ID
frcmpmgt/Q
young voters. This year,
Schroeder heard arguments
on the voter ID requirement
that went into effect during
the March primary.
N.C. NAACP President
William Barber said the
ruling has been appealed to
the Fourth Circuit.
"We know that people -
African-Americans,
Latinos, women and stu
dents- have been disen
franchised by this voter
suppression law and we are
appealing immediately," he
said.
Schroeder's 485-page
ruling, released Monday
evening, agreed that the
state has a history of "sig
nificant, shameful past dis
crimination" against minor
ity voters but there "is little
official discrimination to
consider" in the last 25
years. He wrote the plain
tiffs "failed to show that
such disparities will have
materially adverse effects
on the ability of minority
voters to cast a ballot."
While he acknowl
edged "educational and
socioeconomic disparities
suffered by African
Americans," he didn't
think that they prevented
African-Americans from
voting under the new provi
sions.
"The evidence shows
that, like all voters,
African-Americans are not
only capable of adjusting.
but have adjusted," wrote
Scbroeder.
Democracy N.C.
Executive Director Bob
Hail condemned the ruling.
"Schroeder's decision
ignores the reality that over
1 /XX) voters who lacked an
acceptable ID took the
trouble to fill out forms at
polling sites in the March
primary but were silenced;
their ballots were rejected,
often for trivial and incon
sistent reasons, depending
on where they voted and
the wording they used to
explain their lack of ID,"
said Hall.
Lawyers in the case like
Allison Riggs of the
Southern Coalition for
Social Justice are looking
to the Fourth Circuit Court
of Appeals to overturn the
ruling. The Fourth Circuit
previously ruled against
Schroeder on the case in
2014 granting an injunction
he had denied against the
law that was later over
turned by the U.S. Supreme
Court, which kept an
injunction restoring same
day registration and out-of
precinct voting.
"Today's ruling is
inconsistent with the
Fourth Circuit's decision in
2014, and we're confident
that the voters in this state
will eventually be vindicat
ed," said Riggs.
Schroeder's ruling
maintains the injunction
until the June 7 primary
and then same-day registra
tion and out-of-precinct
voting will end.
Democracy North
Carolina estimates that
29,000 votes were saved in
the March primary by those
two measures.
Gov. Pat McCrory, who
signed HB 589 into law and
is named in the lawsuit,
praised the ruling, saying
photo IDs are also required
few things like boarding an
airplane and purchasing
Sudafed.
"This ruling further
affirms that requiring a
photo ID in order to vote is
not only common-sense,
it's constitutional," said
McCrory.
HB 589 started as a.
voter ID law and then had
many provisions added to it
after the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down the pre
clearance requirement of
the Voting Rights Act in
2013, which forced certain
states and counties with a
history of voter discrimina
tion to get Justice
Department approval when
changing election laws.
The Supreme Court ruled
that the list of states requir
ing pre-clearance was dated
and ordered Congress to
come up with a new formu
la, which it hasn't done.
Barber said during a con
ference call on Tuesday
that HB 589 wouldn't have
gone into effect if pre
clearance still existed and
that Congress should pass
the Voting Rights
Advancement Act to
restore it.
Photo* by Tfevta Season
S.G. Atkins CDC Executive Director Carol Davis addresses the crowd after
receiving the Breaking Barriers Fair Housing Award during the Uth Annual
Fair and Affordable Housing Summit on Thursday, April 21.
More than 100 people gathered at the Benton Convention Center last Thursday
for the 11th Annual Fair and Affordable Housing Summit. S.G. Atkins CDC
was awarded the Breaking Barriers Fair Housing Award.
Hopkins
from page XI
"The women had afros
and miniskirts, we were
strong and proud and fear
less," said Hopkins.
She said the men were
equally resilient. Among
them was Lawrence
Hopkins, who she married
her senior year. The very
small minority of black
students stuck together as a
unit.
"We depended on the
upperclassmen to help us
navigate the turbulent
waters and so they told us
which professors we
should absolutely not
enroll in," she said. "We
ate together at breakfast,
lunch and dinner, so we
presented a very bold
image."
She said they were all
good students who earned
their place at WFU, despite
some white students who
questioned their academic
credentials for being there
because of Affirmative
Action. After being turned
down by Wake Forest
University law school,
Hopkins attended the
Marshall Wythe School of
Law at the College of
William and Mary in
Virginia while maintaining
a long distance relationship
with her husband, who
attended Bowman Gray
School of Medicine locally.
After she graduated in
1977, she took a job at Hill,
Tucker and Marsh, the law
firm of one of her heroes,
Civil Rights Attorney
Oliver Hill.
"It was one of the most
incredible employment
experiences I have ever
had, to be working on cases
where you're going to
change the traditional way
in which the
Commonwealth of Virginia
treated its citizens," she
said.
The firm worked on a
variety of cases in the two
years she was there, includ
ing employment issues and
police brutality. When the
black bar association hon
ored the partners at the
firm, she got to meet anoth
er of her heroes. Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall, who was Hill's
college classmate.
"It was an exhilarating
experience, he had this big
warmth and his spirit just
filled up the whole room,"
she said about Marshall.
Hopkins would become
a United States state's
attorney in both Richmond,
Va. and in Shreveport, La.
where her husband served
in the Air Force. By 1984,
they had moved back to
Winston-Salem so they
could be close to their par
ents in neighboring states.
She helped Lawrence start
his OB/GYN practice
while working at the local
Chamber of Commerce.
She said she was no longer
bitter about being denied
entry to WFU School of
Law.
"That was in the past,
that was gone, I'd moved
on," she said.
So in 198S, she began
working for WFU's newly
created legal council
office. She would go on to
become a lecturer and pro
fessor teaching courses in
history, American ethnic
studies and law. In 2010,
she became die director of
the Smith Anderson Center
for Community Outreach,
which includes the law
school's Pro Bono and
Public Interest programs.
Public Interest Law
Organization encourages
students to pursue careers
in places like public
defender or district attor
ney offices. The Pro Bono
Project lets students volun
teer in the community.
During Hopkins' tenure,
participation in the Pro
Bono Project went from 10
percent of law students to
more than 60 percent, giv
ing 6j000 hours of service.
Volunteering is not
required and students
receive no credit for it.
"It worked because we
had a team here," said
Hopkins. "We had admin
istrative support, faculty
resources and dedicated
students. And I was like a
facilitator putting all the
pieces of the puzzle togeth
er.
She also said supervis
ing attorneys from the
community who've men
tored the students have also
been vital to the project's
success.
During a recent retire
ment celebration, Law
School Dean Suzanne
Reynolds said students
helped with advanced
directives, expungement
clinics and helping local
youth know their legal
rights as part of the project.
She said she expects that to
continue after Hopkins
retires.
"Professor Hopkins,
you have made this law
school a better law school
and it will remain that
way," said Reynolds.
Hopkins and her hus
band have two children,
Michelle, who is a mental
rehab councilor, and
David, who is a profession
al tennis player, and two
grandchildren. After she
retires June 29, she plans to
enjoy retirement by spend
ing time with family, read
ing a book a week and tak
ing classes in pottery and
Spanish.
She's also passionate
about tennis, which she
was introduced to as a stu
dent at WFU and still
plays. She's chair of con
stitution and rules for the
United States Tennis
Association and helped
start the tennis programs at
two local high schools.
The university has
renamed the Public Interest
Initiative scholarship grant
to the Hopkins
Pro Humanitate grant in
her honor.
Atkins
from page AT
accessible to all.
"S.G. Atkins CDC has made a major
impact on a number of lives in this com
munity. We just want to thank them for all
that they do," Allen-Abraha said.
Named after the founder of Winston
Salem State University Simon Green
Atkins, the development corporation was
formed in 2008 with a mission to revitalize
the southeast ward of the city which has a
large number of rental homes. Executive
director Carol Davis said highway con
struction in the late 1940s caused the hous
ing stock to be destroyed. Davis men
tioned S.G. Atkins mission is to bring the
neighborhood back to life.
"We want to revitalize that housing and
attract good products mid services for die
neighborhood," Davis said.
S.G. Atkins is responsible for the
Ridge Wood Place neighborhood located
off Waughtown Street. Davis said once the
all 130 lots are complete, the neighbor
hood will contribute $15 million to the tax
value. Davis claims that will generate a
yearly property tax of $500,000.
"That's significant because that money
will go into our public budget," she contin
ued. "It can' be used to re-invest in the
neighborhood."
In 2005, S.G. Atkins built homes on
10th Street near New Walkertown Rd. The
development company which is housed
inside the Enterprise Center located on
Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. also helps
potential buyers find financial assistance
with buying homes as well.
Those in need of financial assistance
have the opportunity to complete classes at
the Center for Home Ownership (CHO).
Participants in the course will learn
about the home buying process, make con
tact with community professionals who
will assist them, and learn to resolve prob
lems that prevent home ownership. After
completion of the course, S.G. Atkins will
also help potential buyers find lenders to
work with.
"We want to make sure that our buyers
are financially ready," said Davis. "That's
very important to us."
After accepting the Breaking Barriers
Fair Housing Award during the annual
summit held at the Benton Convention
Center last Thursday, Davis thanked the
New Horizons planning committee for rec
ognizing S.G. Atkins for the work they do
in the community.
Keynote speaker for the summit col
lege advisory board chairperson and city
native Richard Caban-Cubero said more
development corporations should follow
in the footsteps of Atkins CDC and invest
in the inner city.
Caban-Cubero noted that in recent
years Winston-Salem has seen an increase
in poverty and homelessness.
"We have to start investing in commu
nities that are often overlooked," he said.
"Until development corporations decide to
invest in the communities that need it
most, nothing will change here in
Winston-Salem."
Have an Opinion?
Let us Know
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