Defend Martin Luther King’s Dream Act: Protect the Voting Rights Act and Expand It Across America

Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of the Voting Rights Act.

Dr. King’s Dream Act is under attack. On Wednesday February 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the law’s requirement that states with a history of Jim Crow voting rules let the Justice Department review new voting procedures. This is the only effective method, today as in 1965, to ensure that every American citizen will not lose their vote because of race or language.

America’s heart breaks when we see, a half century after King’s Dream speech, African-Americans in Florida standing for six hours to cast their ballot. America’s heart breaks when we hear of Latino citizens in Arizona blocked at the polling station door by ID laws and intimidation because of the color of their skin or the language spoken in their homes.

Therefore,

ONE, we respectfully ask the Supreme Court to protect and affirm this “pre-clearance” clause of the Voting Right Act. Without it, the law cannot be enforced.

TWO, we demand that, no matter the Court’s decision, Congress extend the “pre-clearance” to every state in America, from Ohio to Wisconsin, to ensure that Dr. King’s Dream Act protects every American citizen’s right to vote.

Signed…
– Greg Palast, author, Billionaires & Ballots: How to Steal An Election in 9 Easy Steps.
– Dr. Bernard Lafayette – co-founder SNCC, freedom rider, MLK appointee to SCLC, Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962.
– Dr. Charles Steele – Chairman of SCLC.