History of voter suppression

Professors Russell Brooker and Michael Smith discuss the history of voter suppression.  Brooker is the author of a chapter on “Black voting rights 1865-2016:  Two Reconstructions and four Mississippi Plans” in a 2022 book on Much sound and fury, or the new Jim Crow?  The twenty-first century’s restrictive new voting laws and their impact” (SUNY press).  He is a professor of political science at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Smith is the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, Sociology, and Criminology there and is the editor of that book as well as an author of five of the ten chapters in that book.  They discuss their research with Radio Active Magazine host Spencer Graves.

On a different topic, MarchForOurLivesKC.org is organizing a rally Saturday, June 11.  They plan to rally at 1 PM at Gilham Park at 43rd and Gilham Rd.  Then at 3 PM, they plan to march to Theis Park at 43rd and Oak, just South of the Nelson Art Gallery.  They organized a similar rally four years ago after the school massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.  Tragically, the problem is still with us.

This discussion with Professors Brooker and Smith is the fourth in a series of interviews discussing different parts of the book.  For the other three, see:

• Understanding Gerrymandering (from May 17)
• Felony disenfranchisement and election activism of civil rights groups (from April 12)
• Voter ID and proof of citizenship (from March 1)

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