When the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court asked
today during Oral Arguments, regarding the 1965 Voting Rights Act,
whether or not Southern States are more racist than their Northern
counterparts...I didn't know whether to be more offended by the
question, or by the fact, that no one seems offended by the question.
The question wasn't whether this law will continue to stop racist
voting practices in the South, but whether Southern Racism" is
really any worse ...than anybody else's racism.
While acknowledging that the New South, has made tremendous
changes, there are still many area's that won't have a Civil War
Reenactment...because it still hurts too much.
Does the Chief Justice believe that since Danica Patrick won the
Pole position at Nascar's Daytona 500...we know longer need the
Lilly Ledbetter Act?
The Voting Rights Act may be almost 50 years old, but isn't almost
yesterday that the Southern Courts are still hearing cases about the
right to fly the confederate flag, Texans signing petitions to leave
the Union, and having to order the removal of the "Ten Commandments"
from Alabama Government Office Buildings.
It may be the New South, but it seems to me it still has some of the
same old problems!
Is this really the time to remove barriers to racism in the South or
the North, or should we be having a conversation on the need to
strengthen them?
The original Civil Rights Act was first proposed as an amendment to
the Constitution in 1865. Rosa Parks was still fighting for a seat on
the bus 87 years later, and after another 50 years, Lyndon Johnson
needed to pass another Civil Rights Act...just to give people a path to
the voting booth!
And wasn't it not that long ago that Justice Clarence Thomas accused
the media of giving him a "High tech lynching"...during his confirmation
hearings?
If racism hasn't healed in his heart...is the nation so far ahead of him,
that we can pat ourselves on the back as to rid ourselves of a law that
has been our single most successful form of attack?
Today, targeted Voter ID Laws and Gerrymandering have replaced literacy
tests and poll taxes to express bigotry and a quest for power.
Racism has expanded beyond the color of our skin to the color of the
State we live in. Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts has resulted
in 1.5 million more Democratic votes in the House...but a majority of
Republicans holding seats...and with 92% of African Americans voting for
the Democratic Party...a people's struggle for a vote that is representative
of who they are and what they believe in... is now being threatened, not
only by elected officials, but by the very Courts that has served to protect
them.
As of today...Ms. Parks didn't just win a seat on the bus or the right to
vote...but a statue in Washington DC, bearing her likeness, symbolizing
her courage and inspiring all of us to stand up and be counted...when we
need to be counted on the most!
And when Chief Justice John Roberts asks the wrong question...we need
to stand up to power, sit in the front row and if necessary give him a bus
token that will drive him to the right answer!