Today is National Call-In Day to Renew the Voting Rights Act. Later this week, the House is expected to vote on H.R. 9, “The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.”
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is the most effective civil rights law ever passed by Congress. With limited resources, black voter empowerment groups have closed the racial gap in voter registration.
Before 1964, there were only about 300 black elected officials nationwide. Today, there are approximately 9,100 black elected officials, including more than 600 black state legislators. It’s not a coincidence that 65 percent of black elected officials are in the nine Southern states -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina South Carolina, Texas and Virginia -- covered all or part by the act.
Before 1964, there were no black mayors. In 2000, James Perkins, a black man, was elected mayor of Selma, Ala. As we saw in the New Orleans mayoral primary and runoff elections, racial bloc voting and obstacles to the voting booth are real. And because they are, the act's special provisions are still needed.
To add your voice to the coalition of civil rights activists that supports renewal, click here.