(NAME-MCE) STOP --- Re: RIGHT TO VOTE

Wed Dec 12 10:00:54 EST 2007

I believe this is an Urban Legend. Please see:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa120298.htm

  *Will Black Voting Rights Expire in 2007? *  *Netlore Archive:  False
email rumor claims that the right of African Americans to vote is set to
expire in 2007 along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965*

Another Internet hoax made headlines recently as the media got wind of the
reaction among black Americans to a widely-forwarded email message claiming
that their voting rights will vanish in the year 2007. Similar rumors have
circulated since the mid-1990s.

The message currently raising concerns reads as follows:

  PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN!!!!

We are quickly approaching the 21st Century and I was wondering if anyone
out there knew 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 only another 25 years. Which means that in the year 2007 we could lose
the right to vote!

Does anyone realize that Blacks/African Americans are the only group of
people who still 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 right to vote (crazy, but true). In order for this
to be passed, 38 states will have to approve an extension.

In my opinion and many others, this is ludicrous! Not only should the
extension be approved, but ... this 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 I am sure that
many more individuals are not aware of this.

[ *READ FULL TEXT* <http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blvote.htm> ]

*NOTE: A latter-day version of this message attributes authorship to Camille
Cosby, wife of comedian Bill Cosby. She did not write it.*

The kernel of truth in the text is that the Voting Rights Act of
1965<http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro%5Fb.htm>is
indeed set to expire unless it is renewed by Congress before 2007. The
rest of it is false. The basic right of *all* American citizens to vote,
regardless of race, is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and *can't* expire
with the Voting Rights Act.

The NAACP addressed this issue in a statement quoted in the November 19,
1998 issue of the Internet
Tourbus<http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.tourbus.com>:

African American voting rights were granted by the Fifteenth Amendment,
which was passed immediately after the Civil War. Expiration of the Voting
Rights Act will not terminate the rights granted under the Fifteenth
Amendment.

The U.S. Department of Justice concurs. In its "Voting Rights Act
Clarification" dated April 2, 1998, it states:

The basic prohibition against discrimination in voting contained in the
Fifteenth amendment and in the Voting Rights Act does not expire in 2007 —
it does not expire at all; it is permanent.

The confusion arises from the apparent assumption that it's the Voting
Rights Act alone which guarantees suffrage to minorities. In reality, all
the Act does is keep in place a set of so-called "extraordinary remedies"
meant to *enforce* the Fifteenth Amendment at state and local levels, where,
in defiance of federal law, obstacles to the voting rights of black people
were still in place in some parts of the country as of the early 1960s.
These remedies, designed specifically to address problems that existed at
the time, were never meant to be permanent, which is why the Voting Rights
Act comes up for renewal every 25 years.

It's difficult to determine exactly where and when the rumor that African
Americans' voting rights will expire in 2007 got started, though Internet
discussions of the topic in 1997 made reference to the issue being raised on
Tom Joyner's radio talk show. One Usenet
posting<http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://groups.google.com/groups%3Fselm=5cg4tj%25241o5m%2540news.missouri.edu%26oe=UTF%2D8%26output=gplain>dated
January 21, 1997 is clearly a precursor of the text now circulating.

"I'd say we have gotten hundreds of calls on this over the past two years,"
South Carolina Representative James Clyburn of told reporters this week.
"It's frustrating dealing with this hoax."

And I thought I was the only one who had days like that.

On Dec 11, 2007 5:54 PM, Debra Johnson-Jones <djjones at siu.edu> wrote:

>
>
>
> >Hi All.
> >
> >At the recent NAACP Meeting, President Bush finally met with the
> >leaders and assured them that he would sign the right to vote bill
> >for another 25 years.
> >
> >My only concern is: Do the other race have to be subjected to a
> >right to  vote extension? Personally, the President, if he really
> >wanted to show  Good faith, should have abolished this bill and made
> >it simply a right  with  no limitations. But then maybe I am living
> >in a dream world. However, I  know IT CAN BE DONE!! Voting Rights
> >Act-Expires for blacks in 2007.
> >
> >Below you will find a speech that Bill Cosby's wife gave at a
> >function.  Everyone please read this and pass it on to as many
> >African Americans  you come in contact with.
> >
> >Camille Cosby just made a reference about the  Voting Rights Act in
> >her most recent open letter on racism. This is extremely important.
> >We are in 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, Alder persons, 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.... .
> >
> >When I received this one I had no choice but to pass it on. Please
> >do the same!
>
>
> DEBRA JOHNSON-JONES, a registered voter
>
>
> Debra Johnson-Jones
> Clinical Instructor/ Center Coordinator
> College of Education and Human Services
> http://web.coehs.siu.edu/Public/
> Wham Building - Mail Code 4612
> Southern Illinois University Carbondale
> 625 Wham Drive
> Carbondale, IL  62901-4612
> (618)453-6324 (618)453-1646 FAX
> www.siuc.edu
>
> "Friendship is Essential to The Soul"
>
> NAME: National Association For Multicultural Education
> President 2007-2009
>
> National Association For Multicultural Education
> 18th Annual International Conference
> in New Orleans, Louisiana
> November 12-16, 2008
> http://www.nameorg.org
> http://www.diversityweb.org
>
>
> The Red Ribbon
>  Over 200,000 African-Americans have died of AIDS, half a million
> are now living with HIV and blacks are 10 times more likely than
> whites to have AIDS.
>
> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Bill Howe

Travel to China - June 1-14, 2008 - Teachers & Health Care Professionals -
http://www.billhowe.org/China2008.htm

Web - http://www.billhowe.org
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Blog - Multicultural Education - http://billhowe.org/MCE/

Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands;
we have no right to assume otherwise.
If we do not falter in our duty now,
we may be able, handful that we are,
to end the racial nightmare,
and achieve our country,
and change the history of the world.

James Baldwin, "The Fire Next Time"