Yesterday marked the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. For a very brief period after the Civil War, Black Americans eagerly participated in our democracy by voting and holding elected office. However, in many parts of the country, particularly the areas that had seceded from the Union, violent intimidation of Black people and the passage of laws making it more difficult for them to vote quickly stripped those rights away.

The Bible is very clear on the sinfulness of denying rights to particular groups of people. From Exodus to James and many places in between, showing partiality and favoritism in matters of the law is forbidden. Malachi 2:9 says, "So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law." Jim Crow legislation, which enforced racial segregation, along with laws that restricted voting rights encoded partiality against Black Americans into the law.

A number of techniques were used to keep Black people from voting. Some laws instituted poll taxes that made it prohibitively expensive for poor people to exercise their right to vote. Other laws called for written and oral literacy tests that were administered and judged by White registrars.  In his book Because They Marched, Russell Freedman recounts this example: "The written test was only part of the reason for concern," lamented Ernest Doyle, a black college graduate and veteran of World War II. "The verbal questions the registrar asked that were not on the written test made passing nearly impossible." One question put to him was "How many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?" Of course, he said, "Any answer you gave was wrong."

To ensure that poor White citizens were not excluded as a result of these laws, seven Southern states passed "grandfather clauses" that exempted anyone with the right to vote before 1866 or 1867 and their descendants from these restrictions. Of course, Black people were not given the right to vote until 1870, so they were excluded. In addition to these laws, other tactics were used to discourage Black citizens from even attempting to register. Freedman reports that in Selma, the registration office was open only two days a month, and only a few hours on those days. Those who did attempt to register were often met with retaliation, sometimes losing their jobs or having their businesses boycotted, or even being met with violence. It only took a few examples to send the desired message.

How did the leaders of the civil rights movement overcome such overwhelming obstacles? Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis were driven by their faith, and rather than mimicking the tactics of their oppressors, they patterned their strategies after Jesus. They were committed to nonviolence, and referenced Scripture to support their views. In his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," King wrote, "One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law."

He then cited the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the book of Daniel. King and those who marched with him followed Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek and met violence with prayer rather than retaliation. Through their willingness to bear unjust suffering in a righteous cause, they awakened the conscience of the nation, including President Lyndon Johnson, ultimately resulting in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

During the Jim Crow era, legislation to restrict voting rights along with the violence and intimidation that accompanied them had a chilling effect on Black voter registration, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act had a quick and dramatic opposite effect. The Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting nationwide and specific provisions did away with many of the problematic state laws such as requiring literacy tests. Before the passage of the Act in 1965, only 23% of voting-age Black citizens were registered to vote nationally. By 1969, 61% were registered.  Selma, Alabama, the epicenter of the struggle to gain voting rights is a particularly stark example. Freedman reports that in the early 1960's in Selma, 9,300 of the 14,000 White residents were registered to vote, while only 335 of the 15,000 Black residents were registered. After passage of the Act, over 9,000 Black residents of Dallas County, which contains Selma, had registered to vote by the following summer.

It has been 55 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act. A lot of progress has been made, but racial injustice continues to persist. Over and over, scripture cries out against oppression and promises rescue to the oppressed. Psalm 72:14 says, "He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight." What if the church took the lead in seeking to end the oppression of racial injustice? What if we abandoned the tactics of our culture and instead followed the example of those leaders who chose to model their actions after Jesus? What if we had the courage to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, willing to bear unjust suffering to prick the conscience of our nation? Psalm 89:14 tells us that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's throne. Let's join together to bring the justice of His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.