"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...

Question

The Constitution says that no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or his color.
We have all sworn an oath before God to support and to defend that Constitution. We must now act in obedience to that oath.
Wednesday I will send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote.
・・・
There is no constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain...
There is no issue of States rights or national rights. There is only the struggle for human rights."
- President Lyndon B. Johnson,
from Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise
Please read the quote above
Who is President Johnson speaking about specifically in this message to Congress?
• Women
• African Americans
• White Men
• Children

Answer 1

In this message to Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson is specifically speaking about African Americans. He emphasizes the denial of the right to vote experienced by men and women simply because they are Negroes, and he addresses the need to eliminate illegal barriers to their voting rights.