When you look at the blood, sweat and tears struggle for African American civil rights in this country, one of the signal victories was the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This week on The Local Take with Kiplyn Primus we consider whether or not voting rights are still important in 2013.
Last month in the case of Shelby County versus Holder, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 5-4 to gut the heart of this nearly 50 year old law which called for federal approval before certain southern states could change the rules governing voting rules.
Within hours of the law being struck down, several states re-introduced stringent ID laws regarding the ability to vote. Other red states rushed to enact restrictive voting rules that were previously under federal review under the voting rights act.
The Roberts Court basically decided the Voting Rights Act was so successful it was no longer necessary; kinda like the locks on your doors have kept out mayhem, so you no longer need them.
What does this mean to our right to freely elect our representatives? What does this mean to the memory of those who died in the South to gain those rights?
This week on The Local Take, Kiplyn Primus talks with Bernice King, CEO of The Martin Luther King, Jr Center for Non Violent Social Change. As the youngest child of Martin and Coretta, King is a living link to the voting rights campaigns that created the 1965 law.
Kiplyn is also joined by Clark Atlanta University Political Science Professor Dr. William Boone, to show the historic context of the Supreme Court's decision, and suggest where we are headed relative to this critical issue.
For more information about the King Center, click here.