Voting: Racist sabotage

[struggle4progress]

June 27, 2013
Voting: Racist sabotage

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- ... "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

But racist Dixie pulled every trick to block voting by blacks, trying to keep them powerless, poor and ostracized ... Human rights groups fought those obstacles -- and the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act finally cured most of this hateful pattern ...

Now conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices have wounded the Voting Rights Act by scuttling its chief enforcement provision: a requirement saying states can't change voting rules without prior approval from the federal Justice Department. A backlash of protest followed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called it "a dark day for the Supreme Court.... Especially in light of what happened this last election cycle, with Republicans doing everything they could to suppress voting" ...

http://www.wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/201306270062

[Downwinder]

1. We will let you vote, but who can you vote for?

We are dissolving your cities, your schools. We will bring in Corporate Overseers to run them.

[Igel]

2. One of the immediate consequences locally involves a school district.

Hell hole of a school district. 100% economically disadvantaged. Declining enrollment. Academically unacceptable. Abysmal per-student income from property tax; no industry to speak of, few businesses that aren't 7-11s. Abysmal student achievement; it even lost state accreditation (which is a feat for a public school district to do). Nearly 70% black (formerly more black), 25% Latino, and the rest, well, the rest.

As if that wasn't enough, the district has been insolvent at least once in the last year, and the Board was removed. The procedure was followed for merging it with a somewhat better, huge district.

The district is resisting it. It wants to manage itself. Point of pride, that. Not much pride, if you ask me, but there you have it.

As of last week, the district had two cards it was playing--not a winning hand, if you ask me, but at this point the goal is simply to play for time and hope for a miracle that allows them to continue to disadvantage their kids. The first card was racism: Even though the district is less black than before, and will be merged with a district that is largely black and Latino, it's a racist act because it affects primarily blacks and disempowers them. That'll be litigated, for sure.

But the second card it's been playing is the Justice Department card, with a Holder of hearts. By abolishing and merging the district, the state will be removing elected (black) officials from office and alter how the residents, overwhelmingly minority, vote for their representatives. That means it affects local elections. That means Justice has to pre-clear any changes.