{"id":35063,"date":"2014-09-24T20:45:50","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T00:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=35063"},"modified":"2014-09-25T14:58:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T18:58:49","slug":"vote-restore-votings-right-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harlemcondolife.com\/?p=35063","title":{"rendered":"Vote to restore the Voting Rights Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"voting<\/a><\/p>\n

This past Summer I visited an old haunt in the heart of New York City’s Central Park. \u00a0I ran into a well-known entertainment personality I’ve known for years. \u00a0We chatted briefly. \u00a0During which time he wasted no time in zeroing in on his thoughts: it’s ok for private business to discriminate based on race, government intervention in such matters is no longer relevant and the free market won’t allow any business that discriminates to survive.<\/p>\n

Perhaps he was being provocative.<\/p>\n

But the conversation is a potent reminder that there are people who think that discrimination is ok. \u00a0Or that left to their own devices people and institutions will just do the right thing. \u00a0Or that we should just experiment by removing protections and see what happens.<\/p>\n

To be clear, discrimination is not ok. \u00a0People don’t always do the right thing or know what that thing is. \u00a0And experimenting with people’s lives to their detriment is simply wrong.<\/p>\n

One of the best defenses against discrimination was the Voting Rights Act<\/a>, which allowed millions to vote, and which changed the country and countless lives for the better.<\/p>\n

If you don’t know much about the Act, watch this engaging conversation about the Civil Rights Movement<\/a> between three civil rights pioneers. \u00a0Representative John Lewis, Georgia 5th District; journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault<\/a>; and Chairman Emeritus of the NAACP, Julian Bond<\/a>, look back and ahead in a discussion moderated by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.<\/a>\u00a0In addition to providing an introduction to the speakers, Professor Gates gives background on the making of the series. The conversation is followed by a lively Q&A session with the audience. \u00a0This special series launch event for\u00a0The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross<\/em>\u00a0took place October 9, 2013, at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. \u00a0Learn more about the speakers here.<\/a>\u00a0 This section courtesy of PBS.<\/p>\n