The Voter ID: The New Black Codes

Abstract

The Black Codes were laws set in place by various states-particularly those located in the South-to limit the political power and social influence of African-Americans in the U.S. These laws came into existence during Reconstruction and transformed into the Jim Crow Laws, ushering in a new form of discrimination that sought to subjugate the African-American people under the foot of white power. These laws were overturned by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The intent of these legislative acts were to guarantee all individuals of voting age the right to participate in the political process of this nation and to affect change in the social fabric of society. In recent years, states have proposed laws that require identification before voting at the voting polls. These laws appear to affect minorities in a negative way, particularly those on a lower socio-economic scale. Are these laws being approved to prevent voter fraud... or are they being used to strip Africans in America of their right to vote? I examine the historical context of the Black Codes and look at the contemporary public policy of the United States through a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework. I compare these two legislative traditions to identify similarities and continuities. To achieve these goals, I use historical documents, peer-reviewed journals, and other publications to explore this phenomenon, and from there, describe the probable ramifications that these policies will have for the African-American community. This project also evaluates a number of solutions proposed by black political figures to address these challenges, who have offered ways to empower the African-American community to combat the newly-reborn Black Codes.