K.I.S.S. Guide to Understanding the Voting Rights Act
and it’s Importance This Year
Ignorance is NOT bliss. Ignorance is self sabotage. ~Ms. Tee
Join my friend Zoeboy and I as we attempt to discuss issues that affect the Black community and our world.
Tee says:
Ok so whats going on with the voting rights act thing? First of all.. What is the Voting Rights Act I keep hearing about? Explain it simply for me.
ZoeBoy says:
After the Cival Rights Act was passed, congress and President Johnson felt that the southern states would do all they can to keep blacks from voting. (Rember, Dr. King and others fought to the death for this key right). The southern states were passing laws saying that you had to pay a poll tax to vote, and that you had to be literate to an extent…all these laws were hinderances to many blacks.
ZoeBoy says:
So congress and President Johnson along with other Cival Rights leaders worked on and passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The act made many of those practices illegal, and also made provisions for states to draw boundries that would give blacks a chance to have their vote count.
Tee says:
Ok. So…………..
ZoeBoy says:
So…Blacks tend live in clusters, near other blacks, the Act made those clusters indivudual voting districts that could vote for their own representatives…
Tee says:
Ok….
ZoeBoy says:
Blacks tend to vote democratic, that’s not secret…it’s a problem for Republicans….if it wasn’t for the Voting Rights Act, Republicans would redraw voting districts to “drown” out the black vote. example: a black district of 50,000 blacks always vote democratic, but if you redrew their districts so that they were included in a 200,000 rebublican white district, it wouldn’t matter…If all 50,000 blacks voted democratically, they would be drowned out by all the republican votes.
ZoeBoy says:
Well recently…Southern state republicans tried to pass a bill to do away with the Voting Rights Act. They said it was no longer needed that they were unfairly targeted, and that things are different now. They said that the people should trust them not to redraw the districts unfairly.
ZoeBoy says:
Well the bill was given it’s last extenstion for 25 years by the president who warned that this would be the last time.
Tee says:
Ohh shit! For real?
ZoeBoy says:
yes
Tee says:
So that means that once the Act is removed then our voice will be drowned out?
ZoeBoy says:
It’s already happened. If any of your readers are from Texas (one of the states which under the Act, have to have permission to redraw districts), they probaly know about the recent victory in the supreme court over the districts they redrew that essentially eliminated an entire black district .
ZoeBoy says:
You know what was ironic about that, they don’t target hispanic voters, who are minorities also, because they vote republican too.
Tee says:
But as minorities who are most often not inclined to vote anyway, I have to ask, will the dissolution of this act really make a difference or is it a smokescreen to make us feel like we have a voice when we really don’t?
ZoeBoy says:
Yes the black vote does count!
ZoeBoy says:
Think about it in a black district if 1% of the people vote, they still voted that 1% still gets to elect their own representative. I don’t care if 1 single black votes…that vote counts for that district…does that make sense?
Tee says:
Yes it does. So tell me, what is the current situation with the districts?
ZoeBoy says:
excellent question!
ZoeBoy says:
The issue is the November elections coming up which will proceed the next Presidential elections. Republicans know that they don’t look good right now with all these scandals and war problems…it’s a boost for democrats. If they lose a district to the democrats, then it WILL affect the vote for the presidency next year. They’re getting ready for battle, and trying every underhand scheme to win. The fact they tried to do away with the Voting Rights act is unbelievable!
ZoeBoy says:
And what’s even worse is that the President gave us an insight into what to expect…that in another 25 years, this Act will be revisited.
Tee says:
Damn… What can we do about it?
ZoeBoy says:
Vote gottdamit! I don’t care if you vote republican, democrat, independant…just vote.
ZoeBoy says:
There are law makers who feel that if you have to take a casualty it has to be with the black vote, cause they don’t vote anyway…
ZoeBoy says:
You can’t depend on them, you can take their voices away and you know what, they won’t even notice…blacks have to rely on other watch dogs to protect their interests… The republicans took that chance and lost but they won’t give up.
Tee says:
Why? Is it because they feel powerless to affect change and seek to remain ignorant rather than recognize their lack of power?
ZoeBoy says:
I’m not really sure, I know speaking as a proffessional, that the majority of blacks live at the poverty line in groups (innercities and ghettos) and because of that, everything around them has no value…nothing for them to be concerned about.
ZoeBoy says:
Example:
No property value in the hood, so the neighborhood schools can’t raise enough money to give it’s students a good education. Can’t get a loan for any damn thing, so you don’t have any assets or investments to be concerned about, because you make to little. Drug dealing everywhere…etc. All these downfalls are the exact reasons people vote for…they vote to keep these interests’ skewed to their favor.
Tee says:
Huh?
ZoeBoy says:
If there is nothing of value within sight of you, nothing that you have an economic interest in, you don’t really have a motivation to vote for actions concerning those things…cause it appears to not affect you.
Tee says:
Do you feel there’s any possible way to motivate those in that situation to change their minds about voting and if they do… can it really help?
ZoeBoy says:
The only way to motivate them is to give them a reason to vote, I don’t care if it’s just a ploy, make them see that it does work. You know what I would do? I would put a bill on the ballot that said if you lived in a high crime area like the ghetto, you would have to pay an additional $500 dollars in insurance, and if you didn’t pay you would get a boot on your car permanently.
ZoeBoy says:
That’ll motivate they ass to vote!
ZoeBoy says:
lol
Tee says:
lol
ZoeBoy says:
It wouldn’t be real of course, but I gaurantee a lot of the eligible voters would be standing at the voting poll 30min before it opened to cast their “hell fuck naw” vote
Tee says:
You are a mess. I can’t wait until you start your own blog. Until then… You’re always welcome here on Share My World- Miami
ZoeBoy says:
Peace in the hood!