Beware James Crow, Esquire
By James H. Buford
Guest columnist
While looking at the coverage of the 40th anniversary march commemorating the passage of the Voting Rights Act, I noticed the void that has been left in the wake of civil rights giants such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers. When I look back at the reasons why the Civil Rights Movement was so great, I look at the many accomplishments that resulted from the protests, speeches and marches. Because of these struggles, blacks are no longer forced to sit on the back of the bus, go to segregated schools or be afraid to vote.
The racial climate has changed. In the words of Marc Morial, president of National Urban League, we no longer have to endure Jim Crow oppressing African Americans, but we do have to worry about James Crow, Esquire. James Crow is a refined form of racism that hides in the shadows, yet oppresses its enemies just as effectively. James Crow’s oppression is not written in the law books, but it is written on the hearts and minds of a white majority system that stereotypes African Americans as underachievers, criminals and immoral people.
Someone once said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. I urge you, my brothers and sisters, not to become complacent with the way things are going in this country. Know that the Voting Rights Act must be renewed in order to guarantee that people of color will always have a right to vote. Never take your voting privileges for granted. My Jewish brethren have a saying about the Holocaust: “Never Again.” As African Americans, we also need to make sure that the hate crimes that were perpetrated in the past will never happen again in this country.
We must not forget that for many decades African Americans were tortured, threatened and killed while trying to exercise their right to vote. The 1965 Voting Rights Act is a complete legislative package that made intentional discrimination against minorities seeking to exercise the right to vote a federal crime. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act on Aug. 6, 1965. It was designed to end poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation and other tactics used against African Americans to keep them from voting.
But in 2007, key provisions of the act, such as Section 5, which requires Missouri and other states to get federal approval before implementing any voting changes, will expire unless Congress renews them. Other provisions that need to be renewed by Congress include that areas with a history of discrimination must have any changes in their voting laws cleared by the U.S. Attorney General; that areas with large minority populations must offer bilingual registration and voting; and that federal examiners and observers must be allowed to monitor elections.
Not only do we need to fight to keep the progress and benefits that were given to us in the Civil Rights Era, we need to fight to gain new ground. The soaring African-American unemployment rate, the disproportionate numbers of blacks serving in Iraq, and the lack of quality education in public schools are all items that need to be on the new civil rights agenda. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention racial disparities in homeownership, wealth accumulation, racial profiling, criminal sentencing, education, health and technology.
With all of these items on our agenda, it is imperative that African Americans join together to fight the evils of racism that persist in this country.
James H. Buford is president of the Urban League of Greater Metropolitan St. Louis.