THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280188
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: GUEST EDITORIAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL C. GILLIS
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was created to ensure that African-Americans would have full and free access to the ballot box.
Many of us still remember the fear involved in trying to register to vote. We remember the ultimate price for the ballot paid by Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and the four little girls in a church in Birmingham, Ala., who were blown up as they attended Sunday school.
We also remember the toils of Moses A. Riddick, Virginia H. Gillis and countless other blacks who risked their lives to exercise an American right - the right to vote. Under no circumstance will that sacred right be tampered with.
The recent attempt to move a polling precinct from Elephant's Fork to another location is an example of tampering with the Voting Rights Act. The Elephant's Fork location gives the black community of this area the maximum opportunity to participate in local, state and national elections.
True to form, whenever it appears that a growing concentration of black voters is about to give blacks a voice in our city government, actions are taken to dilute black voting strength.
``A black snake will bite you just as well as a white one,'' said the late, great Thurgood Marshall. Another famous African-American, the great Carter G. Woodson, further stated, ``When you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him to stand here or go yonder. He will find his `proper place' and will stay in it. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.''
To make matters worse, some African-Americans receive awards and medals for contributing to the perpetuation of these injustices. They serve on boards and in chambers but lack the courage to tell the white majority that they are wrong on certain issues that affect the black community.
The NAACP appreciated the concerns of the Suffolk Sun and its editor, John Pruitt. (April 23, ``No good gained from these tantrums'')
Unfortunately, Mr. Pruitt never shows up with positive ideas on improving the quality of life for African-Americans in Suffolk.
He never writes of the income gaps between Suffolk's black and white citizens and the disparity in job opportunities between blacks and whites. He never writes of our people in poverty and continued expansion of our black underclass living in substandard housing. He never writes of the poor state of our schools and the dead-end diplomas many of our black young adults obtain.
He never writes about the countless number of blacks being sent to prison at the hand of uncaring white judges.
Let it be known that the NAACP will, in the words of Frederick Douglass, ``fearlessly assert our rights, faithfully proclaim our wrongs and earnestly demand for African-Americans instant and even-handed justice.'' MEMO: Mr. Gillis is president of the Suffolk NAACP and areawide chairman of
the NAACP.
Comment? Call 446-2494.
by CNB