The town of Newbern saw white officials deny its first Black mayor, Patrick Braxton, from exercising his duties for three years
The town of Newbern, Alabama, has not had a political election in the last several decades. But that could all change this November if a new motion is successful.
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF), an organization that focuses on racial and civil rights, along with an Alabama-based private law firm, filed a preliminary injunction to force Newbern, a town of about 133 people, to hold elections and allow its citizens to vote for the first time in years.
The town, about an hour and a half away from Montgomery, captured national attention last summer, after white officials had refused for three years to allow Patrick Braxton, the first Black mayor in Newbern’s history, to exercise his mayoral duties.
Newbern is about 80% Black and 20% white, but the town’s leadership, with the exception of Braxton and his town council, has been majority white for years. The defendants in the lawsuit, including the previous mayor and council, have refused to hold elections.
No it is a minority, they just happen to be very spread out and vocal. And our system of government was setup to give them a massively oversized voice on the national scale.
“Much” still applies. As in “too much” of the US is a bunch of bigoted assholes.
Perhaps a minority by population (I doubt this myself) but a majority by surface area (which matters a lot in federal elections).
Yeah the whole effectively “land” votes system we use is a relic of colonization and needs to be destroyed.