Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 October 2000 — Page 2

The Muncie Times, October 19, 2000, page 2

EDITORIAL

No matter what you do, don’t forget to vote Nov. 7

On Nov. 7, Americans of all political persuasions, stripes, shapes, sizes and ideologies will flock to the polls for the first national election of the new millennium. At stake will be the election of the first president of the new century. Also at stake are the elections of governors, members of the U. S. Senate and the U. S. House of Representatives, as well as those running for other state and local offices. It is no exaggeration to call this a pivotal election, one that could ramifications that could reverberate into the shaping of events in the coming years. The Muncie

Times does not endorse those running for political office. But it does resolutely urge all qualified Americans, especially African Americans and other people of color, to exercise their right to vote. These rights did not come easily. Civil rights leaders and followers died in the 1960s while demanding that African Americans should be given the right to vote. Brave men and women journeyed South to support those who were campaigning for the right to vote and to help elect those who would run the country. Civil rights campaigners were terrorized by the Ku Klux

Klan and its accomplices. These domestic terrorists and murderers resorted to nefarious, inhuman and despicable methods to intimidate other Americans. The domestic terrorists murdered, maimed, bombed, assaulted, attacked and killed at will. Police agencies, including even the vaunted FBI, ignored these criminals, allowing them to continue in their evil ways. In some cases, local authorities created barriers—including literacy tests—designed to prevent people of African descent from registering as voters In other cases, local law enforcement agencies (including local police

LETTER POLICY

The Muncie Times accepts and publishes “Letters to the Editor” under the following conditions: ■ The letter must indicate the writer’s name, address and phone number where the writer can be reached during the day. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. ■ If the writer wishes the letter to be published under a pseudonym, that wish will be honored. However, the writer’s

full particulars must be included in the letter, along with the suggested psedonym. ■ Letters must be brief, preferably no more than 300 words long and should, if possible, be typed and doublespaced. Hand-written letters will also be accepted. IS The editor reserves the right to edit all letters for brevity, accuracy, taste, grammar and libel.

M All correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. * Unsolicited manuscripts will only be returned if the writer includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope with correct postage.

MUNCIE TIMES STAFF

Publisher Bea Moten-Foster Editor John T. Lambkun Advertising Bea Moten-Foster and Richard Casey Layout Nikki L. Petty Typesetting -. ...Samantha L. Overbay

Contributors: Bea Moten-Foster, Bernice Rowell-Jackson, Dr. T.S. Kumbula, John Lambkun, Judy Mays and Hugh Price. The Muncie Times is published twice monthly at 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, Ind. 47303. It covers the communities of Anderson, Marion, New Castle, Richmond, and Muncie. All editorial correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303. Telephone (765) 741-0037. Fax (765) 741-0040.

chiefs and police, sheriffs and sheriffs’ deputies) sided with the criminals, brutally beat up and terrorized peaceful protesters. It was not uncommon to see the police and sheriffs’ deputies in some jurisdictions joining the KKK and other criminal groups. The right of black Americans to vote, therefore, was bought with the blood and sweat of martyrs of all races. The right to vote did not come cheaply. Some people went to prison. Others were injured, killed or tortured. Others were bombed or threatened. But they would not be swayed. Their message was abundantly clear: Nothing would stop them from demanding and receiving the right to vote. Even when some demagogic politicians, some of whom are still alive today, tried to pretend that the right to vote was a state’s right (not federal) issue, civil rights supporters could not be denied. Ultimately they triumphed when the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson got Congress, despite opposition and filibustering from those who felt African Americans should permanently be denied the right to vote, to pass the historic Voting Rights Act. That vote empowered the African American community and other communities of color. It would be a betrayal to the heroes, heroines and martyrs of

the civil rights struggle if we fail to vote on Nov. 7. We honor their memories and their sacrifices when we register to vote and then vote. Beside electing a new president and vice president and bidding farewell to the Clinton administration, there are also state and local elections that demand our attention. We have the power to determine whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Gov. George W. Bush becomes the next president of the United States. We have watched the debates. We have heard the two aspirants offer us their competing visions for the country. Now is the time to weigh their stances and decide which candidate will help our community and the country the most. Every vote is going to count in an election as tight is this one. We also have decisions to make as to whether Gov. Frank O’Bannon remains in office or is replaced. There are important contests for U. S., members of the U. S. House of Representative, the Indiana Assembly and for Delaware County offices. If we want a share of the pie and if we want to demand a seat at the table of power, then we must vote so that our voices can be heard. Those who are apathetic, lethargic or politically indifferent have no right to complain if the wrong people win in the November election. See you at the polls on Nov. 7.