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Friend,
Today is the anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act -- and looking at election days across the country these past few months, I can't help but think how far we've slipped backwards.
I was struck by a video from Kentucky's primary election, of a mother in Jefferson County who was joined by her 18 year old daughter for her very first time voting. She cried as she shared how this year, her daughter didn't get a prom, she didn't get a graduation, and she almost didn't get the chance to vote for the first time -- until a judge intervened and allowed polling hours extended.
Her daughter said over and over: "It isn't supposed to be like this. We shouldn't have to go through this." And I agree. It's shameful.
If you agree, add your name next to mine to call for an end to voter suppression and expanded voter assistance on this incredibly important anniversary -- and honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Act.
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As I was thinking about this day, I read back President Lyndon B. Johnson's words as he signed the Civil Rights Act -- they truly feel like they could be said today, and not more than half a century ago.
Americans of every race and color have died in battle to protect our freedom. Americans of every race and color have worked to build a nation of widening opportunities. Now our generation of Americans has been called on to continue the unending search for justice within our own borders.
We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are denied equal treatment.
We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights.
We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings -- not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin.
The reasons are deeply embedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand -- without rancor or hatred -- how this all happened.
But it cannot continue. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it.
Those are the words of a true leader -- but we know that, unfortunately, we face these same issues today.
In 2018, there were 3,200 statewide polling places in Kentucky. But on election day this year, there were only 200.
Half of Black Kentuckians live in Jefferson County, KY -- including 600,000 registered voters. But for Jefferson County? There was just one open polling place -- that is where that mother voted with her daughter, sobbing with relief that she could, and anger for what they both had to face to do it.
It's unconscionable. Today, on this hallowed anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, I ask you to recommit with me to the ideals laid out by President Johnson in 1964 today, 56 years later: Add your name to call for an end to voter suppression.
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Sincerely,
Chuck Schumer
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