Unearthing the disenfranchisement of Black voters:

Preparing adult learners for critical consciousness and political resistance

Abstract

This paper examines voting laws that have been enacted in Florida, Georgia, and Colorado within the last decade to determine the extent to which they promote enfranchisement or disenfranchisement of eligible voters. The findings show that following Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court ruling in 2013, Florida, Georgia, and several other “battleground” states have enacted voting laws that disproportionately prevent eligible Black voters from registering to vote and from voting. As the implication of the study, the authors extoll the virtue of educating citizens about the sacrosanctity of an electoral process that is inclusive and free from voter suppression. They recommend an adult education curriculum that encompasses a robust civic and citizenship education as well as critical literacy in two-year and four-year colleges as well as in the informal and non-formal adult education sector to raise adult learners’ critical consciousness on oppressive electoral laws and ways to resist them.