For nearly 40 years, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has required "states, counties, cities, school boards, water districts and
other jurisdictions where there has been a history of racial
discrimination to submit any proposed voting changes to the Justice
Department for approval," Campbell Robertson of The New York Times explains in a story advancing what is expected to be a decisive U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the law, as early as tomorrow.
"Shelby County, Alabama, is arguing that these covered jurisdictions are no longer any different from the rest of the country, and that the chore of compliance has become an unfair and costly burden," reports Robertson. "Proponents of Section 5 say the degree of progress in these areas is exaggerated, and many civil-rights advocates are fearful of a broad rollback of minority voting power."
Section 5, which was created in 1965, and has since been amended to add more areas, or subtract areas that have been free of discrimination for 10 years. (NYT map: Dark purple areas were included in 1965; light purple were added in 1970-75; orange have been deleted after being judged free of racial discrimination in voting for 10 years)
Jim Prince, editor and publisher of The Neshoba Democrat in Philadelphia, Miss., opined this month that the South has changed dramatically since Section 5 was created. "Racism is wrong, but over the last 50 years the South has undergone basic, drastic change for the good," he wrote. "My experience has taught me that trust matters. Relationships matter when it comes to racial reconciliation. Communication matters. When good people do nothing, evil flourishes...When will the federal government stop punishing the South for the sins of our great-great-great-great grandfathers?"
Noting the election of a black mayor by Philadelphia's majority-white electorate, and vice versa in Greenwood, Prince wrote, "We no longer face obdurate segregationist regimes in state government seeking to oppress and entire an race of human beings . . . but a cottage industry has sprung up around race. The more profitable narrative is that not enough has changed in the South and we need the government to fix it. Better relationships and building trust is the answer, not more decades of government mandates." (Read more) Prince was interviewed for a CBS Evening News story that may appear tonight. He and former Democrat Publisher Stanley Dearman won the 2008 Tom and Pat Gish Award from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog, for the paper's work to promote racial reconciliation and bring to justice murderers of three civil-rights workers in Neshoba County in 1964.
"Shelby County, Alabama, is arguing that these covered jurisdictions are no longer any different from the rest of the country, and that the chore of compliance has become an unfair and costly burden," reports Robertson. "Proponents of Section 5 say the degree of progress in these areas is exaggerated, and many civil-rights advocates are fearful of a broad rollback of minority voting power."
Noting the election of a black mayor by Philadelphia's majority-white electorate, and vice versa in Greenwood, Prince wrote, "We no longer face obdurate segregationist regimes in state government seeking to oppress and entire an race of human beings . . . but a cottage industry has sprung up around race. The more profitable narrative is that not enough has changed in the South and we need the government to fix it. Better relationships and building trust is the answer, not more decades of government mandates." (Read more) Prince was interviewed for a CBS Evening News story that may appear tonight. He and former Democrat Publisher Stanley Dearman won the 2008 Tom and Pat Gish Award from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog, for the paper's work to promote racial reconciliation and bring to justice murderers of three civil-rights workers in Neshoba County in 1964.
No comments:
Post a Comment