One Person, No Vote (YA edition): How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally

by Carol Anderson, Tonya Bolden

A timely and essential history of Black voter suppression, adapted from the National Book Award longlisted adult bookThis young adult adaptation brings to light the shocking truth about how not every voter is treated equally. After the election of Barack Obama, a rollback of voting rights occurred, punctuated by a 2013 Supreme Court decision that undid the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision allowed districts with a history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. This book follows the stunning aftermath of that ruling and explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. It also explores the the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans. Complete with a discussion guide, photographs, and information about getting involved with elections in teens' own community, this is an essential explanation of the history of voting rights-and a call to action for a better future. As the nation gears up for the 2020 presidential election season, now is the time for teens to understand the past and work for change.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

279 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Carol Anderson is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Professor Anderson’s research and teaching focus on public policy; particularly the ways that domestic and international policies intersect through the issues of race, justice and equality in the United States.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Passionate rant against the history of voter suppression, especially against African Americans and other non-whites, and which is continuing today through various (mostly Republican-led) schemes, often cloaked under a banner of Voter Fraud, which is usual code for "people I don't like are voting for people I don't like." It is appalled by the deliberate blindness of the Supreme Court in voiding the Voter Rights Act, and documents the clearly racist rule changes put into place immediately after many jurisdictions were declared offically "cured" of racism.

It assumes without examination that all people deserve the vote, that racist policies are wrong, and then efforts to suppress votes by the poor are unethical. I agree completely, but I am aware that in America today these opinions are not universally held and are in fact seen as dangerous liberal nonsense by some. It says a lot about America that the "encouraging" chapter at the end showed how a massive effort to help African Americans in Alabama vote led to the defeat of the Republican candidate, who was literally a child molester and yet still carried the white vote because that's what America is like.

[Caity Honig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained *a lot* of information, combining historical policies/legislation, court decisions, and modern day analyses of events connected to voter suppression and disenfranchisement. I logged it under “things that scare me” for Book Bingo because the collapse of democracy scares the shit out of me!

The book is divided up into five sections: history of voter disenfranchisement, voter IDs, Voter Roll Purge, state Rigging of Rules, and then the Resistance. Throughout the book, it becomes clear how so much of our modern political landscape is dependent on keeping minorities from voting. (I hate to point political fingers because #NotAllConservatives of whatever, but the truth is, Republican leaders are pretty open about the fact that they are a numerical minority in this country, so if they want to remain influential in government, they have to either 1) change their platform to appeal to more Americans or 2) change the rules to stop their competition from winning. So as opposed to moving with the cultural shifts of value, they just seem to stick with making it more difficult for people who tend to lean Democrat to vote)

I appreciated ending with the case study of Alabama—how the collaboration of several different organizations, many led by people from Alabama, were able to support historically disenfranchised people registering/voting early/getting to the polls day of in order to stop a corrupt man (who had been favorited to win) from entering the Senate. By focusing on how the most successful social movements happen when they come from the people involved, it both provided hope for other states without claiming to be a one size fits all blueprint.

I am very grateful to live in a state that values making voting accessible and am proud of our above average voter turnout rates. But when we compare even the best states to the voter turnout rates in other developed countries, it becomes very clear how much work there is to do. (A shocking revelation from this book was that, not only is the US as a whole categorized as a “flawed democracy”, if you analyzed individual states on that same scale, some of them land between Venezuela and Iran.)

Anyway, if you want to get angry about how many different examples there are of governments on every scale working to exclude they very people they are meant to be serving, or more likely, if you’d like to have better data to back up your arguments with your conservative family members who for some reason still think voter fraud is a concern in this country, give One Person, No Vote a read.

[Randall Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the YA version of this book, as it was the only one available at the time. That said, as an older adult, I didn't feel like I was being talked down to at all. I did feel like there were cases where some additional data or examples would have been helpful, but then I got to the end of the book, and realized there were pretty extensive notes at the end (I was reading an E-book). I also feel like this is a very important book for young people to read, in order to understand what's going on with voting today. The Republicans are trying to make it much more difficult for poor people and/or people of color to vote, because they know that those demographics are aligned more with the Democratic party. So, for example, requiring photo ID to vote, due to alleged "voter fraud" (which it's been proven over and over again is negligibly small) sounds like it's not a big deal. But, in the hands of Republicans, when you close down DMV sites, or when DMV sites are far away from neighborhoods where poor people or people of color live, or when you realize that those people have much less access to cars, and public transportation may not get you to a DMV office, that all adds up to subtle, yet effective suppression of votes by poor people and people of color. This is but one of many examples that the author provides, that makes one realize how much under attack voting and democracy are in our country today. I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about democracy - whether they're young or old.

[Sasha Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is really good facts and information that isn’t talked about nearly enough in the mainstream. everybody should be aware that these things are going on so that we can fight to represent ourselves.

[Stacey Mancusi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening!

[Joan Rothenberg]

Kids' lit -- No stigma for adults here




Wanting to learn more about out voting history, I found Carol Anderson’s ONE PERSON, NO VOTE and its Young Adult Adaptation.  The YA version covers all matters of our voting history contained in the adult version, but in a more succinct way and in no way watered down.
The YA version contains a detailed TOC of the book which previews what’s inside.  The TOC includes catchy chapter heads such as: Bubbles in a Bar of Soap; Poll Tax Blues; Only Democrats Need Apply; And Don’t Forget the matches—yes, the history of violence many have faced gaining the right to vote; And Kemp Saw Dead People—regards voter roll purge; Elbridge Gerry’s Salamander; to name just a few.
The TOC in the adult version displays Five Parts: A History of Disenfranchisement; Voter ID; Voter Roll Purge; Rigging the Rules; The Resistance.  Its Foreword is by Senator Dick Durbin.  This book contains scholarly citations throughout with 69-pages of referenced notes at the back.  The YA version contains reference notes at the back and is very thorough reflecting the adult, academic version.  Of course, the reference notes are a good starting point for further reading and introducing students to this helps them understand Media Literacy and cross-referencing sources.  That’s a Win Win for me.
Both versions contain an index and this is where I was able to see what may have been removed from the adult version.  I noted that Governor George Wallace was not contained in the YA version, so younger people are spared his profanity and racial slur that was contained in the adult version on pages 99 and 116.  The voter ID section of the adult version described a woman who was in her last days, dying of cancer, and made her way to the polls to vote possibly for the first woman president, but was turned away with her expired driver’s license (page 71).  These things the children are spared in their version.  However, in the YA version, more detail is given to important quotes, such as the exchange between Virginia state senator Carter Glass with a fellow delegate in 1901. Glass wanted to bring The Mississippi Plan to Virginia.  The plan contained an array of poll taxes, literacy tests, understanding clauses. See page 5 in the YA version for the full quote between Glass and another delegate.  (The citation for this, in Anderson’s notes section refers to Michael Waldman’s The Fight to Vote, Simon and Schuster 2016, page 85.)  The adult version of this exchange is on page 3 of the adult version.  It uses ellipsis and is a shortened version.  I preferred reading the exchange in the YA version.
I lean mostly to the YA version because it is well-done, and could be shared by several members on one household.  Much of the subject matter was a review for me, but I did learn important details of what is going on in our voting democracy more currently with both editions.  Since I was reading a concise version of the adult book and I had some prior subject knowledge, I was able to read the YA version in about 3 hours.  The main text is about 200 pages.
Bonus, the type font is larger in the younger version which is better for my older eyes.

[Sara T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the YA edition of this and as a younger teen who wanted to know more about my country. As I was reading through this all I could think is: No way could Republicans get any worse. *3 pages later* How is-no just no-ughhhhhh! *10 pages later* *reads paragraph* *punches wall* *screams*

Yeah...this book made me a little angry. Okay...not a little, a lot.

I don’t think that wall will heal...

Anyways, I think this book was good. I think it would be better for 13-15 year olds as 16-18 years can just read the actual book...I haven’t read the actual book yet...but other reviews say this has a much lower reading level.

I learned so many things. SO. MANY. NEW. THINGS. This book really went deep into how black voters have been suppressed ever since they could vote. From making heavily populated African American areas into one district to have less power, and the millions of voters purged from the polls, it touched every base in minority discrimination.

I am a white girl, so I have a different view, it’s like watching something happen in a movie instead of thinking “didn’t Tabitha from down the street get purged last election?”. So, umm, I just think it’s really sad and it made me so *insert swear word* mad, that-.

We need to change. I am throughly disappointed in my pathetic country.
Okay this was a rant. Now that I read through this, sorry.

[Patti Hinko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros: The book is well researched and very approachable. I really appreciated having ways that teens (or anymore for that matter) get involved. Bolden did an excellent job at making the events flow like a story and not just have them presented in a textbook format. Not only does this book give the history and current events regarding voting, but it also forces you to think and apply events and details to your life. It is something that should be accessable to all teens.
Cons: I wish there were more resources such as who to contact in each state about voting requirements.
Would I Recommend: Yes. Not only is the right to vote part of the original framework to the Constitution, there have been four amendments added that specifically deal with voting. Voting is an important part of our democracy. You need to know the history and the struggles of it to understand why it needs to be protected.

[Hana Correa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just start out by saying, in our current political landscape, this should be required reading. Our democracy as it was always intended, is under relentless attack. This book chronicles a long history of voter suppression. Republican representation, increasingly unhappy with the diversity blooming across the country, started to come up with increasingly savvy ways to disenfranchise the colored vote. The information chronicled within these pages is both horrific and shocking. It is perhaps only through being informed and motivated to get out the vote that we can ever hope to break the vicious cycle of suppression and under representation. The information is easy to read and understand, and is very user friendly. The more people who read and absorb the facts in these pages, the better off we will all be. Thank you Netgalley for the early copy.

[Jamie Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very important read for young adults. I was blown away by the way Anderson presents how the myth of voter fraud has been perpetuated over many years to the political gain of people who would use it unconstitutionally. I also found it interesting how Anderson connects the myth of voter fraud with "fake news." Indeed, "voter fraud" could not be a perceived threat without the use of "fake news" tactics. Some readers will claim she is biased; however, she presents facts which are then interpreted. If those facts challenge a belief system, that doesn't mean the information is fake.

[Emily Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was wonderful to read. It helped me understand more about how voting worked back then and how much of a struggle it was just to vote. Now in the 2000s, voting has become easier for colored people and teens who turn 18 are registered as an adult and are legal to vote!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super informative; my privilege allowed me to have no idea this was happening in our country. I am glad I read it, although not fun to read, I needed to learn.

[Adrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inform yourself of the despicable ways politicians prevent people from voting