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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 3, 2020 09:03 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 15th Amendment |
| “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” —15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution The right to vote is sacrosanct, but it took great sacrifices — including the loss of life — over generations to establish the diverse electorate we boast of today. 150 years later, spanning three centuries of voter intimidation and suppression against African American men (and much later, Black women),we honor all those heroic souls who fought and fell for the noble cause to secure voting rights for all citizens. It was only through the passage of the 13th, 14th & 15th amendments to the United States Constitution that African Americans would be recognized not only as human beings, but as full United States citizens. Though the passage of the 15th Amendment was still a long way from genuine racial equity, it was a cultural fulcrum newly enshrined in our country’s constitution that would influence the slow progress of our participatory democracy. And it took adoption of this radical amendment to restore voting rights stripped decades earlier from Black men across Pennsylvania by an amendment to our state constitution in 1838. This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment. As such, I will be introducing a resolution that acknowledges the long road of progress this country and African Americans have traveled since 1870. I thank you in advance for your support of this important recognition. |
Introduced as HR727