"People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House," Tancredo said during a speech, according to the Cleveland Leader.
Tancredo also said Obama won because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote."
Alabama used to have literacy tests for voting, along with poll taxes, and those were used to keep blacks and poor whites from exercising any influence over elections. The first time we interviewed Rep. Artur Davis, all the way back in August of 2008, he spoke of his mother's generation, Joe Reed's generation, and why it is understandably difficult for that generation -- who grew up unable to sit at the front of the bus, unable to use the same bathroom as white people, subject to literacy tests and poll taxes -- why it is difficult for people who were subjected to those circumstances to believe it is possible to elect a black president or a black governor. Remember, this was in August of 2008, almost 3 months before Obama's election.
In the process, Davis told a wonderful story of civil rights attorney Fred Gray's experience with a literacy test. He failed it, even though he answered every question correctly. The authorities -- concerned only with preserving the status quo -- absolutely could and did fail people who aced the test, the same way they passed people who didn't answer correctly, as long as their skin color passed the test.
Here's more about those literacy tests Tancredo and the Tea Bag crowd want to bring back.
In the rural counties where most folk lived, you had to go down to the courthouse to register. The Registrars Office was only open two or three days each month for a couple of hours, usually in the morning or afternoon. You had to take off work — with or without your employer's permission — to register. And if a white employer gave such permission, or failed to fire Black who tried to vote, he could be driven out of business by economic retaliation from the Citizens Council.
On the occasional registration day, the county Sheriff and his deputies made it their business to hang around the courthouse to discourage "undesirables" from trying to register. This meant that Black women and men had to run a gauntlet of intimidation, insults, threats, and sometimes arrest on phony charges, just to get to the Registration Office. Once in the Registrars Office they faced hatred, harassment, and humiliation from clerks and officials.
The Alabama Application Form and oaths you had to take were four pages long. It was designed to intimidate and threaten. You had to swear that your answers to every single question were true under penalty of perjury. And you knew that the information you entered on the form would be passed on to the Citizens Council and KKK.
The Scottsboro Boys Museum and Multicultural Heritage Center in Scottsboro, AL held its grand opening and dedication service yesterday in honor of Black History Month.
The crowd of about 75 people was an interesting mix of races, professions, and ages. The crowd included people active in the Civil Rights movement, Scottsboro police officers (in uniform) who dropped by to pay their respects, Scottsboro city leaders, a large contingent of ministers from North Alabama, and more. (Including three Left in Alabama bloggers and our guest.)
The two main speakers were both engrossing and inspiring. Ms. Lecia Brooks is the Civil Rights Museum Director in Montgomery. She explained how the Scottsboro Boys case changed the American Justice system. Two landmark Supreme Court decisions came from this case:
These decisions established the principles that criminal defendants are entitled to effective assistance of counseland that people may not be de facto excluded from juries because of their race.
Ms. Brooks also noted that we're still working towards our national ideal of tolerance and social justice. She noted the increase of hate crimes against those of Hispanic descent during the past decade, crimes against gays and other minorities, and the resurgence of white supremacist organizations after President Obama's election.
Two representatives of the Madison County legislative delegation attended (Rep. Butch Taylor and Rep. John Robinson), spoke briefly and donated $1,000 to the museum effort.
Another speaker was Mrs. Kathy Horton Garrett, the granddaughter of Judge James E. Horton. Judge Horton's judicial career was finished after he ordered a new trial for Haywood Patterson:
The testimony of the prosecutrix in this case is not only uncorroborated, but it also bears on its face indications of improbability and is contradicted by other evidence, and in addition thereto the evidence greatly preponderates in favor of the defendant. It therefore becomes the duty of the Court under the law to grant the motion made in this case. It is therefore ordered and adjudged by the Court that the motion be granted; that the verdict of the jury in this case and the judgment of the Court sentencing this defendant to death be set aside and that a new trial be and the same is hereby ordered.
Judge Horton lost his bid for re-election and was never elected to the bench again.
His granddaughter shared personal remembrances of her grandfather and described the hate mail and threats he received (from people on both sides of the issue) during the trial. Judge Horton never thought he'd done anything particularly extraordinary, she said:
"Granddaddy never sought recognition or accolades for what he did. He knew he did the right thing and that speaks for itself, doesn't it?
[...]
Grandaddy blessed my life as a grandfather and blessed many in the world with his decision. He was an ordinary man who did an extraordinary thing.
It's that what we're all called to do?"
There's video on the flip with remarks from board members Shelia Washington and Garry Morgan, Lecia Brooks, Kathy Horton Garrett. It ends with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace played by Franklin McDaniels.
"The saga of the Scottsboro Boys demonstrated the deep seated, racist, white fear of the alleged black male rapist – in this case in the guise of youth. It likewise illustrated the power of this fear to override evidence and reason in the determination of guilt and innocence.
Indeed, the issue was neither guilt nor innocence; rather it was the maintenance of white supremacy and the repression of black freedom. Nevertheless, the concerted and inspiring efforts to undo the wrongs against the Scottsboro Boys contributed significantly to the ongoing African-American Freedom Struggle and the interrelated struggle to defeat Jim Crow."
From an informational brochure distributed by the Scottsboro Boys Museum in Scottsboro, AL.
Undoubtedly, the Scottsboro Boys trial was one of the low points in Alabama's justice system. Yet a local Alabama organization is determined to remind us of the familiar adage: "God never closes a door without opening a window."
The proposed Scottsboro Boys Museum in Scottsboro, AL could be nothing more than a monument to the sins of the past. Instead, the organizers are determined to both tell the story of the defendants and highlight just how far we've come since those dark days of segregation and institutionalized discrimination.
At least, they'll tell that story if they're able to raise the funds to properly present their narrative. Learn more about the museum and see a video of the organizers discussing their efforts on the flip.
Today the Tea Party Express rolled into Birmingham, Alabama - my hometown. Probably not a big surprise to anyone. But I'm absolutely shocked at the display that occurred in Kelly Ingram Park - right in the middle of the historic Civil Rights museum. Within feet of the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and the 16th Street Baptist Church - where four little girls were killed on September 15, 1963. . In the middle of Kelly Ingram Park where Dr. Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttlesworth organized demonstrations for real freedom. Where Bull Connor turned the firehouses and dogs on children.
There was a time, in the 1990s, when "boy bands" walked tall in the musical world. New stars with names like "BoyzIIMen" and "Backstreet Boys" and "*NSYNC" were everywhere to be seen, and positioned prominently within this firmament of stars was an Irish band, "Boyzone".
One of the five members of Boyzone's most famous lineup, Stephen Gately, died over the weekend in Mallorca, aged 33, much to the dismay of the group's fans and friends.
Because Gately came out at the height of his career, and at considerable risk to his (and the group's) "brand" prospects, the LBGT community is experiencing considerable dismay over the loss as well.
Today's story, however, isn't about any of that.
Instead, we'll consider what's likely to happen to Gately's estate.
The point of the exercise? With this being one of the most prominent deaths of a gay celebrity to occur since civil commitment came to pass, and with Mr. Gately being legally committed to husband Andrew Cowles at the time of his death, it seems like a good time to examine how the law responds to these situations in the UK-and how it could work in the United States.
On this day in 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson (D. Texas) signed the National Voting Rights Act. For my fellow Americans who've always had the right and the priviledge to vote today may not be a big deal to you, but to me and mine it's a very big deal.
The right to vote is sacred to African Americans. I know it sounds cliche, but it's steeped in blood, sweat, tears, courage and sacrifice. That's why we don't think Voter Suppresion with the State Seal of Approval is funny. It's why we shake our heads at The Tough Voter ID Laws. It's why we get weep silently when the real voter suppression gets a slap on the wrist and the imagined voter fraud is prosecuted to the full exent of the law. It's like pre 1965 alll over again.
My paternal grandparents were allowed to vote in the 1940's because they were educated and educators. They were teachers at what was known then as the Veterans Continuation School (pre GI Bill), a federal program designed for veterans returning home from the war to continue their education. They attended classes at night and recieved a stipend. One of the classes was how to pass the Literacy test. My grandparents were exempt from paying the $2.00 poll tax because they taught at the school. So you see, even though they were veterans returning home from war, they didn't have the full rights and priviledges they were fighting for overseas.
My maternal grandfather could vote because as my mother says "he worked in the mines" and he was grandfathered in because his father "worked in the mines". My maternal grandmother cast her first vote after the passage of the 1965 voting rights act. She was a republican because "Lincoln freed the slaves". As much as we tried to tell her that was the republican party of yesterday, she was loyal to the republican party until the day she died.
My parents cast their first votes right here in Madison County in the 1950's. Although it was pre Voting Rights Act, they didn't have to pay a poll tax or take a literacy test. I remember my Daddy taking me to the Madison County Courthouse to register to vote on my 18th birthday, and my younger siblings on their 18th birthday. It's a rite of passage I continued with my own offspring.
Some gop members of congress believed the National Voting Rights Act is "over reaching" and objected to renewing it in 2006. Fortunately they were over ruled and the Voting Rights Act was extended for another 25 years.
In July 2006, 41 years after the Voting Rights Act passed, renewal of the temporary provisions enjoyed bi-partisan support. However, a number of Republican lawmakers acted to amend, delay or defeat renewal of the Act for various reasons. One group of lawmakers led by Georgia congressman Lynn Westmoreland came from some preclearance states, and claimed that it was no longer fair to target their states, given the passage of time since 1965 and the changes their states had made to provide fair elections and voting. Another group of 80 legislators supported an amendment offered by Steve King of Iowa, seeking to strip provisions from the Act that required that translators or multilingual ballots be provided for U.S. citizens who do not speak English.[5] The "King letter" said that providing ballots or interpreters in multiple languages is a costly, unfunded mandate.
Will the National Voting Rights Act need to be extended another 25 years? I don't know, but based on current gop/conservative sentiment it sure looks like it.
The question is why? Why are they pandering to the party that is WRONG about everything, and has been wrong about everything from the Civil Rights Acts and Medicare to the Iraq War and the Economy?
Seriously, what has the present day gop ever been right (pun intended) about? Why are they constantly being rewarded for bad behavior? Why do democratic candidates pander to the wrong at the expense of what's right, and against Progressives/ liberals/democrats who btw are right (pun intended) on the issues?
Why are we treated like the no family values, culture of cronyism and corruption?
Why is Alabama a "majority republican state"?
Why do Alabama voters consistantly vote against their self interest?
Pride Month has come and gone, Gentle Reader, with no comment from this desk.
It’s not that I’m in some way insensitive to the subject; instead it’s more of a desire, once again, to stay off the beaten path.
And in that spirit, I do indeed have a story of Gay History...but it’s not from the Summer of ’69...instead, this story was already well underway before the Summer of ’29.
So put on something très chic and let’s head on over to Harlem...at the time of the Renaissance...because it’s time to meet Gladys Bentley.
The mention of that name, in the right circles, brings back a flood of associations.
Among them: a famous cabaret in Gay Paree, a Nicole Kidman movie rich in costume and set design and…well, a movie, anyway; or, if you really know your films, perhaps the association is with the 1952 John Huston “biography” film of the same name.
The one association that might not quickly come to mind, even though it should: ground zero in a battle that led to the desegregation of Las Vegas.
Today’s story will fill in the blanks that you might have regarding that association—and by the time we’re done, we’ll have covered, just as we promised last time, the 55-year history of a place that began in 1955, lasted for not quite six months, and ended just last week…maybe.
It’s another one of those American history stories you never heard before, and it’s well worth the telling…so let’s get right to it.
There may be no more recognizable icon of “Retro-Cool” than that photograph of the Rat Pack standing in front of the marquee at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
They’re right there, lined up in front of their own giant names on the marquee: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop.
Night after night they would gather with friends such as Shirley MacLaine, Angie Dickinson, and Johnny Carson, to deliver some of the greatest nightclub performances in entertainment history.
Today’s story, however, focuses on what happened after the show: when four of those five could leave the showroom, drink at the bar, gamble at the casino, and go upstairs to their rooms.
In a town sometimes known as the “Mississippi of the West”, however, one of those five performers could not do any of those things.
Our Journey In Two Parts literally crosses over to the “wrong side of the tracks”, tells a story of segregation overcome, and recounts the six-month history of a Las Vegas hotel that has a 55-year history: the Moulin Rouge.
I think it would be remiss if this blog didn’t take some note of the passing of J.L. Chestnut, Jr., of Selma.He was 77, and died Tuesday of renal failure.Mr. Chestnut was the first African-American lawyer in Selma, opening his office in 1958 after finishing law school at Howard University in Washington.He was an active participant in most of the major civil rights struggles in the Black Belt during the 1960’s.He was a partner in the firm of Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders, Pettaway & Campbell, LLC, along with State Senator Hank Sanders. He is survived by his wife, Vivian, three daughters, three sons, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I am saddened that he did not live long enough to see Barack Obama win the Presidency in a few weeks, but it cannot be disputed that he fought long enough, and hard enough, for any three people.Alvin Benn’s obituary of Chestnut in The Montgomery Advertiser is here.His obituary in The New York Times can be read here.Those unfamiliar with Mr. Chestnut’s remarkable story would do well to take the time to study both. Requiescat in pace.
If Al Gore had taken the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2001, Sheryll Cashin might be sitting on the Supreme Court right now. The 2000 election is water under the bridge, but Sheryll Cashin is still doing good by doing well and will be in Huntsville on August 9th to talk about (and autograph?) her new book The Agitator's Daughter.
The book is Cashin's memoir to her "emotional inheritance," the dedication to political activism that has coursed through her family for generations. During Reconstruction, Herschel V. Cashin was a radical republican legislator who championed black political enfranchisement throughout the South. His grandson, Dr. John L. Cashin, Jr., inherited that passion for social justice and founded an independent Democratic party to counter George Wallace's Dixiecrats, electing more blacks to office than in any Southern state. His "uppity" ways attracted many enemies. The IRS pursued him, as did the FBI. Ultimately, his passions would lead him to ruin and leave his daughter, Sheryll, wondering why he would risk so much.
The process of political emancipation, begun by Herschel, eroded by Jim Crow, and revived in the era of Civil Rights is the lifeblood of the Cashin family. It is a complicated, often troublesome inheritance, one that Sheryll herself comes gradually to embrace and understand as she acknowledges being an agitator's daughter, with humor, honesty, and love.
On Saturday, August 9th, 2008 Sheryll Cashin will be at the Fellowship Presbyterian Church (3406 Meridian St. N, Huntsville, AL). The event is sponsored by the Felicia A. Gardner Book Mongers Club. Call (256) 539-2418 for information.
Since our own Rep. Artur Davis is on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, God willing and the creek don't rise, he'll be there when torture lawyer John Yoo is questioned.
That's right! An anonymous source has told The Raw Story that John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who wrote the Torture Memos will testify before the House Judiciary Committee. The memos which gave carte blanche to human rights violations and laughed in the face of the Geneva Conventions have now been repudiated at DoJ though damned if the U.S. Attorney General will hold the Republican Freak Show accountable which is just another form of corruption (to throw Mukasey’s words in his face). Here’s a link to the committee members in case you want to suggest questions.
Davis' presence will be a refreshing switch from the obsequious, Bush-booty kissing that Sen. Jeff Sessions does. Tear Yoo up, Artur, for all the citizens of Alabama who know torture is wrong and are mad about Yoo.
At Scott Horton’s lecture on politics and the Alabama media, former U.S. Assistant Attorney Deirdre Brown Fleming told of her experience with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. Fleming prevailed in an EEOC case against Martin. According to Fleming, Martin fired her for being “uppety” (which racists cannot abide in a black person).
Martin testified at a deposition and lied under oath. The judge said Martin's testimony was "not worthy of credence."
(Progressivism requires action to achieve real progress. Lip service isn't enough. - promoted by mooncat)
That's right, I said it, "Cancel the MLK Holiday." Coming from a left-leaning Democrat? You bet. Today is the date of birth of the most influential instruments of social change and human rights our nation has known. And it's been mentioned sparingly--quickly, mid-sentence, in passing--in the mainstream media. NBC 13 in B'ham did a 30 second blurb on it. The Birmingham News had no mention of it today that I could find--God, if I missed it the e-mails will come pouring in, so I guess I'm asking for it.
Let's honor Dr. King and do away with this mockery of a "holiday" on Monday. If his birthday is not worthy of our attention on the actual date, why is it suddenly important six days later?
Want to honor Dr. King? Go to work on Monday, Congress. Reach across the aisle to help more minorities gain access to health care. Let the Alabama Legislature debate how to ensure that the black grandmother's vote in Hale County is counted every bit as much as a wealthy white man's vote in Mobile. And so you don't think I'm just another mushy white liberal, I'm not letting you brothers off the hook either: STOP KILLING EACH OTHER IN BIRMINGHAM AT RECORD RATES. Seriously, give it a shot (no pun intended). Try honoring Dr. King by having no incidents of black-on-black homicide from sundown Friday to midnight Tuesday morning.
Prayer breakfasts at black churches--attended by politicians who fail to take any real action to help minorities--don't impress me. Tangible action impresses me. And just for kicks, go to the NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus websites and see if there's any mention of today being King's birthday. Go ahead, I'll wait.....told ya!
Cancel the "3rd Monday MLK Day" farce and get to work instead. Help the intelligent, able, and ambitious black community--one in four Alabamians--achieve the greatness I know they're capable of.
Two Truthout articles caught my eye today which seem to define the times in which we live. The first was an article first published in The Boston Globe describing how Bush manuvered to stack the Civil Rights Commission with conservatives. Bush appointed a 5th and 6th Republican on the panel who reregistered as Independants. Read more about the dirty deed here:
The next article that caught my eye was "Values of a Dysfuncional Family" by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III. He talks about how the term "family values" has been hijacked by the "Christian policital right". You can read all about it here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110707S.shtml
Many years ago I was driving home at dusk. Suddenly, blue lights appeared in the rear-view mirror. I was driving the speed limit, and had not run a stop sign or red light, so I pulled over, thinking that the officer would go on around in pursuit of someone else. Much to my chagrin, the blue lights pulled right in behind me. But this was more than 20 years ago, so I did not expect anything untoward (after all, I was not doing anything wrong!). I got my driver's license out, rolled the window down, and sat there with my hands at the top of the steering wheel. The trooper walked up, politely asked for my license after I politely asked him what I could do for him, and then asked me if I knew my left tail light was out (might have been right, but he certainly asked about the specific light). As it happened, I had replaced the turn signal bulb on that side a few days before so I knew that at that time the tail light was working. I told the trooper that. We had a short conversation about fuses blowing, and which circuit which bulb was on. He issued a warning citation, and said, "Please replace that bulb as soon as you can, Sir, and have a nice evening." Then we went our separate ways. I replaced the bulb a few days later. I think it lasted till we got rid of the car.
Ava has a new video at Peace Takes Courage. You should go watch it, particularly if these Dog Days of Summer are getting you down, what with Congress authorizing more wiretapping without warrants, the White House actually writing the Petraeus report and an end to the civil war in Iraq looking further away instead of nearer.
The crowd of about 75 people was an interesting mix of races, professions, and ages. The crowd included people active in the Civil Rights movement, Scottsboro police officers (in uniform) who dropped by to pay their respects, Scottsboro city leaders, a large contingent of ministers from North Alabama, and more. (Including three Left in Alabama bloggers and our guest.)
His granddaughter shared personal remembrances of her grandfather and described the hate mail and threats he received (from people on both sides of the issue) during the trial. Judge Horton never thought he'd done anything particularly extraordinary, she said:
It likewise illustrated the power of this fear to override evidence and reason in the determination of guilt and innocence. 
I think it would be remiss if this blog didn’t take some note of the passing of J.L. Chestnut, Jr., of Selma.
If Al Gore had taken the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2001, 
