FYI and to post on the crmvet.org website if there is an appropriate spot. They voted unanimously to support a resolution endorsing reathorization which must be done in 2007. The process towards that decision has begun with hearings in the House of Representatives begun in October. Write your congressional representatives to let them know reasons why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 must be reauthorized. Thank you!
Maria Gitin, CFRE
Maria Gitin & Associates
P.O. Box 216
Capitola, CA 95010-0216
831.763.6983
www.mariagitin.com
Voting Rights Act Renewal
Watsonville City Council
November 22, 2005
Maria Gitin, Spruce Circle, Watsonville
Thank you for placing this important endorsement renewing the 1965 Civil Rights Act on your consent agenda.
40 yrs ago when I was college Freshman civil rights worker in the South, Reverend Andrew Young referred to us as The Hopeful Generation. We faced daily harassment, jail, beatings and even death for our willingness to walk dusty roads with local African American leaders far braver than we students. To educate and register voters so they could go from being 90% of the people and only 10% of the voters to the representative majority they are today.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed that summer was our most valuable tool for change because it sanctioned "outsiders" — the federal government to intervene when voting rights were denied through poll taxes, unreasonable literacy tests and outright violence. Along with hundreds of other students, I was arrested and jailed without cause and along with many, I was chased and terrorized daily by the KKK armed with weapons distributed to them by Alabama state troopers. A SNCC car I was riding in was shot off the road, resulting in serious injuries.
The Voting Rights Bill passed. We registered thousands of Black voters. Most of us lived to tell the tale.
I wish I could say that everything changed and stayed changed. But as you know, only 16-17 years ago local residents here in Watsonville had to use that legislation, take their case all the way to the Supreme Court to finally dismantle at-large elections that prevented our Latino majority from being adequately represented. Today, thanks to the hard work and courage of all who pressed forward that case, we have a truly representative city council.
Many of you here this evening worked long days and nights registering and educating voters on our most recent election. While we didn't get shot at or arrested, we still heard plenty of biased, racist comments that made it clear that without legal protections, this true representation by the Latino majority in our community could easily be undone.
The right to vote free of barriers whether they be of physical access, language or intimidation is preserved through this Act. Thank you for giving our next generation the opportunity to be the next Hopeful Generation by having the courage to endorse renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
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Last Modified: November 23, 2005.
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