Legislature needs to end racial politics

[struggle4progress]

... Rather than try to adjust their party platform to attract black Americans, Republicans in many states — including Alabama — have erected barriers to keep them from voting.

The state’s Voter ID law is the most recent example. In-person fraud at polls is essentially nonexistent in the state. Because blacks are less likely than whites to have photo identification, the transparent purpose of the law is to create an additional hurdle to keep them from exercising their right to vote. Gerrymandered voting districts also dilute the political influence of blacks in state elections.

This is not, of course, racism in the conventional sense. If most blacks voted Republican, we have no doubt the Republican-dominated Legislature would scrap the Voter ID law.

Instead, it is an ugly shortcut. Rather than adopt policies that are attractive to all Alabamians, regardless of race, the Republican Party is seeking to disenfranchise those who they believe are more likely to vote for Democrats. The open affront, of course, gives black Alabamians even more reason to spurn the Republican Party ...

http://www.decaturdaily.com/stories/Legislature-needs-to-end-racial-politics,122768