As so many know by now, a letter written by the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King (Dr. Martin Luther King’s widow) has been circulating around the Internet blogosphere in her challenge to Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III’s racist history against equality, voting rights, and the criminal justice system.
The letter was written March 13, 1986, and was sent to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to reject his nomination when President Ronald Reagan wanted to appoint Sessions to a federal judge position in Alabama. Below is an excerpt of her nine-page letter:
Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. Mr Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.
Free exercise of voting rights is so fundamental to American democracy that we can not tolerate any form of infringement of those rights. Of all the groups who have been disenfranchised in our nation’s history, none has struggled longer nor suffered more in the attempt to win the vote than Black citizens. No group has had access to the ballot box denied so persistently and intently. Over the past century, a broad array of schemes have been used in attempts to block the Black vote.”
The exercise of the franchise is an essential means by which our citizens ensure that those who are governing will be responsible. My husband called it the number one civil right. The denial of access to the ballot box ultimately results in the denial of other fundamental rights.
If we are going to make our timeless dream of justice through democracy a reality, we must take every possible step to ensure that the spirit and intent of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution is honored.
READ THE REST OF MRS. KING’S LETTER HERE
Donald Trump wants to make Jeff Sessions the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ). In June 1986, Sessions was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee for the federal judgeship after his nomination hearing highlighted that he allegedly described a fellow white lawyer as a “race traitor” and allegedly called a Black attorney “boy”, making him the first Reagan nominee the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected.
Those who live in the state of Texas can voice their displeasure at having this man be the next United States Attorney General by calling on Senator Ted Cruz to vote “NO” on the confirmation of Sessions as United States Attorney General.
The number to call is 1-877-650-0039.
For those of you who do not live in the state of Texas, you may obtain a list of your state senators here.
I have already called Sen. Cruz today, and I call on all Texans who want true justice to be practiced to ask that Sen. Cruz vote against the confirmation of Sessions.
It only takes a phone call to let your voice be heard.
It only takes a moment to do the right thing.
Ann
BEAUTIFUL, ALSO, ARE THE SOULS OF MY BLACK SISTERS 