Right attack on ACORN reminiscent of pre-Civil Rights South

I think it would be a serious mistake for us to underestimate the Republican attack on ACORN. We really have to take it very seriously. It's very much a part of the right-wing racist attack on Obama and democratic voting rights. The attack on ACORN is reminiscent of the pre-Voting Rights Act (1965) Southern determination to prevent the voting registration of Black people. Once upon a time before the civil rights movement (SNCC, etc.) went below the Mason-Dixon Line to register African-American voters, the powers-that-be in the South did everything they could to prevent people 0f color from voting. The powers that were feared that if Black people voted they would lose control of the political process in their states. And that, of course, is what happened.

The Republicans, with the help of the mainstream media and Democrats, have promulgated outright lies about ACORN. Their purpose has been to defund the one organization doing more to register people of color to vote. And that, of course, is exactly what the Republican Party wants to accomplish. Just like their ancestors in the South, they know that if poor people, particularly poor Black people, register to vote their percentage of the vote will continue to shrink. Remember in the 2008 election Obama was elected by 53 percent of the broad electorate but only 43 percent of the white electorate voted for him and that's what scares the hell out of the Republicans.

Here's Rachel Maddow last night discussing the Republican attempt to "defund and demonize" ACORN and particularly the mainstream media's failure to report the story accurately, thereby enabling the Republican Party's attempt to increase the white percentage of the voting population. (If you are viewing this post on FaceBook, please click here to see the Rachel Maddow video).

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