 17

This lecture introduces students to the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in protecting or limiting voting rights. The focus is on the late Twentieth Century and the Twenty-first Century and examines how systemic racism affects the decisions on cases dealing with state election laws and minority rights. Shelby County v. Holder, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fifteenth Amendment will be discussed.

Voting is the primary way that citizens participate in politics and the implementation of government. Those who vote determine who will run our governments: local, state, and federal. Decisions by the Supreme Court can limit who is eligible to vote. Historically, African Americans have been denied the right to vote in many states. The current aim of many government officials is once again to limit access to voting by minorities, especially African Americans. What will be the role of the Supreme Court in protecting minority voters?

Kathryn E. Eisenhart is Emerita Associate Professor, whose appointment was to the Department of Legal Studies. She is a lawyer and active in the Illinois Bar Association’s Human and Civil Rights Section Council. Her scholarship focuses on slavery, racism and the Supreme Court.