Starred review from August 15, 2019
This YA adaptation of Anderson's breakthrough 2018 book of the same name for adults demonstrates her scholarship on racial discrimination and voter disenfranchisement, presenting an urgent case for political intervention. "The millions of votes and voters that disappeared in 2016 were a long time in the making," begins this deep historical investigation. The excitement of the Reconstruction era, when newly enfranchised black men were able to leverage such transformative policies as the shaping of the public school system, led to white people inventing de facto and de jure mechanisms to prevent black America from having any real political power. Civil rights struggles achieved the 1965 Voting Rights Act in a period of U.S. global ideological competition, but simmering anger and backlash from whites strove to undo voter protections for black citizens. Coverage of the controversial 2000 presidential election results shows how the GOP-led reinvention of voter disenfranchisement strategies undermined federal government-backed voter protections in order to focus on eliminating voter fraud. Persuasively emphasized throughout the book is the disproportionate impact of these policies on black citizens, as Anderson argues with clarity that predatory racial animus lies at the center of the American democratic project, culminating with the winner of the 2016 presidential election. Bolden's (Inventing Victoria, 2019, etc.) adaptation will fire up a new generation of civic activists through its gripping presentation. A significant people's history and call to action for youth. (discussion guide, resources, notes, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 13-18)
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October 1, 2019
Gr 6 Up-This very readable teen adaptation of Anderson's New York Times best seller covers the systematic, racially motivated legal, physical, and psychological tactics used since the end of Reconstruction to suppress black, poor, and/or otherwise marginalized voters. In a chatty voice, Anderson explains poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, gerrymandering, and voter ID laws. The text is conversational but occasionally uses vocabulary and cultural references most likely to be unfamiliar to teens. Anderson also discusses the recent technological methods used to disenfranchise voters-gerrymandering databases, Russian interference via social media, and blanket voter roll purges. Her case is strongly supported by numerous examples drawn from both Northern but mostly Southern states. Because of the seriousness of the subject, the first three-fourths of the book is disheartening and discouraging. Racially motivated suppression has a long, dark history in the United States. However, the final quarter details the Alabamian resistance to voter suppression and the defeat of Roy Moore in his 2017 bid for the U.S. Senate seat. The author concludes by emphasizing how this trend of purposeful voter education and activism must continue in order to preserve democracy in the United States. VERDICT This highly recommended book arrives just in time to educate newly eligible voters for the 2020 election.-Lisa Crandall, formerly at the Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Adapted from Anderson's One Person, No Vote (2018) and aimed at young adult readers, this informative volume challenges readers to acknowledge disenfranchisement in America and consider its implications. The discussion covers details of voter suppression and notes its alarming rise in the past decade, since the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Roberts, began to erode key protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Using detailed, specific examples, Anderson builds a strong case that, over the years, racial minorities in particular have been intentionally discouraged from voting by arbitrary registration rules, literacy tests, "understanding clauses," poll taxes, intimidation, violence, gerrymandering, requirements justified by the bogeyman of voter fraud, and judicial decisions influenced by political opinions. Besides providing a fascinating historical context for current events, Anderson uses well-supported arguments to show that the manipulation of voting rights and results is disenfranchising American citizens and undermining the foundation of our representative democracy. A photo appears at the beginning of each chapter, and sidebars provide relevant information and quotes. An insightful book to read and consider, particularly in the upcoming election year.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
September 24, 2018
In this insightful study, Anderson (White Rage), Charles Howard Candler Professor of African-American studies at Emory University, scrupulously details the history of racially and politically motivated disenfranchisement in the United States. She focuses on four tactics that are currently harming the principle of “one person, one vote” enshrined by the Supreme Court in Baker v. Carr: voter identification laws, voter roll purges, gerrymandering, and “starving minority precincts of resources to create untenable conditions at the polls.” Keenly aware of both legal and social barriers to voting (such as lack of access to transportation, the internet, or wheelchair ramps), Anderson lays out in clear terms—often aided by damning, surprisingly blunt quotations from the perpetrators—how systems for disenfranchisement have been conceived, implemented, and defended. She illustrates their effects using relevant numbers and other statistics: for example, black Alabama households are three times more likely than white ones not to have access to a car, in a state where public transit is virtually nonexistent. She also takes a deep look at the multipronged, successful effort to restore black voters’ access to the polls to defeat Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore in 2017, suggesting this as a model for future change. Anderson brings home that the current state of voting rights in parts of the U.S. is reminiscent of the height of Jim Crow. Anyone interested in American democracy or how equality can be not only legislated but realized will find this account illuminating and clarifying.