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Lecia Brooks Speaks at the 2015-2016 Political Science Convocation

Posted by: wichmannkm | November 11, 2015 | No Comment |

Lecia Brooks
Lecia Brooks, outreach director for the Southern Poverty Law Center and director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, delivered the 2015-2016 Convocation of Majors talk on November 3 in Sottile Theater. Her talk was entitled “Voting Rights and Race in American Politics.”

Political Science Club President, Katherine Calabro, welcomed the audience and Department Chair, Gibbs Knotts, introduced the speaker. He noted the timeliness of the topic, saying that it was the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and that the topic connected very well with the College’s Freshman Reading book, Freedom Summer, by Bruce Watson. He also said that the Walter Scott shooting and the Emanuel A.M.E. tragedy were further reminders of the continuing importance of race in our society. Brooks began by explaining the symbolism of the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery. She emphasized that obtaining voting rights for all people has been an issue since the founding of our country and that it takes “regular, everyday people with extraordinary courage” to create change. She noted that a pivotal point in the movement was when minorities who served in World War II returned to the United States only to find that their civil rights and voting rights were denied. The movement gained momentum after the ruling to desegregate schools in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. The men and women who participated in lunch counter sit-ins and “freedom rides” inspired the development of one of the most influential civil rights organizations, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During Freedom Summer, SNCC led 700 student volunteers into Mississippi in an effort to register black voters and educate school children.

Brooks emphasized that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other civil rights laws were a result of personal struggle and considerable sacrifice. She cited the murders of citizens like Herbert Lee and Louis Allen; Mississippi’s first NAACP field officer Medgar Evans; and Freedom Summer’s civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Brooks also spoke about contemporary issues, referencing the 2013 Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder. In this case, the court ruled that Section Five of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was unconstitutional. Brooks reminded the audience that Section Five mandated that certain states (especially the Southern states that were denying minorities the right to vote) required federal approval before changing voting laws. She argued that this law was very successful in protecting minority voters and asked the audience “What will you do to restore the act?”

Brooks ended by talking about some of the other contemporary barriers to voting. She noted that Alabama is closing 31 driver’s license centers in predominantly poor minority areas due to budget shortfalls. She argued that this is problematic because the state currently requires voters to present proper photo identification when voting and the closure of the centers makes obtaining driver’s licenses, the most common form of identification, very difficult for residents.

To learn more about the Southern Poverty Law Center and how you can become involved, please visit https://www.splcenter.org/.

under: Events

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