Thread by @AriBerman

Memo to @SenatorSinema: in 1890s states like Mississippi rushed to disenfranchise Black voters, House passed bill to stop it but Senate filibustered legislation protecting voting rights & we got Jim Crow. Now history will repeat itself if Dems don’t act motherjones.com/politics/2021/…

"The same pattern that existed during Reconstruction—the enfranchisement of Black voters, followed by the manipulation of election laws to throw out Black votes, culminating in laws passed to legally disenfranchise Black voters—is repeating itself today"

In 1890 Mississippi rewrote constitution to disenfranchise Black voters

That year House passed bill to protect voting rights but killed by Senate filibuster

By 1907 every Southern state had changed constitution to keep Blacks from voting & Black turnout fell from 61% to 2%

Failure to pass federal legislation protecting voting rights at end of Reconstruction led directly to Jim Crow & disenfranchisement of Black voters

Similarly, failure to pass HR1 & John Lewis Voting Rights Act will allow GOP to undermine fair elections for next decade & beyond

"by 1907 every Southern state had changed constitution to disenfranchise Black voters, through poll taxes, literacy tests, property requirements, etc. # of Black registered voters in MS fell from 130,483 in 1876 to 1,264 by 1900; in LA from 130,000 in 1896 to 1,342 in 1904"

"We had a multi-racial democracy in the United States and it was taken away"

If Dems don't act to protect voting rights, history will repeat itself

Talking to @chrislhayes @allinwithchris about Jim Crow 2.0