Social Justice
99-year-old Mississippi man born on a plantation casts his ballot in election
99-year-old Dr. Robert H. Smith Sr., who was born the son of a sharecropper on a plantation, is making sure his voice is being heard.
A 99-year-old Mississippi man, who was born the son of a sharecropper on a plantation, is making sure his voice is being heard in this year’s election.
His vote will send an important message of just how crucial it is to exercise your right to vote.
99-year-old Mississippi man votes
Dr. Robert H. Smith Sr., of Jackson, Mississippi, submitted an absentee ballot while wearing a face mask and proudly sporting his “I Voted” sticker.
“I remember when I couldn’t vote,” Smith told ABC News.
He couldn’t cast his vote when he was younger
Robert told the media he remembered the time that he could not cast his vote. It should, however, be noted that the right to vote for blacks was legalized in 1870 in the 15th Amendment.
Despite that amendment, the Voting Rights Act was only signed many decades later in 1965 by President Lyndon B Johnson.
Since he voted, he has been informing people of the need to get to the polling center and do the same thing.
He said:
“Voting is an experience that every American citizen should have. We the people decide who’s going to be our leader.”