Discriminatory Voter & Registration Practices in the South
Today, a U.S. citizen of any race can vote by simply filling out a registration form. It is not necessary to pass an exam or even to be able to read. However, as late as the 1960s, blacks in the South were prevented from voting and even registering to vote. Despite the U.S. Constitution’s 15th Amendment, which guarantees all citizens the right to vote regardless of race, Southern blacks typically faced encumbrances such as poll taxes and literacy tests.It was typical for Southern whites to register with ease, but blacks living in the South encountered various barriers. In Indianola, Mississippi, African Americans were given a 22-question questionnaire that included a problem requiring the interpretation of any one of the sections of the Mississippi Constitution. In addition, to discourage blacks from registering, the names of those who attempted to register were posted in the newspaper. It was common for a person to be fired for attempting to register or for registering.
Despite these barriers, some blacks were able to register. However, engaging in the political process of attending precinct and county meetings was challenging. To prevent the attendance of blacks, schedules and places where the meetings were to be held were changed, and in some cases, blacks who showed up were not permitted to go in.
The Goals of Freedom Summer
To combat these discriminatory practices, Bob Moses of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Council of Federated Organizations, comprised of Mississippi civil rights groups, began planning a campaign to end discriminatory voter registration practices. Poll taxes were no longer a major concern, since on January 23, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson had signed into law the 24th Amendment, which abolished poll taxes for elections of federal officials.The 1964 campaign was called the Freedom Summer Project. Mississippi was chosen because of the negligible number of black registrants; only six percent of African Americans were registered to vote. The goal of the project was to register voters, build Freedom Schools to counter the inadequate separate and unequal schools, establish community centers to provide medical and legal services, and to garner support for the newly organized Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). The party’s formation was a response to the exclusion of blacks from the Democratic Party in Mississippi. The goal of the newly formed group was to elect an integrated slate of delegates to the National Democratic Convention in Atlantic City in August.
