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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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(7/13/02 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)
by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
During its 93rd annual convention in Houston this week, the NAACP awarded the Springarn Medal to Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. "I will accept this honor," my House colleague and friend declared with typical humility, ". . . on behalf of the countless individuals who stood in unmovable lines, who suffered much and gave much to the cause of civil rights and human dignity."
Congressman Lewis is a true American patriot who has never been afraid to "walk the walk" toward freedom and justice in America.
On a "Bloody Sunday" in March, 1965, a young John Lewis, Rev. Hosea Williams and the people of Selma, Alabama, marched into history. Our ability to choose the leaders who will govern us was purchased by the beatings, whippings and gas that they endured on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.
It would be tragic, however, for anyone to think of the civil rights movement solely in the past tense.
As long as being black and poor in America is deadly, our civil rights are being denied. When our children’s public schools are impoverished by government neglect, America’s conscience should be on the march.
The Fourteenth Amendment to our Constitution was adopted expressly to liberate Americans of color from the veil of prejudice and poverty. When the President nominates judges who believe that our Constitution’s equal protection clause must further our exclusion from opportunity, we must question his commitment to our civil rights.
We do know, however, that the President’s Attorney General has placed his ideological allies in key positions within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division – and that he has dismissed thousands of civil rights complaints from the 2000 presidential election as "unsubstantial."
Do President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft think that we have forgotten the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ determination in Florida that Americans of color were nearly 10 times more likely to have their ballots rejected than were Caucasians?
The NAACP has not forgotten what happened in Florida – nor have I. As the Association declared this week, "freedom is under fire" in America.
When Congressman Lewis and I return to Washington on Monday, our challenge will not be limited to protecting American lives against those who have declared themselves to be our enemies. We must also assert the cause of civil rights against the resistance and opposition of those who would proclaim themselves to be our friends.
George W. Bush has taught reactionary Republican candidates for Congress (and those seeking the governorship in progressive states like Maryland) to "talk the talk" of civil rights. Close examination of their records, however, reveals the truth about who they really are.
They have never been willing to "walk the walk."
This week, the NAACP’s President, Kweisi Mfume, summarized our disappointment with the Bush Administration when he declared, "I don’t like his presidential practice of divide and conquer when it comes to black organizations and black people."
The Associated Press later reported that the President dismissed that criticism by referring to his appointment of Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Does this President truly believe that we will accept his appointment of a few Americans of color as an adequate substitute for a true civil rights agenda?
"Dr. King, were he alive today," Congressman Lewis once observed, "would be in the forefront of reminding the government that its first concern should be the basic needs of its citizens – not just black Americans but all Americans – for food, shelter, health care, education, jobs, livable incomes and the opportunity to realize their full potential as individual people."
At a time, however, when civil rights are under attack, the past sacrifices of leaders like John Lewis strengthen our ability to defend King’s vision of America. Americans of color can cast a decisive vote for equity and justice in this year’s elections.
Last month, a national Pew Research Center survey found that 70 percent of America’s minority voters believe that Democratic control of the Congress would better serve their interests. Among white Americans who were polled, however, Republicans held a 10 percent edge.
We dare not concede control of the federal government to those who oppose civil rights. That is why the NAACP is mobilizing a national campaign to register voters, encourage them to vote on election day and assure that all of our votes are counted.
This nation’s commitment to civil rights hangs in the balance in this year’s elections – and we, the people, will decide.
Next week: Part II: Demanding greater protection for our right to vote.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.
