With no sacredness of the ballot, there can be no sacredness of human life itself." Ida B. Wells wrote in her 1910 pamphlet, "How Enfranchisement Stops Lynchings.",

On August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed to prevent racial discrimination in voting. In the next 5 years, Black registration increased by over 1 million.

The US Department of Justice has presented an Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws, noting that, "Soon after passage of the Voting Rights Act, [in August,1965] …black voter registration began a sharp increase. …The Voting Rights Act itself has been called the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress."

The following table compares black voter registration rates with white voter registration rates in seven Southern States in 1965 before passage of the Voting Rights act and then again in 1988.

State March 1965 November 1988
Black White Gap Black White Gap

Alabama 19.3 69.2 49.9 68.4 75.0 6.6
Georgia 27.4 62.6 35.2 56.8 63.9 7.1
Louisiana 31.6 80.5 48.9 77.1 75.1 -2.0
Mississippi 6.7 69.9 63.2 74.2 80.5 6.3
North Carolina 46.8 96.8 50.0 58.2 65.6 7.4
South Carolina 37.3 75.7 38.4 56.7 61.8 5.1
Virginia 38.3 61.1 22.8 63.8 68.5 4.7

Adapted from Bernard Grofman, Lisa Handley and Richard G. Niemi. 1992. Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality. New York: Cambridge University Press, at 23-24

The numbers in the table are all rates, that is, percents.

1. Which state had the greatest increase in the percent of black voter registration?

2. Which state had the greatest increase in the percent of white voter registration?

3. Notice the column ‘Gap’. What is the meaning of the numbers in that column?

4. Which state shows the greatest decrease in the gap between black and white registration rates?

Your responses should fully explain your answer with a complete explanation or solution, and meet the high-quality criteria as