OURstory: 15th Amendment

On this date in 1870 the 15th amendment was ratified. Republicans wanted the 15th Amendment passed to obtain the vote of the freed slaves.

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Section 1. 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.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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The 15th Amendment ensures the right to vote to all male citizens of the United States, regardless of color or previous condition of servitude. The 15th Amendment opened the door for the elections of African Americans to the US Congress and to Southern local and state offices.

Many women suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had worked alongside Black suffragists like Frederick Douglass to gain suffrage for both groups. But when the 15th Amendment passed, it angered many women suffragists terribly, and some of them even spoke out against Black suffrage.

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Tell President Obama: We Have Your Back on the 14th Amendment

The Republican Party is on track to drive our economy off the cliff over the debt negotiations. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) is sending an open letter to President Obama letting him know that progressives have his back if he chooses to invoke the 14th Amendment.

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Dear President Obama,

We understand the difficulties you face in reaching a debt limit agreement. Extremists have taken over the Republican Party in Congress. To get their way, they're willing to risk the United States defaulting on its debts for the first time in history. This GOP-manufactured debt crisis threatens a rejuvenated recession, hundreds of thousands of lost jobs, and higher interest rates. You don't want that. We don't want that.

Mr. President, we want you to know that if a reasonable compromise cannot be reached with Congressional Republicans, we have your back if you choose to use your constitutional authority under the 14th Amendment to avoid economic catastrophe.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that the validity of the public debt of the United States "shall not be questioned." Let's stop questioning it.

When we play chicken with radicals willing to drive the economy off the cliff, the entire country loses. That's the lesson we're now learning.

We support negotiations. We do not support fiscal suicide. Should a reasonable compromise be unreachable, we urge you to consider the "Constitutional Option" to get us past imminent disaster.

When the situation has stabilized, we can focus on the real issues -- job creation in the immediate term and deficit reduction over the next decade. There is plenty of time for bipartisan debate on these important issues of the day, but we are running out of time to stop an easily preventable financial disaster.

Thank you for your leadership.

Sincerely,
John Garamendi

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Add your name to the letter here.

OURstory: Ballot Box

The Ohio Historical Society is loaning a ballot box from the post-Civil War era to the America I AM exhibit when it comes to Cincinnati Museum Center on June 19.

All proud Black voters know that the 13th Amendment ended the system of slavery in America, while the 14th Amendment granted citizenship and the rights that came with it to African Americans. The 15th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote. These three (3) admendments to the US Constitution had a deep impact on our society.

After the 15th Amendment was ratified, African Americans sent 17 Black representatives to Washington – 15 to Congress and two to the U.S. Senate -- in a remarkable period of American history known as 'Reconstruction'.

I share this information in the hopes it will remind us 21st century citizens that freedom is never free. Many of our ancestors went through quite alot to get us the right to vote. Let's not take it for granted!