NC NAACP: Today the Court Put a Price on Racism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2012

For More Information:       Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137

                                           Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700

     Atty. Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700

DURHAM - Today the three judge panel hearing the North Carolina NAACP v. State of North Carolina redistricting lawsuit ruled to deny our Motion for Injunctive Relief and with that ruling put a price on racism. The motion requested that the 2012 election cycle be delayed by 45 days in order to give the court time to hear the arguments of the case and render a ruling. The court ruled against delaying the upcoming elections after hearing from the State that the delay could cost six million dollars.

In its ruling, the Court indicated that "it would be incorrect to interpret this ruling as implying a lack of merit to Plantiffs' challenge of the Plans. Plaintiffs, in their challenge, have raised serious issues and arguments about, among other things, the extent to which racial classifications were used in the enactment of these Plans. Nor would it be correct to interpret this decision as minimizing the harm that can be associated with governmental acts that tend to stigmatize and separate citizens by the color of their skin. Such acts are an affront to the dignity of African Americans and, indeed, an affront to the sensibilities of all of us."

The NC NAACP believes that justice does not have a price tag. We believe these maps are unconstitutional and therefore it is fundamentally unfair and unreasonable to hold elections under these maps regardless of the cost to the state. Once the elections are conducted and the office holders in place, there would be no remedy to correct the harm to the people of North Carolina.

We continue this fight because we know the maps adopted by the General Assembly are a scheme to increase the political power of the ultra-conservative leadership in the General Assembly at the expense of the power of the African American vote.

We continue to fight efforts to resegregate our state and diminish the power of the minority vote through cleverly disguised race-based schemes. We will not stand idly by when 48% of the African American voters are packed into just 3 U.S. House Districts, 52% of the African American voters are packed into just 27 of the 120 State House Districts and 47% of the African American voters are packed into just 10 State Senate Districts. The plans unnecessarily and unjustifiably split 563 voting precincts throughout the state, usually along racial lines. Voters in the same neighborhood or same street are split into different political districts.

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