Read the passage.
excerpt from "The American Promise" by Lyndon B.
Johnson
The Right to Vote
Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man
was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic
right of all was the right to choose your own leaders. The
history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the
expansion of that right to all of our people.
Many of the issues of civil rights are very complex and most
difficult. But about this there can and should be no argument.
Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There
is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right. There is
no duty which weighs more heavily on us than the duty we
have to ensure that right.
Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country men
and women are kept from voting simply because they are
Negroes.
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable has been
used to deny this right. The Negro citizen may go to register
Which statement best evaluates Johnson's argument in "The
Right to Vote"?
Johnson claims that he helped to put three voter
O suppression laws on the books but local officials are
unsure about what they mean.
Johnson cites instances of voter suppression, then
O gives valid reasons why laws protecting the freedom
to vote need to be enforced.
Johnson defends the right of all people to vote and
O believes the existing laws are not clear enough for
voters to understand them.
Johnson explains ways the rights of some voters
O are suppressed, then gives reasons why those who
prove they have college degrees can vote.
What’s the answer?
