As the Alabama Legislature is gathering in Montgomery for a special session to address the potential fallout of the Louisiana v. Callais U.S. Supreme Court decision, State Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) has a bleak view of what lies ahead.
During an interview with Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal" that aired on Monday, Smitherman suggested Senate Democrats would focus on restoring the tenets of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act should Republicans succeed in their efforts to redistrict.
According to the Jefferson County Democratic lawmaker, Section 2 "was pretty much gone," which he said opened the door for the return of Reconstruction.
Smitherman told host Todd Stacy that voter suppression measures, including the poll tax and tests to count jelly beans in a jar, were on the horizon without Section 2.
"Well, one of the things that I think that would have to happen is that you would have to bring back the protections that Section 2 provides," Smitherman said. "I know Section 2 is pretty much gone with the rulings. It diminished tremendously. But that was the reason for Section 2. Remember, when we had poll taxes. You had to count how many marbles was in, jelly beans was in a jar."
"You had to recite certain things if you wanted to have the opportunity to vote," he continued. "All those obstacles that were put in place would gradually be coming back, you know, because you don't have any protections. Prior to the protections, they were there. The only reason that they left — well, one of the reasons I'm sure they left, because you had to oversight by the federal government ... pre-clearance and all of that."
"And once that's gone, and then — how they say it, when the cat's away, the mice play?" Smitherman added. "Well, that's the same principle. You know, you're going to have that. And you say, 'Well, what's the danger of it?' The danger of it is what I call the third coming of Reconstruction. If you remember Reconstruction, prior to Reconstruction, we had representation in Congress. In fact, we had four places in Congress that African-Americans represented. And then once Reconstruction came, and this is part of Reconstruction, the poll tax and all those things, then you ended up with no representation. We didn't even have any representation down here after Reconstruction."
"And so from that point on, where you had the Civil Rights Act and protection for voters, and then from that point to now, you have the representation you see now," Smitherman added. "So if you start moving back in that direction, then it's a pathway to the second coming of Reconstruction."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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