Preserving Voter Rights for All

These past few weeks, I’ve been haunted by a warning given to me over fifteen years ago. “Don’t trust them.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has a deadline, it isn’t open ended.  They’re just waiting for the opportunity to rescind it.”

Jackie was a political activist, fervently involved in the Civil Rights movement back in the ‘60’s. I was, and still am, an optimist, believing in the ultimate goodness of humankind.  The 1965 legislation, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, prohibited "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting ... to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color." Basking in the progress that had been made in race relations, a backward step never occurred to me.

I continue to be naive well into my adulthood. Like many African Americans, I celebrate the fourth of July, marking the independence of Americans, except, of course, my ancestors who were still enslaved at the time.  Nevertheless, with our delayed freedom, I join happily in the festivities.  So I’m stunned, bewildered, and saddened at the recent events that occurred a week before our nation’s Independence Day.

Our Supreme Court denied the renewal of federal oversight in the Voting Rights Act. In effect, changes in voting regulations at the local level are no longer subject to preclearance; the  process of scrutiny and approval  by the Justice Department. This opens the door for renewing discriminatory practices of the Jim Crow era.

My friend was right.  They had been waiting for the moment to strike down a major protective element in the act, and with that blow, they have increased the potential to severely limit the freedom enjoyed by Black Americans. 

I’m paranoid, you say?  The sad thing is that this is a covert, indirect way to turn back time and return to an era of Black disenfranchisement.  They no longer wear white hoods, lurking in the bushes and striking in the dark.  Now they cloak themselves in the garb of “legitimate” political parties.  But their goal is the same

“Nonsense,” you say.  “America has a Black president, the highest office in the land.  The last barrier has been torn down; discrimination is a thing of the past.”  And I answer, look at Texas, look at Alabama, look at Georgia.  These states are already contemplating a new version of gerrymandering, designing regulations requiring voter picture ID’s, and limiting access to the polls through time closures consistent with the work and church schedules of disadvantaged Blacks.   

Yes, we do have a Black president, and this speaks admirably to the evolution of the American heart and intellect. Nevertheless, it’s time to be vigilant at the local political level to prevent the enactment of a backward step.

In the wake of July 4th, we must reaffirm the rights of all Americans.