>--------- Forwarded Message --------- > >Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) >Contact: Mendy Samstein, 607-263-2476 or msamstein@aol.com >For Immediate Release >December 3, 2000 > >FORMER CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS >DEMAND FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS INVESTIGATION > >Dozens of civil rights activists who worked in the South in >the 1960s for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee >today called for an official investigation into evidence >that thousands of blacks were denied the right to vote >in the 2000 presidential election. > >In a collective statement, the activists, who were many >times beaten and arrested while helping black citizens to >register and vote, wrote: "We still mourn the colleagues >and friends who lost their lives in the struggle. What is >at stake here is precisely what we fought for in the Sixties >- the right of everyone to vote and for everyone's vote to >be counted." > >Among the signatories of the statement is Julian Bond, a >longtime SNCC activist and now chairman of the NAACP. > >The statement cites accumulating evidence that a >disproportionate number of blacks weren't permitted to >vote because their names were not listed on voter lists, >or because the polls closed while they were waiting on >line; and that a disproportionate number of blacks voted >in precincts with antiquated equipment so that their votes >were not counted. Especially disturbing to these civil >rights workers, many of whom in the 1960s experienced abuse >and intimidation firsthand, was the odd coincidence of a >roadblock set up by state police near a black Tallahassee >precinct. > >This statement concludes with a demand for a federal >investigation and a national call that the exclusion >of black voters must never happen again. > >The SNCC statement was also endorsed by 300 participants in >attendance on Dec. 2 at the Southern Human Rights Conference, >as well as the Southern Regional Council and the American >Friends Service Committee. > >Mendy Samstein, a SNCC veteran of Jackson and McComb, >Mississippi, said: "It's encouraging that the Justice >Department is apparently starting an inquiry in Florida. >We want a full-fledged Justice Department investigation into >the many charges of voting exclusion. Mindful of the courage >shown by journalists in the Deep South during the 1960s, we >also hope that the press will vigorously investigate these >charges." > >For further information: Mendy Samstein, 607-263-2476 or ><msamstein@aol.com>. > >*** > >The full statement and list of signers follow: > >As activists in the 1960s struggle of black Americans to >achieve voting rights, we believe that far more is at stake >in Florida than choosing whether George Bush or Al Gore >is to be our next president. In the sixties we fought to >overcome a century of systematic and brutal disenfranchisement. >Our cry was One Man, One Vote, a cry that resonated throughout >this country because it appealed to the basic American sense >of justice and fairness. > >Today we need to remember the importance of that concept and >the sacrifices that were made to ensure its realization. We >still mourn the colleagues and friends who lost their lives >in the struggle. What is at stake here is precisely what we >fought for in the sixties-the right of everyone to vote and >for everyone's vote to be counted. One Citizen, One Vote! > >Substantial evidence is accumulating that many people were >denied the right to vote. Was it just a coincidence that a >State Police roadblock was set up near a predominately black >precinct in Tallahassee that stopped voters going to the >polls? We know that thousands of ballots were not counted in >Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties because machine counts >of hand ballots are grossly inaccurate - despite all the >hysterical Republican drumbeat to the contrary. We have >increasing documentation of thousands of registered voters >being turned away because their names were not listed or >because their polls closed while they were waiting on line. >These are voting injustices that must not be ignored. > >We are horrified at the prospect that in the year 2000, >we Americans would resign ourselves to the results of an >election achieved by questionable and undemocratic means. We >urge all Americans who believe in the sacredness of honest >elections to support the legal battle for a full and fair >counting of the votes in Florida and to demand a Justice >Department investigation into incidents of voter >irregularities. We must not let this happen again! > > >Sandra Adickes >Elaine Baker >Frances M. Beal >Debbie Amis Bell >James Bond >Julian Bond >Joan Browning >Ron Carver >Charlie Cobb >Nancy Cooper Samstein >Connie Curry >Dave Dennis >Betty Garman >Ira Grupper >Gene Guerrero >Ed Hamlett >Bruce Hartford >Casey Hayden >Faith S. Holsaert >Matt Jones >Marsha R. Joyner >Mary King >Dorie Ladner Churnet >Joyce Ladner >Julius Lester >Fred Mangrum >Sheila Michael >Mike Miller >Linda Moses Dehnad >Penny Patch >Bill Perlman >Martha Prescod >Judy Richardson >Wally Roberts >Howard Romaine >Dinky Romilly >Mendy Samstein >Cleve Sellers >Judy D. Simmons >Nancy Stearns >Marsha Steinberg >Barbara Summers >Susan Thrasher >Maria Varela >Penny Weaver >Carl Imiola Young >Dorothy M. Zellner >Zoya Zeman >Mitchell Zimmerman
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