A federal court has reportedly upheld a 132-year-old voting law in Mississippi believed to have been created to deny Black people their voting rights for a lifetime.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Fifth Circuit came to that decision on Tuesday about a voting law established in 1890, citing the shared belief by the mostly right-leaning judges that Mississippi has implemented enough changes to override the racist nature of that law, reported Mississippi Free Press.
The law at issue is a provision from 1890: Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution, which disproportionately disenfranchised Black people, committed certain crimes — although many were falsely accused. Some of those crimes included: arson, bigamy, bribery, burglary, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, and more, reported the Mississippi Free Press.
Oddly, murder and rape were not considered as disenfranchising crimes.
The court contended that the updated list of crimes where burglary was removed and murder and rape were included, the law was not racially tinged. Yet the state still preserved segregationist language when the list of crimes was amended.
More about the Jim-Crow era law can be found here.
Blog dedicated to news and viewpoints from Black journalists who support, and inform, communities of color.
Original content, and curated articles, are posted and updated daily.