Southern Disfranchisement and the Long Origins of the Voter Education Project

Abstract

This chapter gives the century-long context to the VEP, going back to Reconstruction and the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. To fight back against white supremacy and disfranchisement, African Americans pursued voting rights and political power, though with limited success before the VEP. This chapter argues that three main events led to the VEP. First, the Southern Regional Council trailblazed a research path; second, the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom signalled to the nation that black voting rights were patriotic and Christian; and third, the Crusade for Citizenship failed, but proved that a southwide social movement for the ballot was possible.