Which law, enacted to protect voting rights in 1957, aimed to ensure suffrage for African Americans?

• A. Civil Rights Act of 1957
• B. Civil Rights Act of 1964
• C. Voting Rights Act of 1965
• D. Affirmative Action

Answer: (A)

Protecting the right to vote for African Americans through federal action is the focus here. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed since Reconstruction, and it was designed to strengthen voting rights by creating a mechanism for federal oversight and enforcement. It established the Civil Rights Commission to study discrimination and gave the federal government tools to intervene when a jurisdiction tried to prevent qualified citizens from voting. This was a crucial, early step in dismantling barriers to suffrage, addressing practices like discriminatory registration procedures and intimidation at the polls, and it set the stage for the more expansive protections that would come with the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The other laws serve different purposes: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 tackles segregation and discrimination more broadly, and Affirmative Action focuses on achieving equality in employment and education, not voting rights.