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jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
An infuriating but important read. Too few Americans know about the massive and numerous voter suppression efforts that have disenfranchised millions.
ronntaylor's review
5.0
Thoroughly researched and strongly presented. Will be an essential resource for my talking points about voter suppression and democratic resistance.
senquezada29's review against another edition
4.0
Anderson is an excellent writer. She documents the GOP's efforts to suppress the votes of low income communities of color with shocking clarity and detailed citation. Most of us (who aren't actively engaged in the political arena professionally) take voting for granted. I guarantee if you aren't familiar with the day to day reality of what political figures will do to maintain power and control, you will be shocked to read this book. You'll discover that things aren't much better than they were (and in some cases are worse) than they were before the passage of the Voting Rights Act and that our democracy is absolutely in danger of collapsing in the near future.
alissa417's review
5.0
This book is somewhat dense, but a short read nonetheless. Full of history, goes straight into Roy Moore, argues NC as an independent nation would rank between Iran and Venezuela in measuring fully fledged democracy... I loved the final chapter's examples of resistance, particularly how Selma continues to rise as a community when in peril. Excellent book, thanks so much for the ARC, Netgalley.
geliopoulos's review
im not gonna rate this because it's functionally an academic text but i do think it's an incredibly important read
alexisrt's review
5.0
Carol Anderson has written an enraging account of how the vote has been systematically stripped and rendered meaningless for people of color, especially black people, in the United States. She begins with a brief history of how states tried to keep people from voting before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 24th Amendment, the created myth of rampant voter fraud, and then continues through the steps taken to keep people off the rolls today: voter ID, voter roll purges, redrawing boundaries to dilute minority votes, and gerrymandering. The results have been devastating. Contrary to pundit claims, the "enthusiasm gap" in the 2016 election was less important than the number of African-Americans who did not vote.
Anderson has chosen to keep the book concise, which makes it an easy read, but there's probably an even longer book to be written here. The notes are extensive, which makes it possible to track various specific issues if you want. Understandably, given that Anderson is an African-American studies professor, African American voters are her primary focus. She does discuss Latino vote suppression, but I felt that a little more exploration of that issue would have been welcome, especially since politicians seem less likely to cloak their racism when holding out the specter of non-citizen voting.
With only a month to go till the election, this is essential reading--especially since Brian Kemp is singled out for his history of vote suppression in Georgia.
Anderson has chosen to keep the book concise, which makes it an easy read, but there's probably an even longer book to be written here. The notes are extensive, which makes it possible to track various specific issues if you want. Understandably, given that Anderson is an African-American studies professor, African American voters are her primary focus. She does discuss Latino vote suppression, but I felt that a little more exploration of that issue would have been welcome, especially since politicians seem less likely to cloak their racism when holding out the specter of non-citizen voting.
With only a month to go till the election, this is essential reading--especially since Brian Kemp is singled out for his history of vote suppression in Georgia.