Voters Guide2014

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The New Tri-State Defender 2014 Voter Education Guide

FEDERAL AND STATE REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION AND SHELBY COUNTY GENERAL ELECTION SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE

AUGUST 7

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To vote or not to vote?

When the executive editor of The New Tri-State Defender learned that I would vote for the very first time in the Aug. 7th election, he declared me the “perfect” summer intern for the assignment of identifying and talking with two eighteen year olds with nearly polar opposite views of participating in the electoral process.

My conversations with Taira Boltze and El’Keenan T. Liggins are the fruits of my journey of discovery.

– Nitoria M. Itson-Alexander

In recent elections, no ‘effective change in the city’

Candidates with ‘righteousness, braveness and willingness’

by Nitoria M. Itson-Alexander

by Nitoria M. Itson-Alexander

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

El’Keenan T. Liggins is old enough to vote on Aug. 7th, but he has chosen to take a pass on that opportunity.

“I really don’t see the need to (register),” said Liggins, 18.

And while the 2014 graduate of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School is clearly among the young, voting-age Memphians who are disaffected, he offers a view of what he thinks it will take for increased numbers of young adults to develop faith in the voting process.

Young people, said Liggins, would be responsive to candidates who hear their concerns and show some real compassion.

Nitoria M. Itson-Alexander: What do you expect to gain from the candidates or what do you think they should bring El’Keenan T. Liggins to the table?

El’Keenan T. Liggins: I think the candidates should bring effective ideas to the table. In recent elections, there has not been any effective change in the city. The candidates tell the community the bright ideas they have for the city but through their time in office, the ideas are not being put into effect. If a candidate says they are going to make a positive impact on the community, then they should.

NMIA: How do you plan on determining your vote?

ETL: If I (decided) to vote, it would be because a candidate has persuaded me in the areas I look for. I would have to formulate the real reason he or she has run for this position. “Are they trying to acquire this position for scandal and corruption?” (That) would be the focus question. Additionally, he or she must have provided previous examples of great things they have done for Memphis.

Taira H. Boltze has taken all the steps needed to do something on Aug. 7th that she never has done before – vote.

Boltze, 18, will cast her first ballot in the Federal and State Primary and Shelby County General Election. She places herself among the first-time teenage voters who are observing candidates closely, probing for strengths and weaknesses.

The 2014 Millington Central High School grad registered at the school. Yes, she has her voter’s registration card and she knows where to go to join the voting public.

Nitoria M. Itson-Alexander: What do you expect to gain from the candidates or what do you think they should bring to the table?

Taira H. Boltze Taira H. Boltze: I think the candidates should bring righteousness, braveness and willingness to the table. They should also provide us with better intentions and decisions on making our home a better and safer environment for us to live in and for those who visit.

NMIA: How do you plan on determining your vote?

THB: I plan on determining my vote by acknowledging the qualities that each and every candidate has. For example, what are the positive aspects they have provided for the community? Have they been involved in the community, are they still? Or are they giving false hopes…

NMIA: What do you think is a serious problem or problems in Memphis that politicians need to really focus on?

ETL: An area I believe that should be focused on would be jobs in Memphis. As a high school graduate, it is very hard to find a good-paying job in Memphis. Most jobs require you some have some college education. For some of us, we would need a job to help pay for college. To solve that problem in Memphis, the city should bring a theme park. It would give a plethora of teenagers jobs throughout the school year and summer.

It would also bring money into the city from its own residents and also visitors.

NMIA: What do you think is a serious problem or problems in Memphis that politicians need to really focus on?

THB: We have a horrible ongoing financial situation in Memphis that needs to be solved. We don’t have any entertainment in Memphis to bring money in Memphis and that might be the leading cause to the situation. Teenagers and adults complain about the living situation in Memphis. There is not (a) source of strong income.

As teenagers and young children, we had the pleasure of spending time at Libertyland on the weekends, school breaks, and summers. In addition, we had the Mid-South Fair, which was also taken away. The limited entertainment we have now is too expensive.

For example, the movie theater, the price has sky rocketed from $7.50 to $10 in the last couple of years. How are people going to be able to afford that with financial difficul-

Please see ELECTIONS on page 5

Please see CANDIDATES on page 5

THE BUSINESS OF POLITICS

VOTING RIGHTS MILESTONES

Candidates need money to market and promote themselves to the voters See Page 4

The struggle for voting rights in America See Page 5

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The business of politics A peek down the money trail

by Carlee McCullough Special to The New Tri-State Defender

For many people, campaign season is simply about the election of a particular candidate to a particular office. However, for entrepreneurs it is a peak season for business.

Campaigns need money to be successful.

What happens to those campaign funds is, in part, a report card on who the candidates choose to do business with and the goods and services being purchased. Legally required campaign disclosure statements detail the receipts and distributions for all to see.

Candidates need money to market and promote themselves to the voters. So, where does the money go?

Designers & printers To get the word out candidates spend money on tools to promote their name and message. The designer and the printer are usually the businesses that start the campaign spending.

Before any material is printed or a sign

is placed, the promotional tions of the candidate and material has to be designed. the platform. The graphic The graphic designer is the designer lays out all of the major pit stop on the road to information on the campaigning. On the street brochures, post cards, pamwe are seeing every conceivphlets, yard signs, etc. Then able color combination and the file is sent to the printer. font usage. The designer One of the most popular brings the ideas to life with ways to promote name recogstrategic placement of names, nition is through the use of slogans and colors. yard signs. The placement of Once the printer receives the signs in yards not only profile, the presses start to roll. motes name recognition but The candidate’s name, image Carlee McCullough also shows candidate support. and likeness will be plastered Large signs strategically on a wide range of items, including business placed at busy intersections also are tools cards, post cards, yard signs and brochures. used to increase the community’s recogniThe sizes are varied and so is the material tion of the candidate’s name. that is used on the signs. Printers typically Political websites provide an avenue for are party neutral and work for all candidates. candidates to explain their experience, qualifications and platform for the office Campaign tools they are seeking to fill. Many websites also allow people to contribute funds elecBrochures, post cards and pamphlets are tronically. tools used to get the candidate’s message Depending on how much money is out to the community. Usually the voter raised, some candidates are able to obtain gets a little information on the qualificaradio spots and television commercials.

Television allows voters to see and hear the candidate. It is by far the most expensive line item for candidates. Radio advertising is extremely popular and more affordable than television.

Alongside commercials, billboards can be a costly endeavor. They can be highly effective, if placed on major highways and thoroughfares. Billboard location is critical and also affects the pricing.

Affecting the receipts side If you are passionate about an issue and/or an individual candidate, consider affecting the receipts side of the business of politics with a contribution to a candidate or two or three.

No donation is too small. Take it from someone who has experienced a campaign from several different sides, all donations are appreciated. Small donations add up.

(Contact Carlee McCullough, Esq., at 5308 Cottonwood Road, Suite 1A, Memphis, TN 38118, or email her at jstce4all@aol.com.)

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Voting Rights Milestones In essence, the struggle for voting rights in America over the past two centuries has been a two-part battle. The first part was to win citizenship rights for people of color. The second part was to win voting rights for all citizens regardless of gender, economic status, race, or national origin.

that only "free white" immigrants can become naturalized citizens. Since "white" is defined as pure European ancestry, this effectively prevents immigrants from anywhere else (or immigrants of mixed-race ancestry) from becoming naturalized citizens.

And under the myth that Native-Americans are "citizens" of their "sovereign" Indian "nations" (meaning the reservations), they cannot be citizens of the United States. Therefore, Indians cannot vote.

1776: Abigail Adams asks the Continental Congress to support women's rights.

Her husband John Adams ridicules her request and vows to fight the “Despotism of the petticoat.”

1788-1856: Struggle to remove property restrictions.

1776-1828: Struggle to remove religious restrictions Between the first Continental Congress in 1776 and adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 the former colonies evolved into states, some of which barred Jews, Quakers, Catholics, and other "heretics," from voting or holding office. The 1778 Constitution of South Carolina, for example, stated that "No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion." The Delaware Constitution of 1776 stated that: "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall ... also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."

When the new United States Constitution is adopted in 1787 (see below), Article VI prohibits religion restrictions: "... but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." But struggles to remove the pre-existing religious bars continue through the early 1800s, with Maryland finally extending voting rights to Jews in 1828.

1787: U.S. Constitution Adopted.

In the debates over adopting the U.S. Constitution there are bitter arguments over who should be allowed to vote. In particular, the slave-states insist that only white males be al-

ELECTIONS continued from page 3 NMIA: Do you think that you are under the belief that nothing will change under new politicians?

ETL: I believe things can possibly change under the right politicians. They must have outstanding qualities, such as honesty, compassion and leadership. He or she will always be honest with their community, which will restore faith from the citizens.

lowed to vote, yet they simultaneously demand that their Black slaves be counted when figuring up how many members of Congress each state is entitled to.

The Constitutional Convention cannot agree on any national voting-rights standard so they leave it up to each individual state. This results in an absurd system whereby the Federal government determines who can be a citizen for the nation as a whole, but each individual state determines which of their citizens have the right to vote.

Most of the states decree that only white males are eligible to vote, and most limit the vote to those white males who own a certain amount of property. (In other words, if you're an apprentice, or a renter, or homeless, you can't vote.) Since only a small minority of white males own enough property to qualify, the great majority of the population is denied the vote. By some estimates, less than 5% of the population are eligible to vote in the election of 1800.

Secondly, one must have strong compassion for their city. A proud Memphian will bring in great things for their city and uplift their city. Lastly, leadership would be the key description of a great politician. Memphis needs strong-minded people in office that can handle anything that is thrown at them. They should lead this community in the right direction….which is forward.

Memphis has become less enthusiastic because everything is leaving Memphis.

Politicians that are needed for Memphis would have to build strong connections with people who will want to bring amaz-

(Note that under the original Constitution the only Federal office anyone could directly vote for was Congressman because the President was elected by the Electoral College, and Senators were appointed by the state governments. We still cannot directly vote for the President, which is why Bush occupied the White House in 2000 even though Gore received at least 500,000 more votes.)

For 68 years there are struggles and movements in the various states to remove the property restrictions on the right to vote. These battles are often bitter and occasionally violent.

In the state elections of 1821, for example, three out of four New York City males do not meet the property requirement and can not vote (women, of course, can not vote at all no matter how rich they are). Over the next few years an intense and eventually successful political struggle is waged to remove all property requirements for male voters. But only for white males.

The voting requirement for free Black men is actually raised. The result is that out of 12,500 free Black men in New York City, only 60 are able to vote in the election of 1826.

1820-1865: Abolition movement to end slavery.

1790: Citizenship limited to "whites."

The first African slaves are brought to North American in 1619 (a year before the arrival of the Mayflower). Resistance begins immediately with intermittent slave uprisings and frequent escapes. Often the escaped slaves join Indian tribes who fight to defend tribal homelands against white encroachment and expansion of the slave system.

Political opposition to slavery among whites in the northern states begins to coalesce in the early 1820s. With the founding of the American Anti-Slave Society in 1833, a broad, inter-racial political movement committed to ending slavery commences — openly in the northern states, clandestinely in the south. This "Abolition

The 1790 Naturalization Law explicitly states

Please see MILESTONES, page 6

1777-1807: Women lose the right to vote in all states.

The states of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, which had previously allowed women to vote rescind those rights. After 1807, no state allows women to vote.

ing things to Memphis.

NMIA: What would be your solution to restore young people’s faith in politics?

ETL: My solution to restore faith in politics in young people would be to give them some sense of hope. Listen to their ideas, and make an effort to address their problems.

Many believe young people do not have a sense of the real world, but through observation young people have a grown to understand the concept of the “real world.”

CANDIDATES continued from page 3 ties?

Another problem will be the job opportunities, which tie into the entertainment cost. With the scarce number of job opportunities and those that do choose to hire, people are barely making a living. They can’t possibly pay for the outrageous cost of the little entertainment we have after paying bills.

Page 6 MILESTONES continued from page 5 Movement" grows in size and intensity and is met with increasingly violent opposition from slave-holders and slave states. Abolitionists are arrested, beaten, and murdered; their homes are burned and their presses destroyed.

But within the Abolition Movement, there are bitter disagreements regarding the future of freed slaves. Some favor full citizenship, including the right to vote, others advocate some form of 2nd-class citizenship without voting rights.

Many want to expel freed slaves and send them "back" to Africa (though, of course, the vast majority of slaves have been born in America). In opposition to the Anti-Slave Society, these "colonizers" form the American Colonization Society, which sends 20,000 former slaves to Africa, where they carve out the nation of Liberia.

1836: Texas denies vote to Mexicans.

After revolting from Mexico in 1836, the short-lived Republic of Texas denies citizenship (and the right to own property) to anyone who had not supported the revolution. All non-Anglos are assumed to be part of that category — even those who had fought for the revolution.

When Texas is admitted to the union as a slave-state in 1845, the Mexicans remaining in Texas are granted U.S. citizenship and propertyrights by the Federal government — in theory.

But Mexican-Americans who try to independently vote face widespread beatings, burnings, and lynchings — except in cases where large landowners force their employees to vote as a group under supervision of their foremen who ensure that they all vote for the owner's preferred candidates.

After the Civil War, the methods used in Texas and other southern states to deny voting rights to Blacks are also applied to MexicanAmericans.

1848: Mexican-Americans are denied voting rights in the southwest.

Under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ends the Mexican-American war, Mexicans who remain in the new territories conquered by the U.S. are supposed to become full U.S. citizens according to legislation that Congress is supposed to pass.

For California, that legislation takes the form of admitting it to the union as a free-state in 1850. While technically U.S. citizens, MexicanAmericans in both Texas and California are denied the vote through violence and state "voter eligibility" laws. (In other words, in regards to voting there are similarities between the situations faced by Mexican-Americans and "free" Blacks.)

The territories of Arizona and New Mexico, however, are not admitted to the union as states until 1912. During the 64 years between the signing of the treaty and statehood, MexicanAmericans in those territories are held in a kind of non-citizen legal limbo without voting rights and where their civil rights can be (and often are) easily violated. During the period of tranistion from Mexican to U.S. governance, all disputed claims and laws related to land, water, and livestock are resolved by judges and politicians who are exclusively elected by the white settlers who are disputing grants and deeds dating back

The New Tri-State Defender 2014 Voter Education Guide to the Mexican and Spanish eras. In some cases settlment of these disputes take generations and many Mexican-Americans believe that the long delay in granting them voting rights is directly connected to the fortunes at stake.

1848-1920: Women's Suffrage Movement.

In 1848 the first Women's Rights Convention is held in Seneca Falls, NY. It demands that women be granted all rights as full citizens including the right to vote.

For the next 72 years women — and some male supporters — speak out, petition, lobby, sue, protest, march, and engage in civil-disobedience, for the right to vote. They brave beatings, mob attacks, rape, jail, seizure and destruction of property, forced-divorce (and consequent loss of children), forced-feeding of hunger strikers, and murder, to fight for their right to be full citizens.

1850: Asian immigration.

With the California gold rush, Asian immigration becomes significant for the first time, mostly in the West. Under the "whites-only" clause of the 1790 Naturalization Law, Asian immigrants cannot be citizens — but what about their children born in America? Government officials try to avoid this "problem" by preventing Asian women from coming ashore. Many are sent back, but some avoid detection and manage to get off the ship. And some Asian men marry women of other races — some of whom are citizens — what happens when their boys reach age 21?

1856: Property restrictions removed.

The last state to finally eliminate the property qualification is North Carolina in 1856.

1861-1865: Civil War and Emancipation.

The struggle against slavery eventually leads to bloody Civil War. 360,000 Union soldiers — Black and white — die to defeat slavery. That is 130 out of every 10,000 persons in the Northern states. (For comparison, deaths in the Vietnam War numbered 3 out of every 10,000.)

The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the 13th Amendment (1865) eventually end slavery as a legal concept (though the actual treatment of share-croppers, tenant farmers, and plantation laborers continues to closely resemble slavery in all but the legal formalities).

But it is still left to individual states to determine who is eligible to vote. Some Northern states extend the vote to Blacks — but most states do not.

1867: 14th Amendment extends citizenship to Blacks.

Under the 14th Amendment all states are required to recognize Black (and white) males as citizens.

But for the first time women of all races are explicitly excluded in the Constitution from full citizenship in regards to voting.

1868: Women petition that womens' suffrage be included in the draft 15th Amendment.

The men of Congress deny their petition.

1870: 15th Amendment extends vote to Blacks.

Adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870 extends voting rights to Black males — in theory.

In reality, there is massive resistance to the intent of the 15th Amendment, particularly in the Southern states, but also in the North and Midwest. Violence and economic reprisal are used to intimidate and prevent Black men from voting.

The 15th Amendment does not apply to Native-Americans or Asians because they cannot be citizens. Similarly, it does not apply to Mexican-Americans in New Mexico and Arizona because they live in territories that are not yet states. While legally eligible to vote in Texas and California, Mexican-Americans are still denied the vote through violence and economic retaliation.

1867-1877: Reconstruction.

During the Reconstruction period hundreds of thousands of Black men risk their lives and property to vote, and many are elected to office.

In fact, for a period in the late 1860s more African-Americans are registered to vote than whites in the states of the former Confederacy.

1877: End of reconstruction, abandonment of 15th Amendment.

Because of widespread cheating on both sides, the vote-count and outcome of the 1876 presidential election between Hayes the Republican and Tilden the Democrat is bitterly disputed — particularly the count in the state of Florida. In the end, all disputed counts are resolved by a special committee appointed by Congress. Republicans outnumber Democrats on the committee by 8 to 7. All disputes are decided in favor of the Republicans by a vote of 8 to 7. Hayes is declared the winner even though most impartial observers believe that Tilden won the popular vote.

It is widely understood that there's a backroom deal with the Democrats who represent the overwhelming majority of white voters in the South. In return for the Democrats accepting Hayes' victory, the Republicans promise that Hayes will remove the troops and officials who have been providing at least some limited protection to Blacks in the South. And that the new Hayes administration will cease enforcing the 15th Amendment and other civil rights laws.

This deal becomes known as the "Compromise of 1877." The "compromise" being that the Republicans retain power in Washington while white-racists throughout the country are given free reign to oppress and persecute non-whites.

Hayes takes office, the troops and officials are removed. Civil rights enforcement ends: Reign of terror. The Ku Klux Klan and other racist terrorist organizations increase their attacks against African-Americans. Blacks are expelled from office. African-American males who try to vote are fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, beaten, and in many cases brutally lynched. Black property owners are burned out, Black businesses destroyed, and entire African-American towns are wiped out.

Legal disenfranchisement. New state laws are passed to sabotage and render ineffective the 15th Amendment. Among these are the socalled "Literacy Tests" that make it impossible for non-whites to register, and "Grandfatherclauses" that restrict voting rights to those men whose grandfathers had been eligible to vote — a requirement that descendants of slaves cannot possibly meet.

Poll taxes. Many states impose taxes on voting. Anyone — Black or white — who cannot afford to pay the tax cannot vote. Since the taxes are high and have to be paid in cash, voting is thus limited to affluent white males. In effect, this restores a property requirement for voting.

Segregation laws. Laws mandating separation of the races in education, government services, public facilities & accommodations, restrooms, transportation, drinking fountains

www.tsdmemphis.com and so on are passed throughout the South and Midwest. Known as the "Jim Crow" system, their goal is to force African-Americans into feudal semi-slavery. The many Blacks who resist are beaten, jailed, and murdered. Similar systems are imposed in Western states against Latinos, Native-Americans, and Asians.

Within a few years most Blacks are removed from the voter registration rolls and denied the right to vote. All African-Americans who hold elected office are driven out. In Louisiana, for example, by 1900 fewer than 5,000 AfricanAmericans are registered to vote, down from a high of 130,000.

1870-1923: Asians denied citizenship.

The Naturalization Act of 1870 amends the 1790 Naturalization Law to limit citizenship to "white persons and persons of African descent."

Thus the ban preventing Asian and Latino immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens is continued.

But the wave of Asian immigration to California and other Western states in the mid-19th Century begins to weaken the "whites only" provision, particularly in regards to children who are born in the United States and are thus (presumptively) American citizens.

In 1898 the Supreme Court confirms that children of Asians who are born in the United States are automatically citizens. In response to this "yellow peril," over the following decades a series of "exclusion acts," such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and "gentlemen's agreements," and court rulings are put in place to limit (or prevent altogether) any further immigration by Asians.

As with African-Americans, Latinos, and Indians, violence, lynching, and economic retaliation are widely used against Asians whether they are citizens or not.

1878: Woman Suffrage Amendment introduced in Congress.

The amendment is introduced in 1878. It takes 42 years of courageous struggle to finally ratify it in 1920.

1890-1920: Some states grant women the right to vote.

First Wyoming, then Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, and California extend voting rights to women. Other states follow.

1913: 17th Amendment requires direct popular election of Senators.

After decades of political action and public pressure from the Populist movement, a constitutional amendment is passed requiring direct election of Senators by the people rather than Senators being appointed by state legislators.

1920: 19th Amendment extends right to vote to women.

After an epic 72-year struggle, women finally win the right to vote. But prejudice and discrimination against women candidates and officeholders continues for decades.

1924: Native-American citizenship.

Congress passes legislation extending United States citizenship to all Indians born in the United States. Many states continue to deny Native-Americans the right to vote using the same kinds of legal fictions, violence, and economic retaliation that is used to deny the vote to Blacks, Latinos, and Asians.

1942-1952: Asian citizenship rights.

In order to strengthen the U.S. military during WWII, Filipinos in the United States and the

Please see MILESTONES, page 18

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The New Tri-State Defender 2014 Voter Education Guide Downtown Early Voting Location: Shelby County Office Building, 157 Poplar Ave. 38103 Weekdays 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Saturdays 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM 20 Days Before every Election Day until 5 Days Before every Election Day AND Early Voting: July 18th - August 2th • Election Day: August 7th • Early Voting Satellite Locations To Be Determined for Each Election by Election Commission Board Weekdays 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Saturdays 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Agri-Center International Anointed Temple of Praise Baker Community Center Bellevue Baptist Church Berclair Church of Christ Bethel Church Abundant Grace Church Collierville Church of Christ Dave Wells Community Center Glenview Community Center Greater Lewis Street Baptist Church Greater Middle Baptist Church Mississippi Blvd. Church-Family Life Center Mt. Zion Baptist Church New Bethel Baptist Church Raleigh U.M. Church Refuge Church Riverside Baptist Church Shiloh Baptist Church White Station Church of Christ

7777 Walnut Grove Rd. 38120 3939 Riverdale Rd. 38141 7942 Church Rd. 38053 2000 Appling Rd. 38016 4536 Summer Ave. 38122 5586 Stage Rd. 38134 1574 Shelby Dr. 38116 575 Shelton Dr. 38017 915 Chelsea Ave. 38107 1141 S. Barksdale St. 38114 152 E. Parkway N., 38104 4982 Knight Arnold Rd. 38118 70 N. Bellevue Blvd. 38106 60 S. Parkway E., 38106 7786 Poplar Pike 38138 3295 Powers Rd. 38128 9817 Huff N Puff Rd., 38002 3560 S. Third St. 38109 3121 Range Line Rd. 38127 1106 Colonial Rd. 38117

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Page 18 MILESTONES continued from page 6 Philippine Islands are declared to be American citizens in 1942. This means that they are eligible for military service and the draft. (In 1946 this citizenship declaration is revoked by the Recision Act in order to deny Filipinos their veteran benefits, voting rights, and of course citizenship.)

To strengthen the WWII alliance with China, the Chinese Exclusion Acts are overturned in 1943.

In 1946 the exclusion acts against immigrants from the Indian subcontinent are repealed. In 1952 all remaining Asian exclusion acts are replaced by the immigration "quota system" that allows for some Asian immigration but greatly favors European immigrants.

1944: "White-only" Primaries Ruled Unconstitutional.

After the "Compromise of 1877" ends Reconstruction, most southern Blacks are denied the vote. Out of loathing for Lincoln (a Republican), fury at their defeat by the hated "Yankees" in the Civil War, and rage at Emancipation of their Black slaves, southern whites refuse to vote for any Republican for any office — ever. Thus the "Solid South" comes into being — only Democrats can be elected. White southerners proudly declare themselves "Yellow-dog Democrats," meaning that if the Democratic Party nominates a yellow dog for office they will vote for the dog before they vote for a Republican candidate.

In practical terms, the "Solid South" means that the real election is the Democratic Primary because the Democrat who wins the nominatation inevitably wins the general election. In many southern states, the white-controlled Democratic Party decrees that only whites can vote in the Democratic primary. This effectively disenfranchises the few Blacks who have managed to register to vote because they are prevented from voting in the only elections that have any meaning (the primaries).

In 1944, NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall wins Smith v. Allwright in the U.S. Supreme Court which rules that "all-white" primary elections are unconstitutional.

1945-1960: GIs fight for civil rights.

When Black, Latino, and Indian GIs return from the battlefields of WWII (and later Korea), they demand that all American citizens have the right to vote regardless of race. They had fought and died for democracy abroad, yet they cannot vote at home. (One out of every eight American GIs was an African-American; Latinos and Native-Americans also made up significant portions of the armed forces, which for the most part were organized on a segregated basis.)

On local, state, and federal levels GIs fight against the laws, customs, and oppression denying them the vote and other civil rights. Before WWII the NAACP numbered around 50,000 members, in the post-war years it swells ten times to over 500,000.

But the racists who hold economic power and political office — particularly in the U.S. Senate — are too strong. Most legislative remedies are blocked and few court cases are successful. For the most part, the GI movements are defeated and suppressed. Many GIs who had fought to free Europe from Nazi tyranny find themselves imprisoned for demanding the right to vote, and others are viciously murdered — often by police and sheriffs.

The New Tri-State Defender 2014 Voter Education Guide Yet despite a wave of repression, they do manage to eliminate the poll tax in all but 5 states. And in 1948 the armed forces are de-segregated.

1948: State laws denying the vote to Native-Americans are overturned.

In one of the post-war period's few successful legal challenges, the Federal courts overturn the last state laws (Maine, Arizona, New Mexico) that explicitly prevent Indians from voting. Violence, economic retaliation, and different kinds of legal tricks continue to be used to prevent Native-Americans from voting.

1954-1960: Early Civil Rights Movement activity.

In the early 1950s, a number of school desegregation cases are filed in the federal courts by courageous students and parents who risk life and property by opposing the segregation system. In 1954 these cases are consolidated and won with the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v Board of Education.

In 1955 and 1956 African-Americans opposed to segregation boycott the city busses in Montgomery Alabama and Tallahassee Florida.

These successful boycotts mark significant victories against segregation in the deep south.

Hundreds of voting-rights lawsuits are filed in state and federal courts. Most are either defeated, or if won they are left unenforced. But Citizenship Schools, voter education projects, and "I'm a registered voter — Are you?" campaigns begin to proliferate among African-Americans at the grass-roots level across the south.

1960-1965: Civil Rights Movement demands the right to vote.

With the explosion of the direct-action phase of the Civil Rights Movement — sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, boycotts — voting rights and segregation emerge as the two central issues, intertwined and inseparable.

Participatory direct-action organizations such as CORE, SCLC, and SNCC take the fight for voting rights and de-segregation into the deepest depths of the racist South — Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. The slogan becomes "One Man, One Vote," and instead of lawsuits the strategy is to organize people at the grass-roots to directly challenge and defy the entire "whites-only" system by demanding desegregation and the right to vote face-to-face, county-by-county, state-by-state.

Resistance to Black voter registration and defense of segregation by the KKK and White Citizens Councils is ruthless. And the entire range of law-enforcement — from the cop on the beat to FBI Headquarters in Washington — mobilizes to defend the established order. Tens of thousands of would-be voters are fired or evicted, entire tent cities have to be set up to house share-croppers thrown off their land for trying to register to vote. Hundreds, then thousands are jailed. Beatings, burnings, and economic retaliation are wide-spread. Many — the actual number has never been counted — are murdered. This resistance to civil-rights is coordinated and orchestrated by powerful political and economic interests.

But the Movement soldiers on, we bury our dead and weep for our wounded but we don't turn back. The Movement explodes in Albany, Americus, Birmingham, Bogalusa, Cambridge, Canton, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Danville, Gadsden, Gainesville, Greenwood, Greensboro, Hattiesburg, Jackson, McComb, Monroe, Montgomery, Nashville, New Orleans, Rock

Hill, Ruleville, St. Augustine, Selma, Shreveport, Tallahasse, and a thousand other towns and hamlets. It is a mass Movement of people, not lawyers or lobbyists (though they too play important roles).

1964: 24th Amendment ends poll taxes.

The 24th Amendment prohibits poll taxes in federal elections.

1964-1965: Freedom Summer and the Selma to Montgomery March During the "Freedom Summer" of 1964 close to a thousand civil rights workers of all races and backgrounds from across the country converge on Mississippi to support voting rights and confront segregation. This is followed in August by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's challenge to the whites-only Mississippi delegation at the Democratic convention in Atlantic City. The self-evident justice of that challenge is ignored by Johnson and Humphrey and the challenge is denied.

A few months later mass protests and marches begin in Selma Alabama. Thousands of African-Americans put their lives on the line by attempting to register to vote in Selma and surrounding counties. They are met with savage violence from police and Klan. They face beatings, gassing, jailings, and murder.

Mass marches in Selma, Montgomery, Demopolis, Marion, Camden and elsewhere are viciously attacked.

Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Reeb, Viola Luizzo, and Jonathan Daniels are murdered. But the people refuse to back down and the movement grows as thousands of Americans from all walks of life come to Selma in support. 25,000 people — of all races — march to the Statehouse in Montgomery Alabama, the "cradle of the Confederacy."

1965: Passage of

www.tsdmemphis.com Voting Rights Act. It takes 57 days of floor-fighting and mass protests in the streets of Washington to break the filibuster by Southern Senators determined to block the Voting Rights Act. For just the second time in history, a southern filibuster on a civilrights issue is defeated on a bitterly divided vote. The Act is passed.

Though in some respects weaker than what had been hoped for, among other provisions the Voting Rights Act: Outlaws voting phony "requirements" — such as "literacy tests," — designed to deny the vote to people based on their race or color. This applies not only to Blacks but also to Indians, Asians, and Mexican-Americans.

Authorizes the Federal government to take over registration of voters in areas where local officials have consistently denied voting rights to non-whites.

Establishes that fluency in English cannot be made a requirement for voting eligibility.

(Historical information and photo courtesy of Civil Rights Movement Veterans: www.crmvet.org)

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The New Tri-State Defender 2014 Voter Education Guide

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