COUP WATCH: SNCC Demands Federal Voting Rights Investigation\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\nCOUP WATCH: SNCC Demands Federal Voting Rights Investigation<\/b><\/p>
\r\n\r\n\r\nMon Dec 04 07:45:22 2000<\/b><\/p>
\r\n\r\nStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)<\/p>
\r\n\r\nFor Immediate Release<\/p>
\r\n\r\nDecember 3, 2000<\/p>
\r\n\r\nContact: Mendy Samstein, 607-263-2476 or msamstein@aol.com <\/p>
\r\n\r\nFORMER CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS DEMAND FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS\r\nINVESTIGATION<\/p>
\r\n\r\nDozens of civil rights activists who worked in the South in\r\nthe 1960s for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee\r\ntoday called for an official investigation into evidence\r\nthat thousands of blacks were denied the right to vote \r\nin the 2000 presidential election.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nIn a collective statement, the activists, who were many\r\ntimes beaten and arrested while helping black citizens to\r\nregister and vote, wrote: \"We still mourn the colleagues \r\nand friends who lost their lives in the struggle. What is \r\nat stake here is precisely what we fought for in the Sixties \r\n- the right of everyone to vote and for everyone's vote to \r\nbe counted.\"<\/p>
\r\n\r\nAmong the signatories of the statement is Julian Bond, a\r\nlongtime SNCC activist and now chairman of the NAACP.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nThe statement cites accumulating evidence that a\r\ndisproportionate number of blacks weren't permitted to \r\nvote because their names were not listed on voter lists, \r\nor because the polls closed while they were waiting on \r\nline; and that a disproportionate number of blacks voted \r\nin precincts with antiquated equipment so that their votes\r\nwere not counted. Especially disturbing to these civil\r\nrights workers, many of whom in the 1960s experienced abuse\r\nand intimidation firsthand, was the odd coincidence of a\r\nroadblock set up by state police near a black Tallahassee\r\nprecinct.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nThis statement concludes with a demand for a federal\r\ninvestigation and a national call that the exclusion \r\nof black voters must never happen again.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nThe SNCC statement was also endorsed by 300 participants in\r\nattendance on Dec. 2 at the Southern Human Rights Conference, \r\nas well as the Southern Regional Council and the American \r\nFriends Service Committee.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nMendy Samstein, a SNCC veteran of Jackson and McComb,\r\nMississippi, said: \"It's encouraging that the Justice\r\nDepartment is apparently starting an inquiry in Florida. \r\nWe want a full-fledged Justice Department investigation into\r\nthe many charges of voting exclusion. Mindful of the courage\r\nshown by journalists in the Deep South during the 1960s, we\r\nalso hope that the press will vigorously investigate these\r\ncharges.\"<\/p>
\r\n\r\nFor further information: Mendy Samstein, 607-263-2476 or\r\nmsamstein@aol.com.<\/p>
\r\n\r\n***<\/p>
\r\n\r\nThe full statement and list of signers follow:<\/p>
\r\n\r\nAs activists in the 1960s struggle of black Americans to\r\nachieve voting rights, we believe that far more is at stake\r\nin Florida than choosing whether George Bush or Al Gore \r\nis to be our next president. In the sixties we fought to\r\novercome a century of systematic and brutal disenfranchisement. \r\nOur cry was One Man, One Vote, a cry that resonated throughout \r\nthis country because it appealed to the basic American sense \r\nof justice and fairness.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nToday we need to remember the importance of that concept and\r\nthe sacrifices that were made to ensure its realization. We\r\nstill mourn the colleagues and friends who lost their lives\r\nin the struggle. What is at stake here is precisely what we\r\nfought for in the sixties-the right of everyone to vote and\r\nfor everyone's vote to be counted. One Citizen, One Vote!<\/p>
\r\n\r\nSubstantial evidence is accumulating that many people were\r\ndenied the right to vote. Was it just a coincidence that a\r\nState Police roadblock was set up near a predominately black\r\nprecinct in Tallahassee that stopped voters going to the\r\npolls? We know that thousands of ballots were not counted in\r\nMiami-Dade and Palm Beach counties because machine counts \r\nof hand ballots are grossly inaccurate - despite all the\r\nhysterical Republican drumbeat to the contrary. We have\r\nincreasing documentation of thousands of registered voters\r\nbeing turned away because their names were not listed or\r\nbecause their polls closed while they were waiting on line.\r\nThese are voting injustices that must not be ignored.<\/p>
\r\n\r\nWe are horrified at the prospect that in the year 2000, \r\nwe Americans would resign ourselves to the results of an\r\nelection achieved by questionable and undemocratic means. We\r\nurge all Americans who believe in the sacredness of honest\r\nelections to support the legal battle for a full and fair\r\ncounting of the votes in Florida and to demand a Justice\r\nDepartment investigation into incidents of voter\r\nirregularities. We must not let this happen again!<\/p>
\r\n\r\n<\/p>
| \r\nSandra Adickes \r\nElaine Baker \r\nFrances M. Beal \r\nDebbie Amis Bell \r\nJames Bond \r\nJulian Bond \r\nJoan Browning \r\nRon Carver \r\nCharlie Cobb \r\nNancy Cooper Samstein \r\nConnie Curry \r\nDave Dennis \r\nBetty Garman \r\nIra Grupper \r\nGene Guerrero \r\nEd Hamlett \r\nBruce Hartford \r\nCasey Hayden \r\nFaith S. Holsaert \r\nMatt Jones \r\nMarsha R. Joyner \r\nMary King \r\nDorie Ladner Churnet \r\nJoyce Ladner \r\nJulius Lester<\/b><\/td>\r\n | \r\nFred Mangrum \r\nSheila Michael \r\nMike Miller \r\nLinda Moses Dehnad \r\nPenny Patch \r\nBill Perlman \r\nMartha Prescod \r\nJudy Richardson \r\nWally Roberts \r\nHoward Romaine \r\nDinky Romilly \r\nMendy Samstein \r\nCleve Sellers \r\nJudy D. Simmons \r\nNancy Stearns \r\nMarsha Steinberg \r\nBarbara Summers \r\nSusan Thrasher \r\nMaria Varela \r\nPenny Weaver \r\nCarl Imiola Young \r\nDorothy M. Zellner \r\nZoya Zeman \r\nMitchell Zimmerman \r\n <\/b>\r\n<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Dozens of civil rights activists who worked in the South in\r\nthe 1960s for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee\r\ntoday called for an official investigation into evidence\r\nthat thousands of blacks were denied the right to vote \r\nin the 2000 presidential election.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2000\/12\/sncc.htm","filesize":"6.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2000\/12\/4776.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]} |