A small town in Alabama gets the right to vote for its town council after SIXTY YEARS

[thewayne]

Patrick Braxton was reinstated as mayor. He ran - unopposed - when he learned that his town's leadership had been appointed by white officials who occasionally rotated roles. The mayor and the entire town council appointed themselves and led the town of Newbern, consisting of 133 mostly black residents. Braxton learned the rules for elections and filed for mayor with the county clerk. He won by default as the then-mayor did not file for re-election. And the second day he showed up at town hall, all of the locks had been changed and the council had re-appointed the previous mayor.

Braxton filed suit, and finally a civil rights compromise was reached and Braxton is mayor again. The town's next elections will be in 2025.


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patrick-braxton-newbern-alabama-reinstated-lawsuit_n_66719708e4b0502eac647a4c

Comments

[murakozi]

I have to admit, I'm not surprised it was in Alabama.

[thewayne]

Yeah.  If you asked people 'In what state...', Alabama would probably be top 3.

[disneydream06]

A great big ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! to the Good Ole Boys Club.
Hugs, Jon

[conuly]

I wonder how many other towns are being "run" like this?

[thewayne]

And that is an excellent question.

[silveradept]

I'm actually surprised this went through and there's a settlement, rather than the courts also telling the elected mayor to buzz off and stop bothering them with his Blackness.

Here's hoping that other towns that have had their democratic processes suborned or their elected councils removed from power can similarly get their local governance back and push back against a state that wants to treat them as serfs rather than citizens.

[kaishin108]

Right! It sure is going to be an uphill battle at this point, sigh.