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| Sheba Williams, Executive Director of Nolef Turns Inc.,was a recent guest at one of Valley Justice Coalition's twice- monthly Zoom meetings. She has led the Virginia Right to Vote Coalition for over a decade. |
This was a blatant attempt to keep as many newly freed slaves as possible from participating in democracy. While poll taxes, literacy tests, Black codes, public lynchings and other means of discrimination were eventually eliminated, felony disenfranchisement remained embedded in our constitution.
This was never about public safety, but about maintaining control of minds and bodies. Virginia became one of three states in the nation that required a resident to plead for full citizenship after a felony conviction, and from one politician, the sitting Governor. We became an outlier in the nation in permanently treating certain neighbors as second class citizens. We began to consider a constitutionally guaranteed right as a mere privilege, and removed the right to vote as punishment for breaking a social contract.
In 1870, in exchange for rejoining the Union following the Civil War, Virginia agreed to not expand the list of 11 common law felonies in efforts to keep Black and poor people from participating in democracy, yet for 156 years Virginia violated this social contract. At a 1901-1902 state convention, Lynchburg-based senator and publisher Carter Glass successfully spearheaded efforts to make every felony conviction result in an individual losing their civil rights.
When questioned as to whether these measures were potentially discriminatory, Glass stated, "Discrimination! That is exactly what we propose. To remove every Negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate." Thus one in seven Virginians were denied their civil rights.
We’re talking about our sisters, brothers, parents, children, co-workers, fellow parishioners, friends and even strangers. People were returning to their community following a felony conviction and not allowed to be whole again, and to make decisions about how they and their families were governed. They were told that they violated a social contract and were never redeemable.
Thus Virginia demanded that offenders be better neighbors and be upstanding citizens, but did not allow them to be forgiven. The Commonwealth was not open to showing mercy and grace but continued to place multiple barriers in front of its residents.
Research has shown that our communities are safer when people participate in how their communities are governed. The social contract by which we have measured forgiveness has been hypocritical. Redemption is for everyone.
This year, the state was handed a guilty verdict by Judge John Gibney, Jr., senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Commonwealth was found guilty of violating their original social contract by illegally taking away individuals’ civil rights for 156 years. By that ruling, 234,852 Virginians became eligible to participate in democracy.
Yet there is still work to do. There is still a class of residents who have committed certain felonies who must beg forgiveness from a single politician, the governor, before they can be made whole again. But this November we have the opportunity to permanently remove the last vestige of Jim Crow from our constitution by voting Yes to Ballot Question #3.
We have a duty to stand up for our neighbors and vote for fairness, for equality, for safety and to finally end discrimination against those who have served their sentences but must still pay for certain convictions in perpetuity.
Not only do we have the opportunity to protect the right to vote for every eligible voter in the state for the first time in our history, but we also have an opportunity to protect those who live with disabilities by ensuring they only lose their right to vote if they are proven to not understand the act of voting, unlike the current process that can remove a person’s civil rights for needing assistance with day to day functions.
This November, freedom is on the ballot for all of us.There are 3 constitutional amendments being voted on in Virginia and they all rely on the fundamental right to vote being accessible for every eligible voter in the state. We call on every citizen to take a stand with and for our neighbors this year, including our neighbors who may be imperfect people.
We ask everyone to take their civic responsibility seriously this year. Vote to protect yourselves this November. Vote for your neighbors this November. Vote for freedom this November. Vote intentionally, with love, compassion, and sacrifice.
Even persons who have committed crimes deserve dignity and respect for their civil rights.
Thank you! Well researched!
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