Thread by @ZinnEdProject

Politicians on the Right keep claiming that the proposed voting rights legislation is an illegitimate "federal takeover" of fed elections. @jbouie refutes those claims in his new column ⬇️, & so has the 15th Amendment since Reconstruction. . . #TeachTruth
nytimes.com/2022/01/21/opi…

See "Reconstruction Defined" in our new national report. Here we note that 15th Amendment federally banned racial discrimination in right to vote, and explicitly gave Congress power to enforce this principle.
Read ⬇️ and check out your state's assessment.
teachreconstructionreport.org/#what%20was%20…

15th Amendment soon yielded criminal penalties for interference with right to vote & federal oversight of congressional elections through Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871. Overtly violated ever since, including Jan. 6 attack on Capitol. #TeachVotingRights
zinnedproject.org/if-we-knew-our…

Those who say Congress does not have the authority to regulate federal elections and, as @jbouie writes, "impose its rules over those adopted by the states," are neglecting history and the Constitution itself. #TeachReconstruction

But Reconstruction also teaches us that the Constitution is not self-enforcing, and that barriers to free and fair elections have long been mechanisms of white supremacy.

"The right to vote is fundamental, & any attempt to curtail it should be fought as fiercely and as aggressively as we know how." -- @jbouie

For young people to defend right to vote, a key is studying history, incl. Reconstruction. How is it taught? Read:
teachreconstructionreport.org

Want to learn more? “Erasing the Black Freedom Struggle: How State Standards Fail to Teach the Truth About Reconstruction" offers recc. resources on Reconstruction incl. podcast with @jbouie & @rebeccaonion, @NMAAHC special exhibit, & books for K-12. See:
teachreconstructionreport.org/resources