Bloody Sunday - 40 years ago
Forty years ago a protest march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama, was planned to highlight the discrimination in that state against black people (African Americans) from registering to vote - violation of voting laws by the state.
The demonstrators/marchers were assaulted by local state police.
Dr Martin Luther King then filed a federal lawsuit for the right to march on to Montgomery. On 21 March, demonstrators began the third and final march under the protection of federal troops. Dr King and his supporters arrived a week later and held a rally attended by thousands.
Finally President Lyndon B Johnson signed a new Voting Rights Act in August 1965 that banned discrimination in voting practices and procedures on the grounds of race or colour.
You can read more about it here from:
USA Today
BBC on this day
US Library of Congress
But it seemed that even recently, in November 2000, some people in the state of Florida forgot about civil rights. Hard won civil rights.
Some 90.2 percent (who were African American voters) on a list of 57,700 names were deleted from the voter rolls because their names were similar to names of felons (who lose their right to vote in Florida).
The name of the 'felon' was counted multiple times (hence all the extra names). They were also all black. The deleted list had that person's race next to their name.
Why was/is there a need to list someone's race or skin colour?
This is an outrage. My feline friends in Florida should ask their humans to march against this civil rights violation.
Cats do not discriminate against people whatsoever (we even tolerate disgusting food and bad taste in music). Humans should also not discriminate against each other.
........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
Today was quieter after all the excitment of the weekend. The weather is starting to change for the better (in cooler weather, I get more cuddles).
My human has also started reading Voltaire's Zadig out loud to me. Here are the first two paragraphs:
Du temps du roi Moabdar il y avait à Babylone un jeune homme nommé Zadig, né avec un beau naturel fortifié par l'éducation. Quoique riche et jeune, il savait modérer ses passions; il n'affectait rien; il ne voulait point toujours avoir raison, et savait respecter la faiblesse des hommes. On était étonné de voir qu'avec beaucoup d'esprit il n'insultât jamais par des railleries à ces propos si vagues, si rompus, si tumultueux, à ces médisances téméraires, à ces décisions ignorantes, à ces turlupinades grossières, à ce vain bruit de paroles, qu'on appelait conversation dans Babylone.
Ha ha ha ha ha... he is actually reading it to me in English, not French! But I translate it back to French in my head.
keisercat@wildmail.com
The demonstrators/marchers were assaulted by local state police.
Dr Martin Luther King then filed a federal lawsuit for the right to march on to Montgomery. On 21 March, demonstrators began the third and final march under the protection of federal troops. Dr King and his supporters arrived a week later and held a rally attended by thousands.
Finally President Lyndon B Johnson signed a new Voting Rights Act in August 1965 that banned discrimination in voting practices and procedures on the grounds of race or colour.
You can read more about it here from:
USA Today
BBC on this day
US Library of Congress
But it seemed that even recently, in November 2000, some people in the state of Florida forgot about civil rights. Hard won civil rights.
Some 90.2 percent (who were African American voters) on a list of 57,700 names were deleted from the voter rolls because their names were similar to names of felons (who lose their right to vote in Florida).
The name of the 'felon' was counted multiple times (hence all the extra names). They were also all black. The deleted list had that person's race next to their name.
Why was/is there a need to list someone's race or skin colour?
This is an outrage. My feline friends in Florida should ask their humans to march against this civil rights violation.
Cats do not discriminate against people whatsoever (we even tolerate disgusting food and bad taste in music). Humans should also not discriminate against each other.
........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo........
Today was quieter after all the excitment of the weekend. The weather is starting to change for the better (in cooler weather, I get more cuddles).
My human has also started reading Voltaire's Zadig out loud to me. Here are the first two paragraphs:
Du temps du roi Moabdar il y avait à Babylone un jeune homme nommé Zadig, né avec un beau naturel fortifié par l'éducation. Quoique riche et jeune, il savait modérer ses passions; il n'affectait rien; il ne voulait point toujours avoir raison, et savait respecter la faiblesse des hommes. On était étonné de voir qu'avec beaucoup d'esprit il n'insultât jamais par des railleries à ces propos si vagues, si rompus, si tumultueux, à ces médisances téméraires, à ces décisions ignorantes, à ces turlupinades grossières, à ce vain bruit de paroles, qu'on appelait conversation dans Babylone.
Ha ha ha ha ha... he is actually reading it to me in English, not French! But I translate it back to French in my head.
keisercat@wildmail.com
posted by Keiser at 22:00
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