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Alabama just wants to bring back the good ol' days of Jim Crow laws, that's all.
Alabama requires a photo ID in order to vote, and now they're going to shut down thirty-one DMV offices; most of which are located in counties that have a very significant black population, demographically speaking.
Alabama requires a photo ID in order to vote, and now they're going to shut down thirty-one DMV offices; most of which are located in counties that have a very significant black population, demographically speaking.
Alabama Will Close 31 DMVs — All In Counties With 75% Black Electorate
AUTHOR: SHANNON BARBER OCTOBER 1, 2015 10:26 AM
If Alabama is trying to do something about its racist image, they’re sure doing a piss-poor job. It has been reported that the state will close 31 DMV offices, all of which are located in counties where 75 percent of the electorate is African-American. Further, this announcement comes just as the 2016 election season is heating up, and only a year after they passed a strict law that requires government-issued identification– such as a driver’s license– to vote.
Reporter John Archibald of AL.com wrote a blistering missive against the proposed DMV shutdowns and called for a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the motives behind this drastic move. Archibald said:
“Because Alabama just took a giant step backward. Take a look at the 10 Alabama counties with the highest percentage of non-white registered voters. That’s Macon, Greene, Sumter, Lowndes, Bullock, Perry, Wilcox, Dallas, Hale, and Montgomery, according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. Alabama, thanks to its budgetary insanity and inanity, just opted to close driver license bureaus in eight of them.”
“Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed. Every one. But maybe it’s not racial at all, right? Maybe it’s just political. And let’s face it, it may not be either… But no matter the intent, the consequence is the same.”
I think we all know that it is both racial and political. The people behind this want to do two things: disenfranchise the black voters in those counties and keep Republicans in control, as African-Americans are well-known for overwhelmingly identifying as, and voting, Democrat.
The closing of these DMV offices combined with the new photo ID law, they are effectively keeping the people in those counties from being able to vote. Make no mistake, this isn’t about budget cuts as they claim. It is about racism.
Archibald went on to rightly point out the issues Alabama is bringing upon itself with this move, in both the legal realm and in the realm of its racist image:
“It is an affront to the very notion of justice in a nation where one man one vote is as precious as oxygen. It is a slap in the face to all who believe the stuff we teach the kids about how all are created equal.
So roll out the welcome wagon to the Justice Department, and tell the world what it already so desperately wants to hear. That Alabama is exactly what they always thought she was.
That Alabama refuses to pay for its own government, and used it as an excuse to keep black people from the polls. That Alabama hasn’t changed a bit.”
John Archbald is right, of course. Hopefully Loretta Lynch and the rest of the Department of Justice turn a keen eye to what is going on in Alabama and puts a stop to it before the 2016 election. Further, they need to get rid of that voter ID law, which likely violates the Voting Rights Act, gutted though it may be, thanks to the conservative Roberts Supreme Court.
In the meantime, black voters– you have time. Get your IDs before the offices close by any means necessary and show these racists that they cannot stop you from exercising your constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
Good folks of Alabama, we’ve got our eye on you. Your racism is duly noted and I — and likely many others — will look forward to boycotting your state until you halt this racist attempt to disenfranchise voters of color.
AUTHOR: SHANNON BARBER OCTOBER 1, 2015 10:26 AM
If Alabama is trying to do something about its racist image, they’re sure doing a piss-poor job. It has been reported that the state will close 31 DMV offices, all of which are located in counties where 75 percent of the electorate is African-American. Further, this announcement comes just as the 2016 election season is heating up, and only a year after they passed a strict law that requires government-issued identification– such as a driver’s license– to vote.
Reporter John Archibald of AL.com wrote a blistering missive against the proposed DMV shutdowns and called for a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the motives behind this drastic move. Archibald said:
“Because Alabama just took a giant step backward. Take a look at the 10 Alabama counties with the highest percentage of non-white registered voters. That’s Macon, Greene, Sumter, Lowndes, Bullock, Perry, Wilcox, Dallas, Hale, and Montgomery, according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. Alabama, thanks to its budgetary insanity and inanity, just opted to close driver license bureaus in eight of them.”
“Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed. Every one. But maybe it’s not racial at all, right? Maybe it’s just political. And let’s face it, it may not be either… But no matter the intent, the consequence is the same.”
I think we all know that it is both racial and political. The people behind this want to do two things: disenfranchise the black voters in those counties and keep Republicans in control, as African-Americans are well-known for overwhelmingly identifying as, and voting, Democrat.
The closing of these DMV offices combined with the new photo ID law, they are effectively keeping the people in those counties from being able to vote. Make no mistake, this isn’t about budget cuts as they claim. It is about racism.
Archibald went on to rightly point out the issues Alabama is bringing upon itself with this move, in both the legal realm and in the realm of its racist image:
“It is an affront to the very notion of justice in a nation where one man one vote is as precious as oxygen. It is a slap in the face to all who believe the stuff we teach the kids about how all are created equal.
So roll out the welcome wagon to the Justice Department, and tell the world what it already so desperately wants to hear. That Alabama is exactly what they always thought she was.
That Alabama refuses to pay for its own government, and used it as an excuse to keep black people from the polls. That Alabama hasn’t changed a bit.”
John Archbald is right, of course. Hopefully Loretta Lynch and the rest of the Department of Justice turn a keen eye to what is going on in Alabama and puts a stop to it before the 2016 election. Further, they need to get rid of that voter ID law, which likely violates the Voting Rights Act, gutted though it may be, thanks to the conservative Roberts Supreme Court.
In the meantime, black voters– you have time. Get your IDs before the offices close by any means necessary and show these racists that they cannot stop you from exercising your constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
Good folks of Alabama, we’ve got our eye on you. Your racism is duly noted and I — and likely many others — will look forward to boycotting your state until you halt this racist attempt to disenfranchise voters of color.
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