PRESI DENT’S CORNER
RESTORE THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT…NOW!
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By Dr. Charles Steele Jr., SCLC National President & CEO estore the Voting Rights Act…Now! I have been screaming this since 2013 when the Supreme Court struck down section four and section five of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court voted to take out the crucial part of the legislation that designates states to be pre-cleared before making any changes to districts with a history of racial discrimination. Section four and five was the heart of the Voting Rights Act, and it was gutted. When section four and five was gutted from the Voting Rights Act, that took away all of our rights for freedom. This particular section was the catalyst which led the way to all of our civil rights. This means we have gone back to state rights, which means states can return to their wrong doings of the past. Now let’s talk about Georgia…Republican law makers in Georgia are trying to enact new restrictions on voting access. This would essentially make it harder for African-American voters and people of color to vote.
No, no, no…not Jim Crow! Not this time, we’ve come too far to allow Jim Crow to stick its ugly head up. We will not sit back and allow the weed of destruction to destroy the lawn from which our ancestors have died to grow and protect. Our weed killer is faith, justice, peace and non-violent protesting. After we get rid of the weeds we then must apply a fertilizer called non-complacency. See, complacency will destroy everything you have accomplished. We must not become complacent or we will look up and have the weeds of Jim Crow taking over our lawn of hope, justice and peace. We cannot afford the clock to be turned back in terms of us being first class citizens. We deserve to continue to be protected by the federal government like we have been for almost 50 years. If we do not have this protection we are destined to repeat our past. I am constantly reminded of our responsibility to ensure the sacrifices of people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmie Lee Jackson, Amelia Boynton, James Bevel, John Lewis, Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Rev. C.T. Vivian and many others are not in vain. As disappointed as I am in the gutting of section four and five of the Voting Rights Act, I am equally encouraged by the young people in this country. We cannot ignore the Black Lives Matter movement and in this particular case the Black Voters Matter voting rights organization. The co-founder LaTosha Brown who was born in Selma, Alabama works tirelessly on issues that pertain to social justice and political empowerment in the African-American community. I want to highlight LaTosha because it is people like LaTosha Brown who continue to carry on the legacy of Dr. King, SCLC and the many others who fought for voting rights of the disenfranchised in this country. Our work is not over and it will
S C LC Nat ional Magaz ine / S pr ing 2 02 1 Is s u e
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