On the recordFebruary 2, 2015
I thank the gentleman for yielding. The Congressional Black Caucus is delighted to come to the floor this evening to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. At the end of slavery, Mr. Speaker, in 1865, which was 150 years ago, the State of North Carolina had a slave population of 331,000 slaves. After the passage of the 13th Amendment and ratification of it by 27 States, these slaves became free. They became American citizens, and males 21 years old or older would soon be entitled to vote. Among those 331,000 slaves gaining freedom, 128,000 of them resided in my congressional district. In some of the counties, the Black population exceeded the White population. In 1870, African American citizens gained the right to vote by the enactment of the 15th Amendment. For the next 30 years, Mr. Speaker, African American men voted in large numbers and became a political force in State politics. Four African Americans were elected to Congress in North Carolina, eight in South Carolina, three in Alabama, and one each in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Virginia, and Louisiana. Many more were elected to State and local office. In 1900, after KKK violence and lynchings had not deterred Black political participation, most Southern States passed disfranchisement laws requiring a literacy test and the payment of a poll tax. These laws had the intent and effect of disenfranchising Black people from voting, and it worked.…
