City Elections coming up in New Orleans… displaced blacks need not apply.

Disenfranchisement. Institutionalized disenfranchisement. I honestly didn’t think I’d see it in my country ever again. I thought we were smarter. I thought we had learned our lesson. I thought America as a nation had evolved beyond this. I guess I was wrong.

According to an article in The Nation, the New Orleans municipal elections coming up on April 22 will have to do without an estimated 250,000 African Americans citizens (more than half of the city’s residents). Why?? Because the Bush administration is opposed to satellite voting stations that would allow New Orleans voters, scattered throughout the country in the wake of hurricane Katrina, to vote in the upcoming elections. And the Bush Justice department actually publicly lied in their ruling supporting the Louisiana State Legislature’s plan to exclude satellite voting stations outside the state. The Justice department claimed that "minority members of the Louisiana House and Senate were unanimous” in their support of the plan, a claim that is disputed by minority members of the Legislature.

And the result of this decision? The majority of New Orleans residents will have no say in who leads the reconstruction of their city. They will have no input in how their school system is redefined. They will be denied their birthright as citizens of this great nation to select their representatives, and set the course for the future of their city. In a democratic republic, is there anything more fundamental, or more important than that? To deny these citizens their Constitutional right to self-determination through their vote is tantamount to revoking their citizenship. One dedicated public servant, Rep. Barney Frank, referred to the administration’s policies in New Orleans as “ethnic cleansing by inaction.” What else can you call Bushco's response to Katrina? I think Kanye West hit the nail right on the head: “George Bush doesn't care about black people.”

This is an attack upon the very foundations of democracy in America, and it CANNOT be tolerated. Write your Congressman, write your Senator, run through the streets with your hair on fire. Don't let this issue get brushed under the rug by Bushco & the mainstream media. DO NOT allow the right to vote to be taken away. Not in New Orleans, not anywhere. This simple thing, this basic right to express one’s views, to express one’s confidence, or to express one’s displeasure with the status quo, can never be taken for granted, and MUST NEVER be surrendered for any reason. To do so would be to dishonor the memory of all those before us who have fought and died to guarantee us that right.

I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again… America, we need to take our country back. We need to take a stand, and send a message to this administration: Enough already. ENOUGH! We will tolerate the hijacking of our democracy no more. We will no longer allow you to pervert the Constitution to your own selfish ends and forward your evil, corrupt, and fascist agenda. We will no longer sit idly by while you sell our nation’s, our children’s’ future to the highest bidder. We’ve been tolerant and complacent long enough. It's time to get involved. And it’s high time that “We the People” took back the reigns of our nation.