• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • May 8, 2025

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

NAACP challenges voter suppression at 103rd Annual Convention

July 21, 2012

By Ben Wrobel

The NAACP took a principled stand against voter suppression at their 103rd Annual Convention last week in Houston, Texas. The theme “Your Power, Your Decision – VOTE” was on full display as delegates heard from Vice President Biden and Governor Mitt Romney and learned about attacks on the right to vote in states across the country. An estimated 8,000 NAACP delegates, members and supporters traveled from around the country to represent their local units and set the NAACP’s policy agenda for the coming year.

NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous set the tone during the convention’s first plenary session as he criticized voter suppression efforts. He said that the NAACP is dedicated to protecting the franchise, by fighting back against suppressive laws and registering hundreds of thousands of people to vote this year.

“In the past year, more states have passed more laws pushing more voters out of the ballot box than at any time since the rise of Jim Crow,” he said. “The right to vote is the right upon which the ability to defend all our other rights is leveraged. We will ensure that our nation continues to practice free and fair elections even as we approach the day when people of color will be the majority in this country.”

The NAACP’s “This Is My Vote” campaign features a website – www.thisismyvote.org – with information on voter suppression efforts and a form to register to vote. The NAACP has also set up a hotline, 1-866-MYVOTE1 (1-866- 698-6831) which helps people access registration forms.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder referred to voter suppression laws as “poll taxes” in his speech to the NAACP crowd. Speaking in Texas’ largest city, he specifically criticized the state’s law requiring voters to show a government-issued photo identification card. The Department of Justice challenged that law in March, arguing that it violated the Voting Rights Act.

In an important election year, Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Mitt Romney traveled to Houston to share their respective visions for the nation’s future. The two candidates offered sharply contrasting messages about the best way to revive the economy and help the middle class. President Obama also contributed a video message to the crowd.

ice President Biden commended Attorney General Holder for his work defending the right to vote, and called for an end to racial profiling. NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock praised his speech, saying that, “From the Senate to the White House, Vice President Biden has had a strong value system in line with the NAACP’s historic mission. Today’s speech revealed that he remains committed to protecting civil rights and protecting the right to vote.

Governor Romney followed in the tradition of former Republican nominees for president by addressing the NAACP, despite overwhelming African-American support for President Obama in 2008. He argued that his economic policies would be more effective than President Obama’s, and said that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“While we are glad that Governor Romney recognized the power of the black electorate, he laid out an agenda that was antithetical to many of our interests,” said President Jealous. “His criticism of the Affordable Care Act – legislation that will improve access to quality health care for millions – signals his fundamental misunderstanding of the needs of many African Americans.”

The NAACP also used the week to introduce their five “game changers”, issue areas that will guide the Association’s mission over the next several years. Each program held a “mini summit” on their respective issue area, and Chairman Brock spoke about their importance in her keynote address during the convention’s first open mass meeting.

“Today, the enemies of justice are not lynching African- Americans and practicing Jim Crow laws of segregation,” she said. “They are more sophisticated. But they are equally sinister. They are erecting barriers to economic viability, educational quality, health care accessibility, judicial equity, and political opportunity. The opponents of justice are more refined, but they are equally threatening.”

The convention, which ran from July 5-12, also featured the 34th annual Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competition, which brought together hundreds of the nation’s most gifted young people to compete in the areas of sciences, humanities, performing arts, visual arts, and business.

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Ben Wrobel, Benjamin Todd Jealous, Eric Holder, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, NAACP, NAACP Annual Convention, This Is My Vote

Read More - Related Articles

  • Biden Commutes Sentences of 37 Federal Death Row Inmates
  • Gas is Dirty. LNG Proponents Don’t Just Ignore the Facts, They Ignore the Human Toll.
  • Biden Grants Largest Single-Day Clemency in Modern History, Offering Second Chances to Nearly 1,500 Individuals
  • It’s Time for Us All to Come Together
  • America’s Healing can Start with Family Around the Holidays
Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On X
Follow Us On X

Editorials

Lakeshia Myers
Michelle Bryant
Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi formerly known as Dr. Ramel Smith

Journalists

Karen Stokes

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

David Crowley
Cavalier Johnson
Marcelia Nicholson
Governor Tony Evers
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2025 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.