Texas Public Radio hosting town hall meeting on Voting Rights Act
Texas Public Radio will host a town hall meeting on the Voting Rights Act and its relevancy now and in the future.
The legislation, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, bans racial discrimination in voting practices by the federal, state and local governments. For those who wish to attend, the town hall will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, at the Pearl Studio, located at 200 E. Grayson. NOWCastSA is planning to livestream this event. We will also be taking questions for the panel from the online viewing audience, so your participation is welcomed and expected. Here's some more background info on the event from TPR.
The following was written by TPR News Director David Martin Davies about the upcoming event.
The VRA bans racial discrimination in voting practices by the federal government as well as by state and local governments. It was passed after a century of deliberate and violent denial of the vote to African-Americans in the South and Latinos in the Southwest.
The VRA is often held up as the most effective civil rights law ever enacted. It is widely regarded as enabling the enfranchisement of millions of minority voters and diversifying the electorate and legislative bodies at all levels of American government.
Today, the Voting Rights Act continues to be under fire. Critics claim it’s no longer needed and that it only serves to perpetuate the prejudices that the RVA was crafted to fight against.
The Voting Rights Act is at the heart of the Texas redistricting court fight and the Voter ID law passed in the last legislative session.
Texas Public Radio will hear from area policy makers and experts about the relevancy of the Voting Right Act. And we want to hear from the community; do you think Texas still need the Voting Right Act?
The panelists for the town hall are:
- Henry Flores, dean of the Graduate School at St. Mary's University and a professor of political science
- Gilbert Garcia, staff writer at Plaza de Armas
- State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, who represents Texas' 116th District and is chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus
- George Rodriguez, president of the San Antonio Tea Party.
- Trey Trainor, election law attorney and former general counsel to the Texas Secretary of State
Photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is an image by the United States Government in the public domain via Wikipedia.
