Amendment XV

English: One will not be denied the right to vote based on race, ethnicity, or whether they were formerly a slave (which does not apply anymore. i.e.: 13th Amendment). Congress has the power to implement the legislation on the states.

History: On February 26, 1869, Congress passed the Amendment with much debate and hoopla. The amendment would give recently freed Black slaves the right to vote. Most northern Republican states ratified the amendment because they knew blacks would vote for Republicans. Meanwhile, only four Democratic states did not support the amendment. In the end Congress twisted the arms of the southern states that had not rejoined the union after the civil war by forcing them to the ratify the 14th and 15th amendments or they could not rejoin the union. As we know, the southern states ratified the amendment, rejoined the union, and became states again. On March 30, 1870 the amendment was added to the Constitution. However, this turned out to only be a slight win for Blacks during reconstruction because White supremacists, such as the KKK, used terror and violence to stop Blacks from voting.

Effect on US: This amendment affects every person of color in the country, giving them the exact same rights as a white person(which race should not be relevant) if your black, asian, native, latino, or anything between proved to be very significant to the country. First, I would like to point out that this more than likely spurred the desire to allow women to vote later in history, which i know many ladies out there appreciate. Next, I want to have a shout out to the fact that it also was a barrier breaker to race, eventually, stating that colored folk can have equal freedoms as whites, meaning every is equal under the law. Once people were legally forced to be equal it also began to wash into the beliefs of people slowly over time. This effect of the law is very meaningful to me because like many people, hopefully, I despise racism and any steps to minimizing it is nice. And as a side note whites will eventually become the minority in the country and I know they wouldn’t want  to have their rights revoked either, so this law will protect them. I bet our founding fathers didn’t see this coming.

Effect on us: I admit that without this amendment the 24th wouldn’t have even been thought of and I wouldn’t be sitting here writing on this blog at all, so thank you 15th.  Being that I am both black and asian this amendment affects me in a very significant stating that my right to vote can’t be affected no matter what my race or color is. Not only voting, but any other right in the country cannot be changed due to my race allowing me to have the same  freedoms as a white person,even though this holds little importance to me and my minority peers. (100% sarcasm btw) But basically, this affects me just as personally as any other american. I could say more but throwing more thoughts out before some commenting seems a little odd presently. So please comment and further conversation!