While Mississippi drew national headlines, CORE volunteers in Plaquemines Parish and beyond fought literacy tests, segregation and intimidation—laying groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. | (Black History Series) In the summer of 1964, as national attention fixed on Mississippi, a parallel struggle unfolded across Louisiana’s parishes—one that would test federal resolve, expose systemic voter suppression, and help reshape American democracy.
Known as the Louisiana Freedom Summer, or CORE’s Louisiana Project, the campaign was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality and brought volunteers from across the United States to challenge entrenched racial discrimination in voting and public accommodations.
Training for a Test Designed to Fail
The campaign began in Plaquemines Parish, where volunteers underwent intensive training in voter registration procedures—and in navigating Louisiana’s notorious literacy test. The exam, administered selectively by parish registrars, included obscure constitutional questions that disproportionately disqualified Black applicants.
Under Jim Crow-era enforcement, Black citizens who missed as few as two questions automatically failed. White applicants, civil rights leaders documented, were often passed regardless of performance.
Volunteers canvassed Black neighborhoods, organized meetings in churches, and trained local residents in nonviolent resistance tactics. The effort mirrored Mississippi’s Freedom Summer but operated in a state often overlooked in national civil rights narratives.
The Civil Rights Act Meets Local Resistance
Instead, they were told to leave.
When confronted, the establishment’s management initially relented after hours of delay. The following day, however, service was again denied—this time under a strained interpretation of “integration.” The restaurant subsequently closed, illustrating both the legal ambiguity and cultural resistance that defined the immediate post-Act period.
Civil rights historians note that such incidents provided critical evidence for federal investigators examining patterns of discrimination.
Evidence for Washington
Volunteers believed their documentation of discriminatory practices would strengthen the U.S. Justice Department’s enforcement capabilities. Their work contributed to mounting pressure that culminated in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed on August 6, 1965. The law outlawed literacy tests and authorized federal oversight of jurisdictions with histories of voting discrimination.
In towns such as Hammond and Ponchatoula, and across parishes like Tangipahoa, Louisiana Freedom Summer volunteers continued organizing into September 1964. Though less publicized than Mississippi’s campaign, the Louisiana effort proved instrumental in building the legal and moral case for sweeping federal reform.
A Legacy Still Resonant
Today, scholars argue that the Louisiana Freedom Summer underscores a broader truth about the Civil Rights Movement: transformative change often emerged not from a single flashpoint, but from sustained local campaigns challenging injustice parish by parish.
As debates over voting access and federal oversight re-emerge in modern political discourse, the events of 1964 in Louisiana serve as a reminder of the costs borne—and the constitutional promises secured—through grassroots action.
This Black History article is sponsored by Ford Motor Company.
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-- By Andre Leday
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