IS THE CAROLINA TIMES
SAT,,JUIY4,1S8V
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION v . -
BLACK
BALLOTS
-'X
By Gerald Home, Esq.
Party moved to Tswitch pockets of black voting
from thp more democratic ' strength. : The NAACP"
primary system to : the r .and SCLC attempted to ;
more ; elitist convention invoke the. Voting Rights
system in selecting , Act because the party's;
delegate allocation for;
1981 is not an election
year but events are taking
place now that could af
fect for years to come the
1 political landscape Quite
correctly, much attention
'hat$Jbeen focused on the
Voting Rights Act of
1965, scheduled to expire
next year. The act is wide
ly viewed as one of the
most effective civil rights
laws and gives federal pro
tection to minority voters
in ; all or parts of those
states that have histories
of discrimination. Most of'
the southern states are in
cluded but so is New York
which has the largest
black population in the
country.
Senator Strom Thur
mond of South Carolina
now heads the Senate
Judiciary Committee. He
favors repeal or alteration
of the act to remove
federal control over local
affairs on "states' rights"
grounds. One would think
hat the Civil War decided
for all time the "right" of
states to treat their citizens
as. they pleased within
their borders but like a
perennial weed it sprouts
iri every political season.
Still, the battle over the
Voting Rights Act may be
the most important strug
gle this year.
But that's not all.
"When it rains, it pours",
and. 1980 was a census
year. Thus reappor
tionments of city councils,
state legislatures, congres- ,
sional districts, etc., are
all the rage this year.
Already,
"gerrymandering" has
caught on like a virus;
oblong sized districts,
salamander sized districts,
shaping any sized districts
asrlong as they dilute or
deprive black voting
power is the rule New
York State has over 2.4
million blacks, a million
or more than second place
California, and a hefty
percentage of those are in
New York - City;. Some .
estimate, that there is a
bla'c and Hispanic ma
jority there but you'd
never know it from look
ing 'at the City Council.
The proposed
"reapportionment" based
it , nor . 1 j
uii me (you census wuuiu
severely worsen the situa
tion Not. only states with
substantial black popula
tions such as Mississippi,
Louisiana, Georgia, Il
linois, Pennsylvania, etc.,
can be reapportion? 1.
Take Oregon for example,
a state not known for a
large number . of black
; citizens. As Calvin Henry,
head, of the Oregon
Assembly for Black Af-,
fairs .(OABA), put it: "In'
19701, many people felt
that'Jthe community was
divided up so that there
was almost no chance for -a
black to be nominated or
elected," to a state
legislative seat.
This year they're not
taking any chances, "We
are urging the black com
munity to come forth on,,
this. - Write to represent
tatives. . . .Once the die is
cast, we don't have any
right to complain."
J The NAACP has notw
beep . derelict here.. The.
Southeast Regional Office
of i the NAACP has
established - a regional'
legislative reapportion
ment monitoring commit
tee that will watch-dog the '
process in the states of
Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi,
NoiftT Qarolina, South ,
Carolina and Tennessee.
NAACP field staff in.
these states will coordinate
this monitoring effort .
NAACP state conferences
are establishing special
political action task forces
to insure that the NAACP
point . of view is made
knoWit; during the public
heaflhgs and debates that
are aVpart of the reappor
tionment process in the
various states.
Those in' other states
should emulate the
NAACP effort. Organiz-;
ed . Baptists and :
Methodists, Coalition of
Black" r Traded Unionist
Chapters, PTA's etc.
should at r least ; spark
letter-writing campaigns'
and testify at public scs-.
.sions.' ' i
The Voting Rights Acfl
has., impact on reappor
tionment. It also reaches
other political maneuvers.
Earlier this year a con-'
troversy erupted in '
Virginia a state, with a
heavijy black population
when the Democratic
I. nominees, representatives
: and leaders. Rev. Curtis
' Harfis of the Virginia
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
. (SCLC) put his finger on
; the issue: "That plan
would lock the door on.
.' blacks ever running for ,
one of the top three posf
' tions in the state." '
Most blacks in Virginia,
and elsewhere ' vote
Democratic and all ara
upset over this plan that
would serve to dilute black
representation in Norfolk,
Richmond, Petersburg,
Portsmouth and other
mula gave white suburbs
propotionately " more
delegates than inner cities, -heavily
populated with
blacks, :-v-"7 v'-'- :'
The consensus in
Virginia was that ,. .the
Democrats "were trying
fo shut out as many people :
as possible from having a
crack at the grdup's inner -.
workings." But virtually
any state with. ' blacks
could be substituted for .
Virginia and the pattern
would remain the same.'
Unfortunately, though
most blacks in robot -like
cent critical Democratic
National " Committee
meeting in Denver this"
trend j was V reaffirmed.
What1 happened ";" in
Virginia was replicated on
fashion troop to the polls not so hidden agenda to
and pull the Democratic cut out government spen
lever, few are aware of vdingon everything except
; what goes on in a party the Pentagon. At the re-
tnai counts neanaennais
i such -as : Senator James
f East and George Wallace
r in its ranks. ' , .;
: r Rev. - L.P. v Watson,
, president of the Norfolk
branch xf the NAACP.the national level as, the
has said cogently, "Just . number of delegates at the
, occausc a person is oiacic crucial mid-term meeting
doesn't mean he has to be I in 1982 was slashed from
a Democrat.! We should Z ,600 to 900. Like
not put all the eggs into x Virginia, it will mean less
one political basket." black input but Charles T.
And this does not mean .Manatt, the wheeler
putting eggs in Reagan's 'dealer banker who heads
and Jesse Helms' baskets the - Democratic Party
either: though on budget- could care less. He doesn't
cut and tax cut votes thef realize that their me-too
Democrats have echoed mimicking of the GOP
their GOP counterparts' won't get them anywhere.
'Ask Charles Evert,
defeated in the ; city's
Democratic primary in
' Fayette, v, Mississippi's
mayor's race because of ;.
his support of President
Reagan.
Blacks are getting fed
lip with this second-class
' treatment: In North
Carolina there has beea an.
upsurge in interest in the
newly organized National
Black , Independent
Political Party. Some ob?
ject to third parties as be-
' ing "impractical" but
they haven't studied
history. If they had they
would realize that even
when third parties lose,
they serve to move the ma
jor parties. Most
historians acknowledge
'that" President Truman's
jeffort to ban segregation
in the armed forces and
ICSiaOUMI V-UIIUIIlll.CC UII
1 . ' i r;u,. ' ..... 1
iV,IVII KlglUS - was . ill
response to the threat of
the Progressive Party,
backed by W.E.B.
: DuBois, Paul Rdbeson
and many other influential
blacks.- ;-rtv;
: When blacks don't have
options, it allows the
Democrats to go to sleep
on the Voting Rights Act
and other critical areas
and pacify conservative
white voters. Yet, North
Carolina is showing that if
the Democrats want black
ballots anywhere in this
country, they'll have to
quickly get their act
together. '
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