Civil Rights Laws are not about protecting minority rights. They are about protecting everyoneÂ’s rights. That is why I found this headline galling.

Suit turns Voting Rights Act on its head

The argument being made is that using the law to protect the voting rights of white citizens is somehow illegitimate.

Why the suit, brought by the US Department of Justice?

Ike Brown is a legend in Mississippi politics, a fast-talking operative both loved and hated for his ability to turn out black voters and get his candidates into office.

That success has also landed him at the heart of a federal lawsuit that's about to turn the Voting Rights Act on its end.

For the first time, the U.S. Justice Department is using the 1965 law to allege racial discrimination against whites.

Brown, head of the Democratic Party in Mississippi's rural Noxubee County, is accused of waging a campaign to defeat white voters and candidates with tactics including intimidation and coercion. Also named in the lawsuit is Circuit Clerk Carl Mickens, who has agreed to refrain from rejecting white voters' absentee ballots considered defective while accepting similar ballots from black voters.

Such tactics are illegitimate when used against blacks, Hispanics, or other minorities. They are also illegitimate when used against whites where minorities are the majority.

Unless, of course, the notion that we are a country in which equal protection of the laws is colorblind is a false one.

Posted by: Greg at 11:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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