Voting rights won in key 1957 act under assault from Sessions’ DOJ
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the implementation of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, which enshrines the right of all U.S. citizens to vote regardless of race, ethnicity or gender. It also established the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, which has been instrumental in helping to ensure the rights of minorities and women.
As we reflect on this legacy and the path that it opened for political change, we must also consider the many ways that legacy has been recently eroded. The current moment demonstrates a cooling of state and federal commitments to civil rights. We must remain vigilant about efforts to erode the right to vote for historically marginalized communities. It behooves all of us to push back and resist efforts that undermine our most prized democratic principle — the right for all people to vote.
In Texas, we’ve seen this first hand. Senate Bill 5 was recently struck down by a federal court, which found that legislators intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters when they enacted photo ID requirements in 2011. The state appealed the ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and perhaps unsurprisingly was promptly joined by the Department of Justice. Days later, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit lifted the stay and allowed the bill to become law.
Though states like Texas have for some time sought to undermine the power of minority voters, the arrival of the Trump administration and Jeff Sessions’ leadership of the DO J have demonstrated a radical reversal in the federal government’s position on the protection of voting rights. Sessions has been vocal about his opposition to the federal Voting Rights Act and has said that voter ID laws if “properly drafted” are acceptable. These comments should alarm anybody who is concerned about voting rights. They are particularly dangerous coming from the leader of the DO J.
In Texas, legislators’ efforts to pass the controversial Senate Bill 5 are progressing in tandem with a redistricting effort that began after the 2010 census. Recently, a three-judge panel unanimously held that nine of Texas’ legislative districts needed to be redrawn because lawmakers intentionally discriminated against minority voters when they created them.
The state appealed, and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ordered the decision be put on hold until the appeal moves forward. Such efforts to curtail voting rights have been boosted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which saw states like Texas removed from the federal Voting Rights Act’s requirement that the state seek preclearance from the federal government for new political maps and voting laws.
The battle over voter rights in the state holds real and lasting consequences for minority voters in Texas as well as for the legacy of civil rights in the entire country. As the political landscape continues to shift radically, old efforts to undermine the rights of people of color continue apace. However, so too do the tools from the old civil rights protection playbook help to fight the onslaught.
A federal judge is currently weighing whether to place Texas back on the federal preclearance list, which will require consultation with the DO J before any new voting laws or redistricting can take place. Although Sessions and this administration have demonstrated their hostility toward civil rights and voting rights, preclearance could be a step back in the right direction for the state.
Just as obtaining civil rights was the result of the work of thousands, so too is protecting those rights from the current onslaught. If we have learned anything from the past year, it is that we must remain vigilant and active in the face of those who seek to erase the rights that many of us did not enjoy before the passage of the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
Re: Sept. 9 commentary, “My eighth-graders know climatology better than congressmen.”
Recently, you published an opinion editorial from an eighthgrade science teacher that attacks me and wrongly asserts a link between Hurricane Harvey and climate change. The article claims Harvey was made worse by climate change. Despite what alarmists want you to think, this type of destructive storm is uncommon. In fact, before last month, it had been years since a major hurricane made landfall in the United States.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Climate Assessment continue to express “low confidence” that these storms are increasing in frequency or intensity. It is unscientific to search for climate change signals in individual storms. Scientists concerned with uncovering the truth know to examine trends over time. These scientists find hurricanes have not increased in number or intensity.
Sincerely,
Yes, our government is big and expensive. But unless you’re a billionaire, you need our government’s assistance at some point in your life — and you love it when you get help.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the GI Bill and guaranteed student loans are among many beneficial programs delivered by Democrats. Republicans rarely assist the people, preferring to cut programs to reduce the tax “burden” on billionaires while neglecting real American needs.
Government tackles the enormous projects Big Business won’t and can’t do. We need these programs. We fail without them. We citizens pool our resources to build roads, schools, provide for our safety. The government is ours.
As climate change advances, the government will have to fund unimaginably difficult projects like mega-storm cleanup and buying out homeowners whose property is forever underwater as oceans rise. Without our government, our country ceases to be — and only billionaires can afford to survive what’s coming.