African Americans silent as voting rights threatened

African American voters in Maryland. PHOTO/Rich Vary/NewsHour

In the late ’90s, the Internet belched forth a rumor that the Voting Rights Act was soon to expire and that African Americans would lose the vote as a result. Though stupid and untrue, the rumor spread like a dust cloud till it was inescapable. You couldn’t get away from it in a confession booth. You couldn’t get away from it in a phone booth. Everybody was up in arms.

Flash forward to 2012. Now the threat is real. There is a sustained effort to suppress the African American vote as we approach this pivotal election. And what is our response?

Silence.

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