Political powers have notoriously made socio economic decisions that have adversely affected underserved communities—but according to the National Urban League, the last few years have been particularly devastating for the Black community. Because of this, they are issuing a ‘call-to-arms’ for Black voters and the like to take their power back and vote like their lives depend on it, because they do.
To mark the release of their 2022 State of Black America® report, “Under Siege: The Plot to Destroy Democracy, on April 12 the National Urban League (NUL) convened the nation’s foremost political, media and civic engagement minds to discuss the devastating effects of voter suppression. During the virtual event, “call-to-arms,” discussions took place, with participants that included MSNBC’s Tiffany D. Cross, Al Sharpton and Marc C. Morial, NUL’s CEO and president among others.
“The anti-democracy wave that began to rise after record-high Black voting rates in 2008 and crested with the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder to gut the Voting Rights Act has now broken against ‘The Big Lie,’ the relentless campaign to invalidate the 2020 election,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said.
Using data and analysis from research partner, The Brennan Center for Justice, this year’s edition of The State of Black America exposes the four main tactics employed in the plot: gerrymandering, voter suppression, misinformation, and intimidation.
“Politicians have used these tactics for generations, to exclude voters of color and to give their parties an edge,” Morial said. “But never before has the nation seen such an insidious and coordinated campaign to obliterate the very principle of ‘one person, one vote’ from the political process.
The report is described as an analysis of a nation in crisis and forces every American to confront vital questions: How can we restore our democracy, ensure the integrity of future elections, and advance the cause of racial equality in such a divisive environment?
The release event, which was livestreamed and the report featured coauthors that include
Senator Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Congress Member Bennie Thompson, Chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Congress Member Maxine Waters, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Damon Hewitt, President & Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Nsé Ufot, Chief Executive Officer, The New Georgia Project, Sean Morales-Doyle, and Acting Director, Voting Rights, Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice
The full report is available at StateOfBlackAmerica.org.
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