Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections (History in the Headlines Ser.)

ReviewIf one wants to understand the ins and outs of voter suppression in the United States, the strategies of the suppressors and their many ruses, and the racial components, there is no better place to start than with the astute observations and commentsof the five contributors to Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections. Michael Goldfield author of The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940sAfter reading this enlightening and despairing examination of an issue vital to the elections in November, you may never see a polling place glitch the same way again. Suzanne Van Atten Atlanta JournalConstitutionIn light of Georgias SB 202 and other states efforts to whittle voting access, and with the future of the Voting Rights Bill in question, Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections is valuable reading. Emily Rogers Georgia Library QuarterlyProduct DescriptionHistorians have long been engaged in telling the story of the struggle for the vote. In the wake of recent contested elections, the suppression of the vote has returned to the headlines, as awareness of the deep structural barriers to the ballot, particularly for poor, black, and Latino voters, has called attention to the historical roots of issues related to voting access.Perhaps most notably, former state legislator Stacey Abramss campaign for Georgias gubernatorial race drew national attention after she narrowly lost to thensecretary of state Brian Kemp, who had removed hundreds of thousands of voters from the official rolls. After her loss, Abrams created Fair Fight, a multimilliondollar initiative to combat voter suppression in twenty states.At an annual conference of the Organization of American Historians, leading scholars Carol Anderson, Kevin M. Kruse, Heather Cox Richardson, and Heather Anne Thompson had a conversation with Abrams about the long history of voter suppression at the Library Company of Philadelphia. This book is a transcript of that extraordinary conversation, edited by Jim Downs.Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections offers an enlightening, historyinformed conversation about voter disenfranchisement in the United States. By gathering scholars and activists whose work has provided sharp analyses of this issue, we see how historians in general explore contentious topics and provide historical context for students and the broader public.The book also includes a top ten selection of essays and articles by such writers as journalist Ari Berman, Pulitzer Prizewinning historian David Blight, and civil rights icon John Lewis.About the AuthorSTACEY ABRAMS is a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, nonprofit CEO, and political leader. After serving for eleven years in the Georgia House of Representatives, seven as minority leader, in 2018, Abrams became the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia, when she won more votes than any other Democrat in the states history. Abrams was the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States. After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the secretary of states office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every Georgian has a voice in our election system. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels including Fair Countto ensure that the 2020 Census is fair, accurate, and complete. Abrams received degrees from Spelman College, the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, and Yale Law School. She and her five siblings grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Georgia.CAROL ANDERSON is the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University and a Guggenheim Fellow in Constitutional Studies. She is the author of several books, including Eyes off the Prize: The United Na