The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting in America, was passed 60 years ago this year.
Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell, U.S. Rep. André Carson (D) and representatives from the League of Women Voters and Partnership for Large Election Jurisdiction gathered alongside community members in the Indianapolis Artsgarden on Aug. 6 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
“If you don’t vote, I know it,” Bell said. “But I’m not here as just an elected official but as a guardian of one of our most fundamental rights. It’s not going to shock you when I say it’s the right to vote.”
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Generations of Americans fought to expand and protect voting rights, many of whom were in the room, Bell said. Sacrifices made by the women who marched for suffrage and Civil Rights activists such as Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcom X, culminated in President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law.
One notable Hoosier, former Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh, had a hand in crafting that legislation, which would secure and enforce the right to vote for racial minorities, which the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protect.
However, the event was also a call to action as Carson stated Hoosiers are facing “perhaps the greatest threat to voting rights since the Voting Rights Act was passed.” What was once literacy tests, poll taxes and physical intimidation is now voter ID laws, limited hours and access to the polls and “wickedly designed misinformation” across social media platforms, he said.
“Just 60 years ago, America passed the Voting Rights Act. Sixty years ago, we achieved a monumental victory in our fight for fairness,” Carson said. “Brave Americans marched to exercise their power. They marched for justice. They marched for peace, but faced violence and even death in the midst of it, but they still marched. Fellow Hoosiers, now it’s our turn.”
Chelsea Thomas of the Indianapolis Chapter of the League of Women Voters echoed Carson’s sentiment and emphasized the best way for Hoosiers to honor the activists who fought for their right to vote is simply by registering to vote and going to the polls — and not just during the primaries, but municipal elections as well.
“The truth is, celebrating the Voting Rights Act should be a moment of recommitment, not just reflection,” Thomas said. “It should fire us up. So I want to honor this day; recognize the courage of those who suffered to get us here, people who stood up to brutality so that others could stand in line at the polls. But I want to remember that honoring them means continuing loudly and unapologetically. We’re not deciding to preserve the vote, we’re fighting to make it meaningful, accessible and real for every American.”
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan civic organization, specializes in voter services, citizen education and action and advocacy by helping Hoosiers register to vote, translate ballots and demand fair redistricting. In short, these women continue to show up to “remind folks as politely as we can … that democracy is not a spectator sport,” Thomas said.
As the celebration came to a close, Bell presented the Beacon of Freedom Award to both Adam Wilson and Margo Kelly for their continued service while working the polls and encouraging Hoosiers to vote in Marion County.
“This is just something I’ve done for almost 20 years now,” Kelly said. “I really appreciate this. I will be back next year and I will do whatever I can to prepare people to get ready to vote and to get out the vote, because I think it’s so important to increase our voting here in Indiana.”
For more information about how to register to vote, visit vote.indy.gov.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
