Nothing to fear, they say 

• 1965 
• Knox, Jack 
• Drawing 
• Historical item 

6880319

Drawings / paintings

Nothing to fear, they say

39.5 x 30 cm

1965

Original editorial cartoon on card in pencil, published in the Nashville Banner, 1965, shows a US government official presenting a doubtful inhabitant of one of the southern states with a dinosaur of ‘voting rights legislation’ which is breaking in through a fence representing ‘the states’ constitutional right to determine voter qualification’. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a piece of federal legislation which came into force at the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and brought an end to the practices, such as literacy tests, used by some states, particularly in the south, to prevent black voters exercising their right to vote. According to its critics, the Act would introduce ‘federal control of local elections’, ‘denials of jury trials’, ‘no hearings for local-state authorities’ as well as allowing federal examiners and observers to oversee compliance with the Act: ‘a federal judge from out-of-state’ and ‘appoint referees from out-of-state’. Many in the south believed that this legislation violated state rights and this issue is an example of the many permanent stress lines between the federal and state governments. Card size 39.5 x 30 cm (15.5 x 12 inch), image size 37 x 28 cm, signed lower left. Caption in pencil on upper border, in very good condition.