Black Voting rights are again under attack and being assaulted. On May 7, Cedric Davis, Sr. and Brenda Duff, who are African Americans, were elected by the people of Wilmer-Hutchins to serve as school board members. By law, they should take their seats on the school board, but it was nullified by Texas State Commissioner of Education Shirley Neeley, who used the U.S. Justice Department to dissolve the board, throw out the election and rip the power right out of voter’s hands. Neither Neeley nor the U.S. Justice Department has the right to deny voters their voice under the law. Things were suppose to get better with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, but in a short period of 41 years, I see history repeating itself. Neely said she wanted the district to remain open and want what is best for the children. Well, taking away the voting rights of parents living in the district and replacing it with a handpicked “House Negroes” (some who don’t live in the district) is not showing good will. It is resurrecting the same racists “ghosts” from Reconstruction Era politics and forcing it as a test case for future assaults on Black leaders in co munities across America at every political level from school boards to Black churches, mayor’s chairs, city councils, county commissioner chambers to state representatives. It has been well documented in American history how some whites have gone to great lengths to keep Blacks from voting or to dilute the Black vote so much that it discourages turnout and sends a message our voice and votes do not count or just don’t make much difference. In 1875, the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, but there was a national backlash against civil rights, including lynching, threats and uproars in the South leading to the Supreme Court's nullification of the Civil Rights Act in 1883. The pressure to keep Blacks from the polls occurred, because many Southern Blacks were active in politics after the Civil War. According to a PBS report on Jim Crow, after 1877, most lost the right to vote or to hold government positions and a year later Congress disallowed use of the Army to protect black voters from intimidation and physical violence and threats at the polls. Congress later stopped using federal marshals to protect black voters opening the door intimidation and threats from whites hating Blacks. After 1900, the assault on Black voting and civil rights continued at state, congressional and presidential levels. President Woodrow Wilson and congressional leaders cooperated to decrease the number of federal appointments to Blacks and ensure federal officials met white supremacists’ goals wanting to control and dominate Blacks in the south. The assault on African American civil and voting rights left many Blacks feeling worn, disfranchised and demoralized, because Blacks knew state and federal leaders were not concerned about the Black vote or the overall state of Black America. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act declared it illegal to use literacy or character tests as a requirement for voter registration and in counties and states. At last, Jim Crow was dead, or so we thought. Today, Whites are at it again, attempting to reduce the meaning of civil rights and voting legislation having slowly started the same Jim Crow pendulum swinging again to eventually affect our ability to make decisions and have the same kind of equal treatment and opportunities as Whites now enjoy in America. This time instead of making sweeping wholesale changes at the top, racist Whites are using a “back door” approach from the bottom up and working to crumble and erode Black power at local and state levels opening the door for Black voter apathy and “state’s rights” issues that were the lightning rod for starting the first Civil War in America. The failure of duly elected school board members to be allowed to serve in the Wilmer Hutchins Independent School District is one of the first litmus tests for how rich, greedy, racist, power hungry plantation minded Whites plan to take back power and express greater goals of retaking control of the lives and destiny of the African American race. The idea is as it was in the day after the Civil War and Reconstruction: “You people are not smart enough to make your own decisions” and “You just can’t “govern” without our help and direction.” If the state takes over the district, because of its financial troubles under Texas law, follow the law, but do not allow the power to override the voice of the people, who selected at least two of the five seats sitting on the school board. The strong mayor vote in Dallas was a classic testimony to the power of the Black vote. The southern sector of Dallas (majority African American) demonstrated to whites what can happen when we register to vote, turnout and cast ballots together as a unit and work together as a people… THAT’S OUR POWER It is that POWER scaring the white man and causing him to lose countless hours of sleep trying to figure ways to destroy us Plantation Whites have to keep Blacks down, dumb and divided to win. Don’t be fooled - Stand Up for Your Rights. The “South” is making attempts to “rise again.” ….and you know what I mean.