WS Chronicle

Time is ticking down as the trial to challenge North Carolina’s restrictive voter laws draws near.

On Monday, July 13, the federal court trial of N.C NAACP v. McCrory will be heard in the federal court building in Winston-Salem.

That voting rights case against Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina legislature is expected to take four weeks.
The state NAACP said this law is the first and the worst since the Shelby v. Holder decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
That decision affected the preclearance rules of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Federal lawmakers thought it prudent to add a section governing preclearance to prevent voter discrimination by requiring all state and local governments with a history of voting discrimination to get approval from the federal government before making any changes to any of their voting laws or procedures.

If state and local governments have a history of discrimination, that means they have done it before.

Chief Justice John Roberts said at the time of the decision that times have changed, so the preclearance should not be required.

N.C NAACP v. McCrory proves that times have not changed in North Carolina.
The restrictions approved in 2013 show that the top U.S. court misjudged the racism that still exists in high places.
The massacre in Charleston, South Carolina shows how that mistake has festered unchecked. The North Carolina restrictive voter law is not designed to enhance American freedom; it is designed to take it away.

Not only is the law affecting the poor and minority voters, it’s affecting white voters, too.
Some people find it hard to obtain driver licenses as an ID, for instance, because they have been convicted of driving under the influence.
Those people have a burden of having to get an acceptable ID to vote when in the past they could have simply shown a voter registration card and signed a roster to vote.

And what happened to the voter registration card, anyway?

We are thankful that the North Carolina NAACP is still around to fight the civil rights battles much like they were fought half a century ago.

We are thankful that the heritage of African-American fortitude has not faded amid the rollbacks of civil rights governments have undertaken in the 21st century.

We are thankful that African-Americans realize that freedom is not free.

We urge a united force for the Moral Monday fight inside and outside the courtroom on Monday.

We urge the people of all races to come out in force and support the effort to secure our freedoms again on July 13.