Along with the
unprecedented ruling on gay marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, the
United States Supreme Court has upended the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Striking
down Article Four of the law, the Supreme Court ruled that nine states,
including the libertarian paradise and native home of failed Presidential candidate
Goldwater’s Arizona, would no longer need to seek federal approval before enacting
major or minor changes to their election laws.
unprecedented ruling on gay marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, the
United States Supreme Court has upended the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Striking
down Article Four of the law, the Supreme Court ruled that nine states,
including the libertarian paradise and native home of failed Presidential candidate
Goldwater’s Arizona, would no longer need to seek federal approval before enacting
major or minor changes to their election laws.
The now-viewed as
micromanaging of the Voting Rights Act was conceived with the best of
intentions, during the time when "affirmative action" promised
affirmative actions on behalf of all Americans rather than special favors for
minorities. Following the end of the Civil War and the “peculiar institution”
slavery, white supremacists enacted Jim Crow laws, which flocked together in
the South, and segregation, overt or covert, intimidated minorities from
voting. The Civil War had ended, but "The Long Night" of civil
repression resulted from the 1877 Great Compromise (in reality, Grand Sellout),
and thus federal officers were forced to leave the former Confederacy, followed
by the return of the Democratic "Solid South". WHhite-hooded
Klansmen, voter intimidation, and suffering for black voters instead of
expanded suffrage for blacks endured for a century, followed by interspersed bus
boycotts and fractious yet feckless legal appeals.
micromanaging of the Voting Rights Act was conceived with the best of
intentions, during the time when "affirmative action" promised
affirmative actions on behalf of all Americans rather than special favors for
minorities. Following the end of the Civil War and the “peculiar institution”
slavery, white supremacists enacted Jim Crow laws, which flocked together in
the South, and segregation, overt or covert, intimidated minorities from
voting. The Civil War had ended, but "The Long Night" of civil
repression resulted from the 1877 Great Compromise (in reality, Grand Sellout),
and thus federal officers were forced to leave the former Confederacy, followed
by the return of the Democratic "Solid South". WHhite-hooded
Klansmen, voter intimidation, and suffering for black voters instead of
expanded suffrage for blacks endured for a century, followed by interspersed bus
boycotts and fractious yet feckless legal appeals.
The Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950s reinstated a candor for liberty for all people, and an
ardor on behalf of legislators in Washington to end the poll tax, the age tax,
or any other hindrance to a person voting anywhere. To ensure equitable suffrage,
and to ensure that minorities’ influence would not be diminished, the Voting
Rights Acts mandated federal approval for subsequent decisions affecting voters
and elections in respective districts. The Civil Rights movement achieved this
victory, and thus restored respect for the rights and dignity of all Americans
by bringing an end to de jure Jim
Crow in the South, even if segregationists and white supremacists maintained a de facto prejudice in their hearts.
Sadly, the Civil Rights Movement divided into two factions, with younger
militants growling like “panthers” and the older, wiser generation still
staking their grace on the “easier, softer way” of peaceful protest. Of course,
the liberal venality of Democratic machine politicians like President Lyndon
Baines Johnson (who invidiously remarked: "We'll have those n-ggers voting
for us for the next two hundred years!") would corrupt the black vote for
decades to come.
Movement of the 1950s reinstated a candor for liberty for all people, and an
ardor on behalf of legislators in Washington to end the poll tax, the age tax,
or any other hindrance to a person voting anywhere. To ensure equitable suffrage,
and to ensure that minorities’ influence would not be diminished, the Voting
Rights Acts mandated federal approval for subsequent decisions affecting voters
and elections in respective districts. The Civil Rights movement achieved this
victory, and thus restored respect for the rights and dignity of all Americans
by bringing an end to de jure Jim
Crow in the South, even if segregationists and white supremacists maintained a de facto prejudice in their hearts.
Sadly, the Civil Rights Movement divided into two factions, with younger
militants growling like “panthers” and the older, wiser generation still
staking their grace on the “easier, softer way” of peaceful protest. Of course,
the liberal venality of Democratic machine politicians like President Lyndon
Baines Johnson (who invidiously remarked: "We'll have those n-ggers voting
for us for the next two hundred years!") would corrupt the black vote for
decades to come.
The same impatience
which divided the Civil Rights Movement, the same impertinence which expanded
state power, never in the better interests of the voter, ended up marring the
good intentions of the Voting Rights Act. The Civil Rights agenda which
permitted blacks to step up instead of step back, which opened the full meaning
of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", ran its course for
four decades. Subsequent Congresses reaffirmed the Civil Rights Act, yet took
no notice that things were getting better down South (as well as in Arizona).
which divided the Civil Rights Movement, the same impertinence which expanded
state power, never in the better interests of the voter, ended up marring the
good intentions of the Voting Rights Act. The Civil Rights agenda which
permitted blacks to step up instead of step back, which opened the full meaning
of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", ran its course for
four decades. Subsequent Congresses reaffirmed the Civil Rights Act, yet took
no notice that things were getting better down South (as well as in Arizona).
Sadly, the law continued to follow a formula
from its first decade, as the legislation required that states would not redraw
districts which shut out the import or the representation of minorities in
respective state and federal districts based on old information. After forty
years, “We the People” have changed for the better. A black man not only can
vote, but now he can be President of the United States. Whether liberal
statists wish to admit it or not, the culture in the South has also changed, with
demographics that reflect a broader diversity, as well as maintaining a vision
of limited government and stronger local control. The Voting Rights Act had not
only outlived its usefulness, its continued use had become an abusive use of
the past to rectify a present which had already become a better future.
from its first decade, as the legislation required that states would not redraw
districts which shut out the import or the representation of minorities in
respective state and federal districts based on old information. After forty
years, “We the People” have changed for the better. A black man not only can
vote, but now he can be President of the United States. Whether liberal
statists wish to admit it or not, the culture in the South has also changed, with
demographics that reflect a broader diversity, as well as maintaining a vision
of limited government and stronger local control. The Voting Rights Act had not
only outlived its usefulness, its continued use had become an abusive use of
the past to rectify a present which had already become a better future.
President Ronald Reagan mentioned that the
closest thing to eternal life on this planet is a government program. Such an
appraisal would have described the provisions of the Voting Rights Act, had the
Supreme Court not struck down the old formulas.
It's about time that someone challenged the backward calculations. How
much longer was the federal government going to hold Southern States, including
southwestern Arizona, and multi-ethnic boroughs like Brooklyn hostage with the
complex and arbitrary formulas, statistics which had not changed, which field
researchers had not revisited, which no one respected any longer?
closest thing to eternal life on this planet is a government program. Such an
appraisal would have described the provisions of the Voting Rights Act, had the
Supreme Court not struck down the old formulas.
It's about time that someone challenged the backward calculations. How
much longer was the federal government going to hold Southern States, including
southwestern Arizona, and multi-ethnic boroughs like Brooklyn hostage with the
complex and arbitrary formulas, statistics which had not changed, which field
researchers had not revisited, which no one respected any longer?
Within hours of the
Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas leaders championed their right to redraw their
Congressional Districts as seen fit by their legislature, without the federal
government looking over their shoulder. Come to think of it, the federal
government should stop snooping over anyone’s shoulder, state or citizen, and
start learning from the Lone Star state (and other Southern governments) which
have integrated a high influx of immigrants, followed by a booming business
culture, low taxes, laid-back government, and an all around view of
"getting better". The Voting Rights Act played its part, out-lived
its usefulness, and with its rescission by the Supreme Court, now remains a
testimony to states which, when left alone, do very well for their citizens, no
matter what their color.
Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas leaders championed their right to redraw their
Congressional Districts as seen fit by their legislature, without the federal
government looking over their shoulder. Come to think of it, the federal
government should stop snooping over anyone’s shoulder, state or citizen, and
start learning from the Lone Star state (and other Southern governments) which
have integrated a high influx of immigrants, followed by a booming business
culture, low taxes, laid-back government, and an all around view of
"getting better". The Voting Rights Act played its part, out-lived
its usefulness, and with its rescission by the Supreme Court, now remains a
testimony to states which, when left alone, do very well for their citizens, no
matter what their color.