Racially-Based Suppression of the African-American Vote (Must Read)

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Racially-Based Suppression of the African-American Vote

In less than one week, the 2004 presidential election will take place. One ticket might win a decisive victory, but it is also possible that, as John Dean predicted in his recent column, we could have a replay of the uncertainty that engulfed the 2000 election.

Regardless of who wins, however, a continuing, and execrable, election-related practice merits our attention. This practice has tainted electioneering for more than a century: It is racially-based vote suppression, the most recent practitioners of which have been Republicans.

What exactly is racially-based vote suppression? Simply defined, it is the targeting of potential voters, based on their race, in an attempt to suppress the exercise of their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Following the Civil War and passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed African-American men the franchise, suppression and intimidation tactics often included physical violence. But actual violence (or explicit threats of violence) were not then, and are not now, essential to the effective suppression of African-American votes.

As I will explain, the practice of racially-based vote suppression is not only

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Racially-Based Suppression of the African-American Vote

The THREE HOUR POLL TAX!!!