Time To Wake Up
BY CLARENCE BARR, II
While the world was being riveted by the Trayvon Martin murder trial and the hilariously bad “Knock-Knock” joke used by one of George Zimmerman’s attorney during opening statements, something interesting was happening in Washington D. C.
The Supreme Court made the shocking decision to repeal the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This is the law that Martin Luther King Jr., famously helped to bring into existence by staging a Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Now, just 48 years later, the highest justices in the land have decided that the law, designed to protect Blacks and other minorities from literacy and other voter qualification tests, is no longer necessary.
According to the justices who voted to nullify the act, times have changed to the point where states no longer need to be policed by the federal government to do the right thing. Of course, that’s their personal opinion. But I can’t help but ask, “How big is the rock that they live under?”
Just last year Attorney General Eric Holder had to force states like South Carolina and Texas to abandon plans to implement the voter ID laws they attempted to install before the presidential election. And questionable redistricting is still as big of a problem now as it was in the 1950’s. So the question remains, “What were they thinking?”
I hate to go the conspiratorial route. But, you have to wonder if there is some bigger agenda at play. After eight years of having a Black man like President Barack Obama in the White House, I don’t think that it’s too much to assume that there may be those behind the scenes who aren’t looking for a repeat performance any time soon.
With scientific data showing minorities outpacing a steadily declining white population, this could be a strategic move to preserve the current status quo for future generations. Control who’s allowed to cast a vote for representation and you effectively control who occupies the most important seats of power.
Personally, I can’t say I’m surprised by what transpired. Judging by the road we’re traveling as a people, it only seemed like a matter of time before they began to make moves to turn back the clock.
With the torch bearers of the Civil Rights Movement aging rapidly and the generations who followed either content with the opportunity to live in the suburbs or strung out on chasing cosmetic highs through drugs like “Molly” (MDMA) and “Ecstasy,” for the individuals who wish to keep Blacks under the heel of oppression, it was a perfect time to strike. Looking at our situation, they had to be sitting back and thinking to themselves, “Who do they even have capable of fighting back?”
Avalanches always start with one stone. Today it’s the Voting Rights Act. Five years from now they could attack Fair and Equitable Housing, the Civil Rights Bill or even (dare I say) the 13th amendment. Never say never because when people like to sleep, anything can happen to them.
Anyone wanting to contact Clarence Barr can reach him at: Clarence Barr, II, 43110-018; P. O. Box 7007; Marianna, FL 32447-7007. Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company.
