Jackson Free Press

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant spent the better half of a March 8 public forum mischaracterizing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a former president's lingering attempt to influence southern elections.

"It changed in 1965 when Lyndon Johnson didn't get the votes of the South. You know, we voted for Barry Goldwater," Bryant told a room of about 60 Eudora Welty Library visitors. "So Lyndon Johnson got mad and he passed the Voting Rights Act that said all those states that voted less than 50 percent in the past presidential election in 1964 now must go under the control of the Justice Department. Johnson said 'You didn't vote for me, South, so I'll show you something,' so some states, including Arizona and some counties in Virginia, since 1964 have been under the Department of Justice."

The DOJ determines whether or not redistricting plans meet the requirements set forth in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 2 of the Act applies to all states, and provides protection against discriminatory dilution of minority populations. Section 5 requires the DOJ to pre-clear redistricting plans from Mississippi and other states with a history of voter suppression. Groups such as the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Congress of Racial Equity, among others, launched voter registration drives throughout the South in the early 1960s and pressed the federal government to protect minorities' voting rights. Their effort culminated in Johnson's signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Bryant said the state of Mississippi should be out from under the heel of the Department of Justice, particularly regarding the Mississippi Senate's attempt to alter both the Senate and Mississippi House of Representative's redistricting plans.

"Two weeks ago I had the audacity while speaking to Republican people to say I'm about tired of having the Obama justice department tell me what to do. 'Oh my goodness,' they said, 'there he goes again.' The Clarion-Ledger editorial board wrote an article on that. They can't believe that I said that. I had one reporter say, 'Don't you think the Justice Department will get mad?' and I said: 'I still have the right to free speech, even when I'm critical of my government.'"

The Senate yesterday shot down Bryant's version of the Senate redistricting plan that would have erased a new black-majority district near Hattiesburg; in part because senators feared the new plan would not meet Voting Rights Act specifications.

Mike Sayer, executive senior organizer of voter enfranchisement watchdog group Southern Echo, said he believed Bryant and other Republicans sense a change in the political atmosphere at the U.S. Supreme Court level that could spell the end of the age of pre-clearance.

"There are a lot of Republicans who are out there taking this position because they've opposed the Voting Rights Act all along," Sayer said. "They think the Supreme Court is sending signals that they want to end this, and they do."

In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision refusing a small utility district in Texas exemption from preclearance, but Supreme Court Justice Chief John Roberts opined that the more inclusive behavior of modern American society did not easily support the need for continuing the requirement of preclearance.

"Things have changed in the South," Roberts wrote. "Voter turnout and registration rates now approach parity. Blatantly discriminatory evasions of federal decrees are rare. And minority candidates hold office at unprecedented levels. These improvements are no doubt due in significant part to the Voting Rights Act itself, and stand as a monument to its success. Past success alone, however, is not adequate justification to retain the preclearance requirements."

Sayer said Bryant's call to move the state out from under the guidance of the DOJ is premature, however.

"It's like laws discouraging driving under the influence. If you have a law that says you can't drive under the influence, then if you break the law you get a metaphorical rejection either in the form of a few hundred bucks fine or jail, but you're supposed to monitor yourself. That's the specter of pre-clearance--{legislators) know that if they do their plan wrong it'll get rejected, and so you police yourself for efficiency and effectiveness," Sayer said. "The fact that people are murdering each other less doesn't mean you get rid of laws against murder."

Previous Commentsshow

Bryant's actions and words demonstrate perfectly why the Voting Rights Act was necessary in the first place and continues to be necessary today. The notion that LBJ signed the Act for political payback is both ignorant of history and deeply offensive. Shame!

Brian C Johnson

Mar 11 2011

These guys are holding onto the past so hard that it's sick. They are trying to use people's lingering racism for political gain. Meantime, their supporters and apologists say that people of all races who actually know the real history and facts and are willing to talk about it, and correct the politicos, are the ones "living in the past" when we're the ones trying to actually move past it and be a new and different and more educated state. They insult every Mississippian's intelligence when they criticize us for daring to become educated enough to know when they lie to us. It's an outrage, and every Mississippi, regardless of race, should tell Bryant, Barbour, et al., to stop treating us like unreformed racists who haven't changed a bit. Our state deserves better; we have changed so much; and these guys are keeping us mired in our past, at least to the outside world. It's bad for interpersonal relations; it's bad for economic development; and it runs off the smart young people of our state who didn't grow up in that climate and who want no part of it.

DonnaLadd

Mar 12 2011

Bryant lost my vote when he openly stated he was against raising the ABV law that Raise Your Pints was lobbying for. Just a lack of logic and common sense. Simply inexcusable. Donna, any chance JFP throws an investigation towards Luckett's residence situation? I saw CL and a few Jackson blogs mention it. Figured it may be noteworthy for yall's pov.

RobbieR

Mar 12 2011

Mr. Bryant has out-done himself on this one. This is another example of: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a" bigot "than to speak out and remove all doubt."

justjess

Mar 13 2011

"They insult every Mississippian's intelligence when they criticize us for daring to become educated enough to know when they lie to us. It's an outrage, and every Mississippi, regardless of race, should tell Bryant, Barbour, et al., to stop treating us like unreformed racists who haven't changed a bit." Ladd that sounds good and all, but let's get back to reality - their only saying what appeals to THEIR base, whether it's right or wrong is a whole 'nother subject. I just got finished reading a biography on Blanche Bruce and when I look at the comparisons of the political climate he faced in Mississippi during and after Reconstruction, and now/today - it's scary? The only differenes now are that a majority of blacks vote democrat, whites vote republican, and physical violence/attacks to keep people from voting are almost non-existent. However, the propaganda, "tax activisim" from certain ethnicities, and the polarizing loyalties to the two major parties by the largest ethnic groups, are quite the same if you look at the period of 1872 - 2011. I agree with what you said, I think what you said is heartfelt and just, but it's sad to see people play these kinds of political games in this day and age. But who can you blame, the politicians or the voters for allowing this to continue? The only way you can call them on it, is to vote them out and by the way white democrats are jumping ship in the south into the refuge of the republican party - its time for democrats to come to terms, fight the apathy in their party, find their base again, and starting prepping some young talent.

Duan C.

Mar 14 2011

MS has been so crushed under the weight of the Voting Rights Act that it has 1 Democrat and NO racial minorities holding statewide office and 1 Democrat/racial minority in Congress. All of this talk about Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act, White Citizen's Council, NB Forrest, etc is all code and speaks to the lowest common denominator of whites still fighting the battles of the past, which have been settled for 50-150 years. Unfortunately, it tends to work in MS, which shows you how far this state still has to go. No wonder MS is still last in everything. We waste time on this junk instead of figuring out how to fund early childhood development...

eyerah

Mar 14 2011

"No wonder MS is still last in everything. We waste time on this junk........." EXACTLY - when will people in Mississippi get tired of the politicians here mocking their intelligence, in regards to moving this state forward - anyone's guess is good as mine? It's too much like right to believe the current elected officials in the most powerful party in the state, has the best interest of the people at heart.

Duan C.

Mar 14 2011

He wasn't tired of the Bush administration justice department telling him what to do.

redlion

Mar 14 2011

He’s saying a lot here. One thing I noticed… “while speaking to Republicans”… I understand that to mean that you don’t have anything of substance to say to a diverse audience nor are you necessarily interested in crafting a message that appeals to a broader base but you would rather speak to an audience that is insulated, polarized and looks and thinks just like you. President Johnson may have well have been mad. But fortunately for disenfranchised African Americans, the Voting Rights Act was passed and 43 years later helped elect our first African American president. And we have politicians like Bryant who help us to remember that the battle is not over and racism is alive and kicking.

833WMaple

Mar 15 2011