MSNBC host Al Sharpton said Friday on "Deadline" that Republicans in the Texas Senate and the House we're "beginning to play the role that many segregationists played in the '60s" by attempting to pass voting legislation in a special session. | Clips
Country Gazette
FRANKLIN Concerned about the future of voting rights in the United States, local Democrats have been participating in demonstrations to raise awareness, as well as advocate for passage of the S.1 For the People Act of 2021 by the U.S. Senate.
Organized by the Franklin Democratic Town Committee (FDTC), activists demonstrated at the front of the Franklin Stop & Shop plaza on July 22 and July 27, and again on Tuesday, holding signs that said Defend Voting, Pass S.1 For the People, End Voter Suppression, No S.1 Vote, No Recess and Protect Voting Rights.” Many of the responses were waves or thumbs-up, said FDTC member Sue Cass. But there were also several middle fingers and thumbs-down.
Across the United States, Republicans are attempting to pass a barrage of voter suppression laws, aimed at attacking and dismantling the Voting Rights Act and in a nod toward Jim Crow laws of the not so distant past, make it hardest in particular for Black folks and communities of color, but also broadly speaking the disabled, seniors and the working-poor as a whole to vote. Already, close to 20 states have passed over two dozen new bills which cut away at basic rights and are all aimed at stripping away previous rights already won in regards to the vote.
While the Republican strategy has long relied on shutting down polls, pushing for longer lines, and gerrymandering, the current wave of voter suppression laws comes as the GOP in the post-Trump era has embraced an
“A Systematic Effort”: Florida’s Former GOP Chair Says The Party Had Meetings About “Keeping Blacks From Voting”
In the debate over new laws meant to curb voter fraud in places like Florida, Democrats always charge that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote of liberal voting blocs like blacks and young people, while Republicans just laugh at such ludicrous and offensive accusations. That is, every Republican except for Florida’s former Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, who, scorned by his party and in deep legal trouble, blew the lid off what he claims was a systemic effort to suppress the black vote. In a 630-page deposition recorded over two days in late May, Greer, who is on trial for corruption charges, unloaded a litany of charges against the “whack-a-do, right-wing crazies” in his party, including the effort to suppress the black vote.
“Texas Matters,” a weekly public affairs program that airs on Texas Public Radio (TPR) was able to provide sustained and ongoing, dedicated coverage on voting rights. Since July 2020, “Texas Matters” has featured 21 individual news programs dedicated to educating the public about the problems with the state’s system for registering to vote and casting a ballot.
In the run-up to the November general election, in the combative months afterward and then through the Texas legislative session, “Texas Matters” focused its reporting on voting rights and recurring attacks on democratic institutions through in-depth and original reporting.
For over 20 years, “Texas Matters” has provided a weekly half-hour program in long-form public service journalism with David Martin Davies as host and producer.