Black Right to Vote expires in 2007???

[Beck]

Below you will find a speech that Camille Cosby gave at a function. Mrs. Cosby was referencing the Voting Rights Act in her most recent open letter on racism.

We are quickly approaching the 21st Century and we were wondering, and when I say 'we', I mean others of us out there who wonder if everyone else out there knows what the significance of the year 2007 is to Black America?

Did you know that our right to VOTE will expire in the year 2007? Seriously! The Voters Rights Act signed in 1965 by Lyndon B. Johnson was just an ACT. It was not made a law.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan amended the Voters Rights Act for another 25 years. Which means that in the year 2007 we could lose the Right to vote!

Does anyone realize that African Americans are the only group of people who require PERMISSION under the United States Constitution to vote! In the year 2007, Congress will once again convene to decide whether or not Blacks should retain the rights
to vote (crazy but true).

In order for this to be passed, 38 states will have to approve an extension. This is ludicrous! Not only should the extension be approved, but also the ACT must be made a law. Our right to vote should no longer be up for discussion, review and/or evaluation.

We must contact our Congress-persons, Senators, Alderpersons, etc., to put a stop to this! As bona fide Citizens of the United States, we cannot "drop the ball" on this one! We have come too far to let government make us take such a huge step backward. So please, let us push forward to continue to build the momentum towards gaining equality.

Please pass this onto others, as we are sure that many more individuals are not aware of this. I urge all of you that are able, to contact those in government that have your vote and make them aware of our combined concern for this issue.

One voice!...... One Vote! You cannot complain, if you do not participate.....Local, State, & National.

www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm this is the voting right act link.

[auneeqsol]

Oh my!! I didnt know anything like that was even existing. I mean the fact that it was just an ACT and not made law actually.

Thank God for ppl who are interested in finding out what is and what isnt. Hopefully everything smooths over and the transition will not be a big thing.

That would cause a lot of chaos.

[ybrown]

elderbeck said:

Below you will find a speech that Camille Cosby gave at a function. Mrs. Cosby was referencing the Voting Rights Act in her most recent open letter on racism.

We are quickly approaching the 21st Century and we were wondering, and when I say 'we', I mean others of us out there who wonder if everyone else out there knows what the significance of the year 2007 is to Black America?

Did you know that our right to VOTE will expire in the year 2007? Seriously! The Voters Rights Act signed in 1965 by Lyndon B. Johnson was just an ACT. It was not made a law.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan amended the Voters Rights Act for another 25 years. Which means that in the year 2007 we could lose the Right to vote!

Does anyone realize that African Americans are the only group of people who require PERMISSION under the United States Constitution to vote! In the year 2007, Congress will once again convene to decide whether or not Blacks should retain the rights
to vote (crazy but true).

In order for this to be passed, 38 states will have to approve an extension. This is ludicrous! Not only should the extension be approved, but also the ACT must be made a law. Our right to vote should no longer be up for discussion, review and/or evaluation.

We must contact our Congress-persons, Senators, Alderpersons, etc., to put a stop to this! As bona fide Citizens of the United States, we cannot "drop the ball" on this one! We have come too far to let government make us take such a huge step backward. So please, let us push forward to continue to build the momentum towards gaining equality.

Please pass this onto others, as we are sure that many more individuals are not aware of this. I urge all of you that are able, to contact those in government that have your vote and make them aware of our combined concern for this issue.

One voice!...... One Vote! You cannot complain, if you do not participate.....Local, State, & National.

www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm this is the voting right act link.

Hmmm, I don't think Ms. Cosby said that. Sounds more like someone just attaching a name to an old chain email in order to get folks to fall for it.

This so-called news has been started going around almost 10 years ago.

Below is the email that was going around and following is the answer and explanation of the real deal. This is from Snopes:

CLAIM: Legislation guaranteeing blacks the right to vote in the USA will expire in 2007.

STATUS: False.

EXAMPLE: [Collected on the Internet, 1997]

As everyone should be aware, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voters Rights Act. This was created to allow Blacks the right to vote. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed an amendment to extend this right for an additional twenty-five years. You guessed it . . . In 2007 (ten years from now), Congress will decide whether or not Blacks should retain the right to vote. In order for this to be passed, thirty-eight states will have to approve an extension. For me, as well as many others, this was the first time that we had heard this -- thus, bringing concern to all of us! What many Blacks before us fought and even died for as well as the milestones that we, as Blacks have achieved, this can be taken away from us . . . AGAIN! If this issue has taken you by surprise as well, I encourage YOU to contact your Congressperson, alderperson, senator — anyone in government, that you put your vote behind and ask them what are they doing to — firstly, to get the extension and furthermore, make our right to vote a LAW. This has to become a law in order for our right to vote to no longer be up for discussion, review and/or evaluation. (Remember: Blacks are the only group of people who require permission under the United States Constitution to vote!) As Black people, we cannot "drop the ball" on this one! We have come too far to be forced to take such a large step back. So, please let's push on and forward to continue to build the momentum towards gaining equality. Please pass this on to others, as I am sure that many more individuals are not aware of this.

EXPLANATION AND WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON: Two constitutional amendments that followed the conclusion of the long and bloody U.S. Civil War in 1865 were the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery, and the 15th amendment, which guaranteed the right of all citizens to vote (provided they were male and at least 21). Sadly, passing a law and enforcing a law have often proved to be two very different things. So it was in this case.

Despite the 15th Amendment, many states in the South enacted Jim Crow voting requirements that effectively prevented blacks from voting. Poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and other strategems were adopted to ensure that only whites entered polling places on election day. If those schemes failed, intimidation, force, and violence were handy alternatives. Not until the Supreme Court decided Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 was segregation declared unconstitutional, and even then — nearly a hundred years after the end of the Civil War — many blacks were still being denied the right to vote guaranteed to them by the Constitution since 1870.

The remedy to this injustice was President Lyndon Johnson's proposal — and Congress' passage — of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It didn't guarantee blacks the right to vote; they'd already held that right since the ratification of the 15th Amendment ninety-five years earlier. The Voting Rights Act provided for enforcement of that right. The Voting Rights Act authorized the federal government to send federal registrars to counties where local registrars refused to accept the registration of black voters, to send observers to monitor elections and ensure that blacks were allowed to vote (and that their votes were actually counted), and to mandate that certain areas obtain the approval of the Attorney General before making changes to their voting requirements or procedures.

The Voting Rights Act was never intended to be in force permanently. It was initially effective for a period of five years; that period was later extended for another five years, then another seven years, and finally for another twenty-five years, ending in 2007. Even if the Voting Rights Act is not extended again in 2007, this will not mean that the right to vote will "be taken away" from blacks — it will simply mean that the federal government will no longer require states to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws. We should see this as a positive — that we as a society have finally (if slowly and painfully) progressed to the point we no longer need to take special measures to ensure that every citizen has a fair opportunity to participate in a democratic voting process. There are times when we should get all riled up about what our government is doing, but this isn't one of them.

[krazeeboi]

It amazes me how unknowledgeable we can be about a basic Constitutional fact like the right to vote.

[Rachel2]

I didn't believe this the first time I read it two years ago.

The reason I did not believe it then as well as now, is the fact that absolutely nobody was talking about this on the national news.

It is not possible that something this monumental would be overlooked in the 20th or 21st century. Especially as hard as African Americans fought for the right to vote.

Though I think Jessie and Al could do better in their efforts as leaders for the Black cause, I truly don't believe they would let this one slip through the cracks. ;D

[krazeeboi]

^Right.