From slavery to the white backlash of the 1990s, A Voting Rights Odyssey is a riveting account of the crusade for equal voting rights in Georgia. Written by a veteran civil rights lawyer the book draws upon expert reports and other court records, as well as trial testimony and interviews with the men and women who served as plaintiffs and witnesses in litigation that helped forge a revolution in voting rights. The book explores, and repudiates, the myths of the Reconstruction era that blacks were incapable of voting and holding office. It also catalogues the attempts of the state leadership to maintain white supremacy after the abolition of the white primary, the demands of the Civil Rights Movement, and passage of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965. A must read for anyone interested in the way in which race has driven and distorted the political process in the South.

Details the efforts of the white leadership in Georgia to deny blacks their voting rights.

About the Author
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Reviews
"Pulls no punches. . . A valuable addition to civil rights history." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"...accessible and engaging to all readers...This third person history reflects the choice of an unassuming, thoughtful lawyer who possesses a courtly deference to others as the real heroes of good deeds." Southern Changes
"Laughlin writes with a historians breadth of knowledge and mastery of research, an advocate's passion and the acute perceptions of a veteran participant in civil rights litigation." Columbia College Today
"Pulls no punches. . . A valuable addition to civil rights history." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"...helps explain why Georgia's redistributing battles have become so befuddling." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
..."McDonald's stories evoke drama, as when he relates how Georgia's white supremacist legislature expelled Julian Bond, a black, from the Statehouse in 1965 after Bond was elected to the House. McDonald's expertise as a lawyer is evident throughout the book. His story's larger point is that legislatures can't always be counted on to do the right thing. Blacks won freedom, for the most part, in the courts. In telling his adopted state's story, McDonald finds hope."...Is Knight-Ridder Newspapers, 11/23/2003



Book Information
ISBN 9780521011792
Author Laughlin McDonald
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 347g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 153mm * 16mm