The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, had already declared that the right of citizens to vote could not be denied because of race, color or previous condition of servitude. But between a constitutional promise and the lived reality of Black Americans stood nearly a century of organized resistance.

The recent federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center has sent shockwaves through the legal community, civil rights organizations, and advocates for democracy across the country. The Department of Justice under the second Trump administration has accused the SPLC of fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and making false statements related to an informant program the organization used to monitor violent extremist groups.