Lauren Victoria Burke
+ FollowCBC Will Kick Off Voter Protection Tour in March
Politic365 has learned that The Congressional Black Caucus will launch a multi-city “voter protection” tour that will kick-off the weekend of March 3rd near the 47th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”
“We intend to launch our voter protection tour, which will consist of field hearings and community gatherings, during the same weekend as the annual pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).
Each year, the Faith and Politics Institute holds a Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama. The weekend includes a tour of historic civil rights sites and ends with a walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. It has been attended over the years by 150 members of Congress including several Republicans. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) is the Pilgrimage’s Chairman. This year the twelve year-old event begins on March 2.
“We think that what John Lewis and others did at the Edmund Pettus [Bridge] is still very relevant in light of what we are dealing with now in terms of the seemingly organized effort to reduce minority participation in the upcoming election,” Cleaver added.
Cleaver confirmed the tour will kickoff that weekend of the annual pilgrimage.
On March 7, 1965, John Lewis led 700 protest marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. When the marchers stopped to pray after police ordered them to disperse, they were tear-gassed and beaten by Alabama State Troopers in an incident now known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis’ skull was fractured in the clash.
The CBC voter protection tour will consist of about 10 cities. The cities most likely to be stops on the tour are Atlanta, Cleveland and Dallas. By filing time, Cleaver did not wish to confirm locations just yet. CBC Member Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) did confirm that one of the stops will be in Florida, a key battleground state during the 2012 Presidential race.
Interestingly enough, Wilson’s Republican colleague in the CBC, Rep. Allen West (R-FL), told Politic365 that he did not attend the meeting where this was discussed and was not aware of the plans.
The CBC will team up with the NAACP for the tour and one major sponsor that will be named in the near future.
“Every black elected official around the country and in the area is where we are going to stop. We are not able to announce it today but we will have at least one major partner,” Cleaver told Politic365.
Republican legislatures around the country have altered state voter laws over the last year. Many say the changes have more to do with suppressing the turnout of minority voters and low income Americans than with preventing fraud. Republican controlled legislatures in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio have cut the number of days citizens can vote early; West Virginia’s state legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, has also cut the number of days for early voting. Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott reduced early voting from 14 days to 8 and Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich reduced the early voting days from 35 to 16.
Last October the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University released a study on the new voter ID laws that stated that “as many as many as 10% of eligible voters do not have, and will not get, the documents required by strict voter ID laws.” The study also indicated that 5 million voters could be impacted by the new laws.
Because of past discrimination, new voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina are required to undergo what’s called “pre-clearance” review by the Department of Justice. The Justice Department blocked a new voter ID law in South Carolina on December 21st saying it discriminated against minority voters.
The CBC has met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus regarding partnering in some way on the voter protection/voter suppression tour. As of this time no formal plans with the CHC have been set.
The CBC had a five city “Jobs for the People” tour in August of 2011 that gained national attention and reportedly secured nearly 3,000 jobs for attendees.
LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE, Politic365 Chief Congressional Correspondent, publishes the blog Crewof42 on the Congressional Black Caucus. She is heard every Tuesday on WMCS 1290 in Milwaukee on Earl Ingram’s show The Evening Rush as well as on WHUR and WPFW in Washington DC. You can follow her on twitter at @crewof42
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5 Responses to CBC Will Kick Off Voter Protection Tour in March
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@KatMcKinley
We appear to have arrived at the point now in politics where people ignore facts in favor of emotions. No matter how many facts there are and (non-partisan) studies that are released you continue to ignore the basic research in the public sector in favor of "feelings" and rants. Have you actually read the Brennan Report(s)? http://www.brennancenter.org/.Above are your personal "theories" to which you have every right to express. But then there is life in reality: Go watch this video from Wisconsin: http://youtu.be/x0G01zbHGM8. And then ask me why there shouldn't be a voter protection/education effort.
Yes (some) states "provide" an ID. Not all. It is not free in all states. Perhaps $28 in WI for example? So you have to pay to vote in America? And in Texas, a gun license ID is good but some college IDs are not. Same in Georgia.
And would you like to explain to all our dear readers why the days citizens can vote were shortened in several states? What does that have to do with ID or fraud? Why was Sunday voting ended in Florida? Wisconsin? What does shortening the number of voting days have to do with fraud? Are we making it easier to vote or harder?
Do spare me the tour of your Civil Rights bona fides. If you knew your own history — American history — and you viewed it unvarnished for what it is on a basic fact based level — you'd approach this subject with the general knowledge and understanding that our history includes a lengthy tour of systematic discrimination of African American voters. Women could not vote until 1920. That's modern American history. It is against that backdrop that Rep. Steny Hoyer called the new laws "a poll tax by any other name."
You can go on eBay right now and buy an authentic poll tax receipt from the 1930s and 1940s. Rev. Cleaver had an uncle from Texas who never voted. I understand not all of our basic history is not taught in schools. I understand it's painful to look in the face of. But at least Netflix Eyes on the Prize before you assume people undertake actions based on maintaining a political "narrative" — a conclusion for which you have zero proof.
How about taking a deep breath and considering that others may have had a slightly different experience in this great country of ours than yours.
lauren victoria burke
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Are they just ignoring the fact that all studies show that in the states of Indiana and Georgia where voter ID had been implemented, there has been NO voter suppression of minorities or poor. In fact, voter turnout INCREASED. Lawsuits were dismissed of suppression claims because the plaintiffs were unable to produce a single individual, much less “millions” of voters, who would be unable to vote because of the requirement to show a photo ID. In addition, all of the states provide a free photo ID to anyone who can’t afford one. So, this is only a show to continue the false narrative that Republicans want to suppress votes. Shame on you Lauren, for being a part of it.
You know what really makes me mad??? I am a child of integration. I have a deep love for civil rights, and a great admiration for all the civil rights leaders who sacrificed SO much for the equality and betterment of the black community. And here we are, with so many in the black community suffering in so many ways, and what do these so called leaders do??? They kick off a tour on something that isn't even an issue. A waste of time to just continue a false narrative for political points. It does a great disservice to the black community and they should be ashamed. If they truly believe the false narrative, then they should educate themselves on the issue, and then get back to work on easing the suffering, especially in the inner city.