Carol Anderson.
Carol Anderson, author of “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy,” will speak at VCU on Oct. 21. (Courtesy photo)

‘One Person, No Vote’ author to speak at VCU virtual event

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Carol Anderson, Ph.D., author of “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy,” will speak on voting rights and voter suppression at a virtual event Oct. 21 hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University.

“One Person, No Vote” explores the history of efforts to suppress African American voting participation and is VCU’s 2020 Common Book, which was distributed to all incoming first-year students through a universitywide initiative that aims to welcome new students into the vibrant intellectual culture of the university.

The book cover of "One Person, No Vote."
“One Person, No Vote” explores the history of efforts to suppress African American voting participation and is VCU’s 2020 Common Book.

Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University, will give a talk, “A Conversation with Carol Anderson: Voter Rights and Voter Suppression.” The event begins at 6 p.m.

The webinar will be free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Published in 2018, “One Person, No Vote” explains what happened following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013 that struck down part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and enabled states with a history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice.

“Dr. Anderson sees voter suppression today as Jim Crow 2.0,” said Felecia D. Williams, Ph.D., associate dean and director of the Common Book program in University College. “She notes that what we're seeing in the country today after the Shelby County 2013 decision is the new Mississippi Plan of 1890.”

Co-sponsored by University College and the Office of the Provost, VCU’s Common Book program seeks to provide students with the opportunity to explore complex social issues through an interdisciplinary lens.