When people talk about the current moment in fighting for voting rights in America, too often we think it started with the most recent Supreme Court case. But in Mississippi, the struggle over Black voting rights stretches back more than 150 years.
From the Civil War to Reconstruction, the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 and Jim Crow through the Voting Rights Act and the inevitable backlash to rising Black political power that we’re still seeing today.
In this video, Mississippi policy guru Hannah Williams traces how Black political progress in Mississippi was repeatedly met with violent backlash, legal restrictions, and efforts to suppress voting power.
From the promise of Reconstruction to the 1890 Mississippi Constitution that became a blueprint for Jim Crow across the South, this history helps explain why voting rights debates remain so consequential today.
Image: Hannah Williams (courtesy).