The Root has written extensively about the new wave of voter suppression laws that have become more prevalent ever since Black people exercised their right to vote in record numbers during the 2020 Presidential election. Republican-led states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia are just reimagining voting suppression tactics from an old playbook of poll taxes and Jim Crow laws. That’s abundantly clear from what is happening in Mississippi right now. According to the Mississippi Free Press, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed an 1890 Jim-Crow era voting law to continue.
Yes, in 2022, remnants of Jim Crow are still allowed to exist in southern states. While the primarily conservative court conceded the Mississippi law was steeped in racism, they believed the state had done enough since then to dilute the law’s impact on Black Americans.
Just as recently as April, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed a bill that would have overturned this provision. No wonder Mississippi has never elected a Black candidate for office, despite having the largest Black population in the country.
In 1890, newly emancipated Black Americans were making progress using their right to vote. At the same time, a white supremacist-dominated Mississippi legislative body was working to stop that by any means necessary. They got together and constructed parts of the state constitution that added crimes they believed mostly Black people committed in order to justify rescinding their right to vote forever and explicitly keep white rule in place.
Source: Racist Jim Crow Provisions Are Alive and Suppressing Black Votes In Mississippi
