In a recent article in the Huffington Post, it was reported that 3,287 new voters have registered in Ferguson, Missouri, since the shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. This report made me think about the violence in Ferguson compared with that discussed in Bloody Lowndes.
The shooting of Michael Brown in August, and the following violence of police against protestors, has mobilized the Ferguson community, convincing 3,287 more people in the city to register to vote. This indicates that the people of Ferguson know the power that their votes hold come election time, as well as showing that they believe it is time for change. The tragedy of Michael Brown's murder has convinced literally thousands of people to take a more active part in their government and to take advantage of the power they wield with the ability to vote.
In comparison, violence in Lowndes County, Alabama, in the 20th century (and before) forced African Americans to give up their ability to vote, if they even had the option of voting. The fear of violence against blacks, as well as state legislation restricting the voting African Americans, led to the astounding decrease of registered black voters in Lowndes County. As of 1900, there were "five thousand registered black voters," and "a half dozen years later, the county had only fifty-seven." This is an astonishing decrease in the short time of six years, due in part to fear of violent retribution.
It is worth noting that Lowndes later became home to the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO), also known as the Black Panther Party, a Black Power organization. This extreme group was founded in Lowndes, meaning that the violence in the county did eventually prove a mobilizing influence for blacks, as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was also founded there.
In both Ferguson and Lowndes, violence proved a motivating factor for black communities. Though mobilization in Lowndes took much longer than in Ferguson, both communities recognized the importance and power of the vote and took action to ensure that their voices are heard.
A blog for the Civil Rights Movement class at Rhodes College, Fall 2014
Katie, I think that the statistic that 3,287 new voters have registered in Ferguson, Missouri since the shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 is very significant because it shows a change in the way African Americans are thinking about the power of voting. While I think that this rise in the number of registered voters is fantastic, I can help but notice that this was a specific response to a very violent, unjustified incident. Therefore, I think an important question now that African Americans have the explicit right to vote is how do we get blacks, or any minority for that matter, to vote under normal circumstances rather than a response to a violent act? While I don't think that the shooting of Michael Brown could have been changed simply due to more votes from minorities, had more minorities voted before the shooting the subsequent lack of justice after the death of Michael Brown could have been altered. This is certainly not to blame minorities lack of voting for the injustices after the shooting at all. That is far too simplistic of an answer to the question of why this injustice occurred. A simple lack of votes from minorities certainly will not get rid of racism and discrimination. Therefore, I think that there are two important questions to be asked: Why are minorities, specifically African Americans less likely to register to vote than whites? and What can be done to get African Americans more likely to vote?
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