Monday evening in Charlotte, at the opening of the Republican National Committee’s African American engagement office in North Carolina, Earl Philip, North Carolina African American state director, said he believed in the message he has been taking to churches, schools and community groups. “Our platform has a lot in common with the African American community, which is strong families, believing in God, a strong economy and equal opportunity for all,” said Philip, one of three full-time staffers in the office. And all of this certainly sounds nice. But there’s still the problem of the inherent conflict between what Republicans say to African-American voters and what Republicans do to African-American voters. Asked about new voting restrictions imposed on North Carolinians by state Republican lawmakers, Philip said the new law is not a “voter suppression” bill. Except it really is. Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and his allies imposed voter-ID restrictions never needed before in North Carolina, narrowing the early-voting window, placing new restrictions on voter-registration drives, making it much harder for students to vote, ending same-day registration during the early voting period, and making it easier for vigilante poll-watchers to challenge eligible voters. All of these measures, according to the state’s own numbers, disproportionately affect African-American voters.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 23:39:20 +0000
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