On the Voting Rights Act
Despite the feet-shuffling of a few scared Southern politicians, people/writers/papers support keeping the Voting Rights Act.
From the Amherst Times:
No one disputes that our nation has come a long way since the Voting Rights Act was first signed into law. But while it would be nice to think we don't need this legislation anymore, we do. We still struggle with the legacy of institutionalized racism. If either of the act's two sections under attack is weakened or allowed to expire, the door will be opened to a new round of discriminatory practices.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
Opponents of the pre-clearance provision have argued that it is unfair to single out only some states and counties, which include several Southern states and four counties in California, for extra burdens. Overt discrimination, opponents claim, is largely a legacy of Jim Crow segregation, and the South should not have to bear the stigma of past practices.
But, as litigation and recent hearings in the House have shown, discriminatory practices in voting and the electoral process remain serious problems in many parts of the country and often take the form of more subtle deprivations of rights, such as redistricting and other changes in election structures.
Also, George E. Curry blackvoicenews.com talks about something that ties into the VRA:
But there is something even more sinister than Dixiecrats acting like they're still fighting the Civil War - the deliberate campaign to nullify ballots cast by African-Americans. After all of the voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, if this scheme is not taken on, it won't matter whether African-Americans vote in national elections or enjoy the protection of the Voting Rights Act.
This point was brought home by Greg Palast, an investigative reporter for BBC Television and the Guardian newspapers, at the recent Rainbow/PUSH national convention in Chicago. In both his public speeches and his latest book, Armed Madhouse, published by Dutton, Palast recounts in excruciating detail how disqualified ballots, most of them cast by African-Americans, were enough to have easily defeated Bush had they been counted.
My prediction: if the VRA is not renewed or is neutered in any way and we have yet another "voting discrepancy" among black voters, there will be hell to pay.
From the Amherst Times:
No one disputes that our nation has come a long way since the Voting Rights Act was first signed into law. But while it would be nice to think we don't need this legislation anymore, we do. We still struggle with the legacy of institutionalized racism. If either of the act's two sections under attack is weakened or allowed to expire, the door will be opened to a new round of discriminatory practices.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
Opponents of the pre-clearance provision have argued that it is unfair to single out only some states and counties, which include several Southern states and four counties in California, for extra burdens. Overt discrimination, opponents claim, is largely a legacy of Jim Crow segregation, and the South should not have to bear the stigma of past practices.
But, as litigation and recent hearings in the House have shown, discriminatory practices in voting and the electoral process remain serious problems in many parts of the country and often take the form of more subtle deprivations of rights, such as redistricting and other changes in election structures.
Also, George E. Curry blackvoicenews.com talks about something that ties into the VRA:
But there is something even more sinister than Dixiecrats acting like they're still fighting the Civil War - the deliberate campaign to nullify ballots cast by African-Americans. After all of the voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, if this scheme is not taken on, it won't matter whether African-Americans vote in national elections or enjoy the protection of the Voting Rights Act.
This point was brought home by Greg Palast, an investigative reporter for BBC Television and the Guardian newspapers, at the recent Rainbow/PUSH national convention in Chicago. In both his public speeches and his latest book, Armed Madhouse, published by Dutton, Palast recounts in excruciating detail how disqualified ballots, most of them cast by African-Americans, were enough to have easily defeated Bush had they been counted.
My prediction: if the VRA is not renewed or is neutered in any way and we have yet another "voting discrepancy" among black voters, there will be hell to pay.
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