PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Paru Shah
AU  - Robert S. Smith
TI  - Legacies of Segregation and Disenfranchisement: The Road from <em>Plessy</em> to <em>Frank</em> and Voter ID Laws in the United States
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2021.7.1.08
DP  - 2021 Feb 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 134--146
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/1/134.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/1/134.full
AB  - This article explores how voter ID laws further the dismantling of voting rights and the promises of full political engagement for racial minorities, especially African Americans. The authors highlight the racial politics that inform the emergence of these laws, and the racial intent and impact these laws have in diluting minority voting access and therefore political power. It begins with a short historical overview of voting rights since the eradication of slavery, then offers background on the current legal climate in which voter ID laws are situated. The essay concludes with an analysis of Frank v. Walker as a case study exposing the intent and impact of voter ID laws.