Democracy and Voting

by Jeremy Leaming

The Supreme Court's right-wing justices have another opportunity to greatly hobble the Voting Rights Act by finding its primary enforcement provision, Section 5, unconstitutional. And the high court is likely to issue its opinion any day now. But U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) at the 2013 ACS National Convention urged progressives to be ready to fight back, to not give up on equality.

Lewis, a civil rights hero, noted his upbringing in rural Alabama, fifty miles from Montgomery, during an era of Jim Crow, and his inspirations for fighting entrenched racism in an effort to create a more thoughtful and honest country. One where the Constitution's promises of equal protection and due process under the law are met.

“When I was growing up, I saw those signs that said 'white men, colored men,' and 'white women, colored women.' I would ask my mother, my father, my grandparents, my great grandparents, why? And they would say, 'That's just the way it is. Don't get in the way, don't get in trouble.' But I heard of Rosa Parks, heard the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the radio. The action of Rosa Parks, the leadership and words of Dr. King inspired me to get in the way, to get into trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble. And I think it's time for all of us once again to get into trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble.

“I have a strange feeling in America, at this point in history, we're just a little too quiet,” he continued. “We've come to a point where we almost want to resign, and say this is just the way it is. But it doesn't have to be this way. There are still too many people in our society who have been left out and left behind.”

Lewis focused on how one might react to the outcome of the Supreme Court's consideration of Shelby County v. Holder, the case challenging the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act's Section 5 as a heavy-handed federal government intrusion on state sovereignty. Section 5 covers states and towns, mostly in the South, with long histories of keeping minorities away from the polls. The provision provides that those states must obtain preclearance from a federal court in Washington or the DOJ before making changes to their voting laws, including redistricting.

Even if the high court provides some gloomy news by striking Section 5 or weakening it, Rep. Lewis said there was no need to despair. Instead, liberals and progressives should be prepared to cause a bit of trouble, good trouble, as Rep. Lewis said.

“We've come to far, we've made too much progress to go back,” Lewis said. “We must move forward. We got the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Voting Rights Act in 1965. I've always taken the position that the vote is precious. It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”

If the high court's right-wing justices successfully gut the Voting Rights Act, Lewis said we must be prepared to “fight the good fight, and never, ever give up.”

“We must get in the way, we must get in trouble, good trouble; use the law. Use the Constitution, to bring about a non-violent revolution right here in our country. Don't give up, don't give in, our struggle is one that does not last one day or one week, or one year. It is a struggle of a life time, or many life times. We must do what we can, as Dr. King said, to create the beloved community.”

Getting into trouble, standing in the way of right-wingers beholden to corporate America, and striving to create a smarter country. That sounds as challenging as it is inspiring.

See Lewis' speech below or click here.

by Jeremy Leaming

A renowned social justice leader Bob Edgar died today at age 69. Edgar was a U.S. congressman for 12 years, leader of the National Council of Churches and since 2007 the president and CEO of Common Cause. While in Congress, he served on the committee that investigated the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Edgar, who the Religion News Service’s Adelle M. Banks reports died of a heart attack, was also a “bridge builder.” As head of the National Council of Churches he helped bring together an array of faith groups to advance social justice causes. “Early on,” Banks writes, “Edgar sensed that the venerable ecumenical agency was losing its public voice, and was one of the early supporters of Christian Churches Together in the USA, which brought the NCC’s mainline Protestant, Orthodox and black churches together with evangelicals and Catholics for the first time.”

U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, worked with Edgar during his time in the Congress and noted that he was the “principal co-author of legislation that updated the G.I. bill following the abolition of the draft ….” Edgar, Conyers noted, also served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, where he worked to address concerns over the deployment of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and of veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Edgar led Common Cause a nonpartisan group devoted to ensuring Congress works efficiently and is accountable to citizens. Last year the group lodged a federal lawsuit against the use of the filibuster, which has been used primarily and with increasing frequency by Republican senators to scuttle judicial nominations and thwart popular legislation, such as modest measures to promote gun safety. Edgar in a press release about the lawsuit said the filibuster had been used to “pretty much shut the place down.” He noted that far too often it would take a supermajority or 60 senators to allow much of any action to occur.