John,

When combatting Jim Crow policies in the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson used every tool available to him to help ensure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, “an incredible, potent mixture of persuasion, badgering, flattery, threats, reminders of past favors and future advantages,” as the veteran Washington Post journalist Mary McGrory described it.

Today, the progress made during the Civil Rights Movement is under attack. In the wake of the 2020 election, Republican legislators across the country have introduced over 380 bills in state legislatures designed to suppress voting rights, particularly among communities of color. This legislation is already impacting voters in states like Georgia and Florida, showing us that this party-wide attack on our voting rights poses a serious threat to the future of our democracy.

The remedy for these poisonous bills is within reach: the For The People Act (S1), which will soon face a vote in the U.S. Senate. But S1 faces a potentially fatal problem: the filibuster, a Jim Crow relic that allows a minority of Senators to block legislation from passing by a simple majority. While the vast majority of Senate Democrats have signaled their support for overturning this antiquated rule, Senator Manchin of West Virginia and Senator Sinema of Arizona refuse to rock the boat. It is now up to President Biden to call for an end to the filibuster, for the sake of protecting our voting rights and our democracy.

Sign if you agree: To protect voting rights and our democracy from Jim Crow 2.0, the filibuster must be eliminated.