IRV JOYNER
“WE ARE THE TARGETS
AND INTENDED VICTIMS”
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
In the aftermath of the historic Nov. 2020 general elections, which saw a controversial Republican president lose reelection, and Republicans lose the U.S. Senate, and fail to overturn the U.S. House, comes a sweep of new election legislation across the country designed, Republicans say, to restore confidence in the electoral process.
NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee Chairman and civil rights atty. Irving Joyner calls it something else.
“The Republican Party is engaged in robust state-by-state efforts to restrict voting rights for racial minorities across this country, “ Joyner said in a statement. “Those efforts are designed to eliminate or roll-back every voting device and method which resulted in increases in voting participation by minority groups.”
“ In addition, the U.S. Supreme court is considering whether to gut the remaining sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In every respect, the rights of African Americans and other people of color to vote are under attack and we must respond in every corner in which this regressive battle is being waged. In this campaign to restrict voting rights and opportunities, we are the targets and intended victims.”
Thus the importance of House passage last week of H.R. 1, the most sweeping voting rights and ethics legislation in a generation. Not one Republican voted for the measure, and there is serious doubt it will pass the Senate as long as the filibuster is in place.
H.R. 1, if it does become law, would prevent much of the Republican voting restrictions states with GOP majorities either have passed, or are contemplating passing, like eliminating “Souls to the polls” Sunday voting, which is immensely popular with African-Americans.
In addition, in honor of the 56th Anniversary of the March 6th, 1965 Bloody Sunday civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., Pres.Biden signed a limited Executive Order promoting voter registration and voter access for people with disabilities.
“In this fight, we must applaud the recent passage of legislation by the U.S. House of Representatives to protect and enlarge these voting rights,” Atty Joyner says. “We also applaud President Joseph Biden to add executive support to support these rights, but those acts are not complete and long-lasting. In both cases, the U.S. Senate must also pass that voting right legislation and formalize the President’s recent executive actions.
Ironically of all of the Republican-led legislatures posting over 265 bills targeting regressive reform recently, the NC General Assembly is one of them. One of the reasons why the GOP here may not be in such a hurry (besides two voter ID cases pending in court presently), is the fact that unlike other states, Republicans didi quite well during the Nov. 2020 elections, despite controversial changes to the election laws involving absentee and mail-in balloting and early voting.
Unlike other states, those changes helped to increase Republican voter turnout, thus helping the GOP to retain control of both houses of the legislature, all open seats on state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and Pres. Trump winning this state.
Republican legislative leaders are still expected to pull several election “reform” laws out of their hats before this session ends, and Irv Joyner says African-Americans should not be lulled to sleep in the process.
“Now is not the time for our people to become so comfortable and complacent with their life styles and semblance of freedom that they don’t think that the right and opportunities to vote can be taken away,” Atty. Joyner says. “We have to re-double our efforts to educate our people about this danger and mobilize them to maximize their efforts to protect this precious right. Presently, we are at another bridge crossing moment and we must vigorously resist these efforts to suppress our voting rights.”
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REV. BARBER GETTING HIS COVID-19 SHOT LAST WEEK
REV. BARBER SPEAKING WITH NCDHHS SEC. MANDY COHEN AFTER THEY GOT THEIR COVID-19 SHOTS LAST WEEK
REPORT SAYS NC BEST AT
BLACK/WHITE VACCINATIONS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
When it comes to distributing COVID-19 vaccinations equitably between Black and white residents, North Carolina is one of the top states to do so, according to Bloomberg News’ Vaccine Tracker.
In fact, according to a March 6th Bloomberg Report report, about 11% of the state’s African-American population has received at least one shot, as opposed to 17% of North Carolina’s White population.
Those numbers make North Carolina fourth in the nation in terms of spread between the two groups among states with the most comprehensive data sets.
North Carolina reportedly has racial data for 99.6 of residents who have been administered a set thus far.
There were reports early on that the vaccine was not being evenly distributed statewide, but officials at the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services wasted no time afterwards correcting it’s vaccine management system, and consulting with African-American and Hispanic community leaders about where there need was greatest.
The plan - to send more vaccines to areas of higher concentrations of historically underserved populations starting in January.
So if 30% of a particular county’s total population is Black, then each provider in the count is expected to administer at least 30% of it’s vaccine supply to African-Americans.
Non-conpliance means risking losing supply.
Black churches were partnered with in order to build up trust in the communities. The state’s vaccine management system required demographic data to completely register anyone for a shot, thus helping to track progress more effectively. With African-Americans disproportionately suffering from the coronavirus at more than twice the amount of whites nationally, making sure that vaccine distribution was as equitable as possible was a top priority, NC. Health and Human Services Sec. Mandy Cohen told Bloomberg News.
Community clinics are employed to reach people who trust those outlets. All the while, the state is keeping a close eye on data in order to strictly measure vaccine supply to providers so that goals are met.
Thus far, of the 1.5 million first doses administered since January, 77% have gone to White people, who comprise 71% of the population. African-Americans make up 22% of the population, and have received 16% of COVID shots in North Carolina thus far.
To ensure that African-Americans knew that they were a priority, Sec. Cohen joined last Friday with former NCNAACP Pres. Rev. Dr. William Barber in Raleigh to publicly take shots of the new single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to prove that they are safe and secure.
The state admittedly is having problems reaching an equitable share of the Hispanic population, who make up 10% of the state’s population. Because that population skews younger, many Hispanics didn’t qualify for the first round of vaccine shots, which were dedicate to older groups.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 03-11-21
GOVERNOR AND STATE LAWMAKERS REACH DEAL ON REOPENING SCHOOLS
[RALEIGH]Even with the pandemic still prominent, Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders have found a way past their differences to reopen public schools in North Carolina, they announced Wednesday. All elementary schools will reopen for "Plan A" in-person instruction. Middle school and High school students would follow a mix of Plan A and Plan B restrictions, meaning there would be some social distancing, and online instruction to limit transmission of the coronavirus. Students with IEP or 504 special education wouldn't have to move to Plan A if their parents want to stay in Plan B. The governor could shut down schools if necessary, but only district by district.
“SYSTEMIC RACISM” IS THE REASON WHY ALL OF RALEIGH DOES NOT PROSPER, SAYS ECONOMIC GROUP
[RALEIGH] “Not all residents share the same high quality of life in this region, and that fact is due to systemic racism,” said Danya Perry, director of Equitable Economic Development at Wake County Economic Development during a presentation to Wake County Commissioners Monday. The group, part of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, “…imagines “…a future where the full potential of a local economy is unlocked through the dismantling of barriers and the expansion of opportunities for lower-income citizens and communities of emphasis.”
NC SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS SUES NCDOT OVER LICENSE PLATES
[GREENSBORO] The NC Sons of Confederate Veterans is suing the NC Department of Transportation because the state agency decided to stop issuing state license plates with the confederate battle flag on them. The group claims that discriminates against its members who pay for a specialty plate that has the flag as part of it’s logo. NCDOT determined that it should discontinue the plate logo because it had “…the potential to offend the who view them.” R. Kevin Stone, commander of the NC Sons of Confederate Veterans, disagreed. “The Confederate Battle Flag is a symbol of our heritage. “Symbols can often have more than one meaning. To assume the Confederate Battle Flag is uniquely offensive is to validate only one viewpoint and thereby discriminate against others.”
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