| The right to vote is the fundamental political right in modern society. For Afro-Americans in the Unites States, the process to fight for the suffrage was long and hard. During American Civil War and Reconstruction, the federal government abolished the slavery system and enfranchised Afro-Americans. However, after Reconstruction, the southern states deprived them of the voting rights by various excuses such as literacy test, poll tax, white primary and so forth. Although Afro-Americans were in a difficult situation in the field of politics due to the outside obstacles and the lack of political consciousness, they never stopped fighting.The founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 brought Afro-Americans hope and courage and became the leading force in the struggle for black suffrage. As a distinguished pressure group and black civil rights organization, NAACP put the suffrage in the first place from its beginning and carried out various activities to fight for it, such as court actions, voter registration, affecting official selections and lobbying the government. As a result, these activities helped express the opinion of Afro-Americans, cleared away the legal obstacles for equal suffrage, and obtained the right to vote finally in the fifties and sixties of the 20th century.In the process of this struggle, NAACP awakened black people’s political consciousness, improved their political position and paved the way for further integration. In pace with the improvement of the situation of Afro-Americans due to the ballots, NAACP promoted its reputation and became the primary spokesman in black society. Furthermore, the struggle for the suffrage enhanced the further development of black civil rights movement and the whole progress of Afro-Americans. In spite of some limitations in the process, the great contribution of the NAACP in the political progress and integration of Afro-Americans is worthy of recognition. |
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