After republicans passed another in an ongoing series of new restrictive voter laws in Alabama, one of which was to require all citizens to obtain a vehicular drivers license (or DMV issued voter ID), the republican governor then proceeded to close down Department of Motor Vehicle offices in areas called the 'black belt'.
The term 'black belt' was not originally derived for the constituency of the region, but for the rich black soil that made the land one of the most productive growing areas of the cotton belt which led to its being a region of the south where large numbers of AA slaves were forced to work the southern plantations.
Booker T. Washington defines the black belt:
"the part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil was, of course, the part of the south where slaves were most profitable and consequently were taken there in the largest numbers.
Later and especially since the [Civil] war, the term seems to be used wholly in a political sense -- that is, to designate the counties where the black people outnumber the white."
Rachel Maddow shows time staggered graphics of the shifting of continents over millions of years; the parts of the US continent that was once submerged by the oceans and the forming of the region known as the black belt as a result:
(short ad - sorry)
link: http://www.nbcnews.com/...
The backlash against the republicans for this transparently racist attempt to disenfranchise AA's from the democratic process by setting up road-blocks to voting was condemned, questioned, even by a few republicans fearing consequences from the US Dept. of Justice for this violation of the peoples constitutional right to vote.
Every single county in which blacks make up 75 percent of registered voters will see their drivers license office closed.
Every one.
After just 14 days of vehemently denying any wrongdoing, the republicans couldn't withstand the national exposure. They finally caved:
Rachel Maddow reports on the swift and brutal reaction by the American public to the news that Alabama would be closing some DMVs in predominantly black counties after passing a voter ID law, and effort by Governor Robert Bentley to undo that decision.
(short ad - sorry)
link:
http://www.nbcnews.com/...
Glad to see this republican failure and hope that the Leahy/Lewis Bill to restore the Voting Rights Act gets some national coverage too after this and many other continued attempts by "conservatives" (also known as republicans these days) with a long history of denying Americans their right to vote continues to sweep the country like some sort of foul wind
In addition to getting busy restoring the Voting Rights Act by making the Leahy/Lewis Bill: The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 into Law, Oregon now has automatic voter registration which could and should also be adopted as the way things are done all over the country - imo
- Got to set up to sweat some fitting on a water heater re-route - be back a bit later on - thanks for stopping by