Why We’re Still Fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment
October 09, 2024
By Aryana Goodarzi
Today is the birthday of the legendary Stacey Abrams! Abrams really brought to light how Black people in the U.S. are systematically deprived of their right to vote through racism and voter suppression laws.
Evenwel v. Abbot established “one person, one vote” as the basis of voting in our Republic. But while citizens who are aged 18 and older technically have the right to vote in the U.S., we must also think about what this means for Black people who are disproportionately deprived of this right. Simultaneously suppressing access to the ballot for Black people and people of color while also increasing the impact of the White vote through the Census is not truly an equal society.
Systemic racism and the origins of voter suppression symptomatically impact Black people disproportionately. On Stacey Abrams’s birthday, we are recognizing her as a person to praise, but also a person we raise up as a leader on the issue of access to the ballot. When an individual's rights are being voted on, we must support and elect the right politicians; those who go on to advocate voting rights for all and the Equal Rights Amendment. Voting rights should not be a political issue.
So today we’re celebrating the birthday of Stacey Abrams - shero and voting rights advocate. Happy birthday, Stacey!
To thank this legendary advocate, read about the lack of voting rights and what that means for equality:
- Cowan, Sarah K. 2015. “Periodic Discordance Between Vote Equality and Representational Equality in the United States.” Sociological Science 2:442-453.
- “Voting Rights Project.” Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 28 July 2021, https://www.lawyerscommittee.org/project/voting-rights-project/
- EVENWEL ET AL. v. ABBOTT, GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, ET AL. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-940_ed9g.PDF
- Remster, Brianna, and Rory Kramer. “Shifting Power: The Impact of Incarceration on Political Representation.” SocArXiv, 24 Nov. 2017. Web.
Photo credit: original image of Stacey Abrams by Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
