“The Rising American Electorate is a Rainbow”

Abstract

The following article is a survey of how civil rights activism over the last 28 years has changed the political landscape in America. The 2008 Obama presidential victory was an outgrowth of decades of organizing and agitation. The coalition building and voter mobilization work done around the Jackson presidential bids in the 1980s helped to set the stage for 2008. Those campaigns, however, were not just about getting a candidate elected, but about policies that would promote social and economic justice at home and peace and self-determination abroad. Jackson argues that these chapters from the past offer important lessons for today.

Keywords:

• 1984 and 1988 presidential elections
• Black voters
• Rainbow Coalition
• Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr.
• voter ID
• voter suppression
• Voting Rights Act