The United States is a democracy with a written constitution, but that original Constitution condoned and accommodated racism and slavery, and, even after our civil war ended slavery and resulted in amendments to our constitution that provided for equal justice, those very same local entities – states and their subdivisions, effectively thwarted change. There were two types of exclusionary measures. Voter registration was the first and was implemented in the South for the purpose of creating a mechanism of exclusion. Here is how it would work: in order to be registered a potential voter would have to demonstrate that he or she was literate. That requirement would be waived by the registration official for white potential voters and used to deny Black potential voters. There are infinite variations on this device. And second, the operation of the election itself could be infused with discrimination. Where are the polling places located? Were they moved the evening before the election? Were there enough ballots? Did they open on time? There are endless variations on this as well. These measures were used effectively and excluded Black and other minorities for participation. The Legal Defense Fund was founded to among others things attack this racist reality—political exclusion. We challenged each of the practices I have described – registration requirements, poll taxes, literacy tests, how elections were operated. And, eventually we were joined by the Federal Justice Department in challenging these discriminatory measures. But here is the thing: even when we were successful, the local jurisdiction would simply move to another