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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2012)
Page 8 Œl'1 ^¡.ìortlattì» (©bscrucr October IO. 2012 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. New Prices Effective May 1 ,2 0 1 0 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service C H G $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied C A R PE T CLEAN IN G 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas {Includes: I sm all H allw ay) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area {Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With O th e r Services): $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool): $40.00Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) U PH O LSTE R Y C LE A N IN G Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services): $5.00 % A D D IT IO N A L SE R V IC E S • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment 5“ v • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 The Roots of Voter Suppression Hiding behind claims of fraud R on C arver W hen I hear conservatives like M ississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Ala bama State Sen. Scott Beason, and P en n sy lv an ia H ouse M ajority Leader Representative Mike Turzai try toTationalize their bid to disen franchise minority, elderly, and stu dent voters, I pivot quickly to memo ries of the terror I witnessed in the early 1960s. At that time, just out of high school, I joined the Southern civil rights movement's efforts to regis ter hundreds of thousands of black M ississippians. Ninety-five years after the 15th Amendment affirmed the right of black people to vote, I stood with 30 African Americans in the rotunda of the DeSoto County, Mississippi, courthouse. Lit cigarettes rained down on us from the second story balcony, cou rtesy o f a dozen sheriffs deputies and highway pa trolmen. Trying to keep everyone's spirits up, Menk Dockery strode over to take a sip from the "whites only" water fountain and declared, by "This freedom water sure is fine." We chuckled at Menk's comment. But the white registrar had the last laugh as he drew out the process of administering Mississippi's "voter literacy test" and allowed only four blacks to even attempt to register. That morning, he failed them all on the final exam ques tion, which required the interpre tation of a section of the Missis sippi State Constitution. The local newspaper also had a hand in voter intimidation. It rou tinely published the names of all who took the literacy test — whites in one column, blacks in another— so that plantation owners and em ployers could evict black sharecrop pers and fire workers who were bold enough to attempt to register. Today, many have accepted the right wing's line that efforts to sup press minority voting are really a response to voter fraud. Yet the proponents can't produce any sig nificant examples of fraud. To re member our history is to understand the real motivation. On Nov. 10, 1898, 1,500 armed white men, who also denied any ra c ist m o tiv a tio n , rode into Wilmington, N. C., set the Daily Record newspaper office on fire, and forced the elected multiracial city officials to resign. These vigi lantes set up a new all-white local government and "convinced" the state legislature to pass restrictive requirements including poll taxes and literacy tests. By the end of the century, poll taxes and literacy tests had effec tively rolled back the gains made during the Reconstruction period at the close of the Civil War. Blacks in much of the country would have no voice in local, state, or national elec tions until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Proponents of the post-Recon- struction literacy tests claimed that democracy would be threatened if voters lacked skills to read newspa pers and study the issues and posi tions of candidates. But in practice, right through to the 1960s, South ern registrars enrolled tens of thou sands of illiterate white voters while rejecting college educated blacks who were willing to risk their lives and employment to register to vote. With this history in mind, the burden must be on those who fol low in the footsteps of the Ku Klux Kian to prove the need for new voter restrictions. No one should be allowed to hide behind unsubstantiated — and of ten refuted — claims of fraud. The real threat to our painfully achieved democracy is from those eager to limit the rights of millions of legiti mate voters. Ron Carver, aformer Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee field organizer, is an Institute fo r Policy Studies associate fellow. ¡S u b s c rib e 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 Attn: Subscriptions, The Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208. 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