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FRANK(LY) SPEAKING DR. J. ALVA SCRUGGSOR LETTER TO EDITOR 1804 MAYFAIR DRIVE TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32303 PHONE&FAX (850)385-5750 E-MAIL JSCRU5750@AOL.COM Website : http://franklyspeaking.info
NO AMERICANS CANNOT “JUST GET OVER IT /ELECTION 2000”
I was listening to CSPAN (December 2004) again today. A caller, who identified themselves as Republican. was saying that Democrats are still crying about the Florida Voting debacle in election 2000 and that they should “just get over it!” Well I and America cannot “just get over it!” Not just because I am a Democrat but also because I am surely Black! Voting is one of the most important and valuable hard won rights of all Americans. I have a personal experience that makes it imperative that I honor voting. In the early fifties as a Black male made my first attempt to register to vote in Alabama. At this time you had to take a “Literacy Test” and pay a “fee/poll tax.” On this cloudy and dreary day I went to the office where I had to do this registration. When I walked in there was a lone white man behind the counter who looked up at me as if I had no business there. He said, “Boy what do you want. Oh! I know, you think you won’t to registrar to vote.” I assured him that I was there to registrar and that I had the money to pay. He sat there for a long time ignoring me. After a while he finally got up and said that I was to follow him into a side room. There were many student type desks there and he motioned for me to take a seat. He took some time and finally brought me a piece of paper saying that this was my “Literacy Test.” I looked at the paper for some time. The sentences were from top to bottom in big bold black letters and in Chinese. After some time the man finally came back and asked me if I had finished. The smile on his face indicated to me that he did not expect me to even know what was on the test paper. After sitting a little while longer, I got up and started to leave. The man said well I guess you must be finished. I left without responding but kept the question sheet to show to my family and for history’s sake. It was clear to me that I was not expected to registrar to vote in Alabama at that time!! It came to me later that when I was younger there was a rumor that my grandmother had gone to registrar to vote earlier in her life. She had her Two dollars, which was an amount hard earned by doing washing and ironing for white people. She was pushed down a flight of steps in the building by another white woman and hurt badly!! This was even more important to me now after my experience. In Florida November, In The Year Of Our Lord 2000, with my hard earned vote in hand. It was stolen away from me. This time I was allowed to vote, but my vote was not courted. The Republican Party refused to allow my vote to be counted! No I will; “never get over” the way G. W. Bush and his party stole the Election 2000! If you thought the coupe in Election 2000 was bad “you ant’s seem nothing yet!” With the new no hard records electronic voting machines, there is a greater chance that mischief will and can be done. The Bush political machine of lies, tricks, mean spiritedness, and mischief will be released in a way never before seen in the history of our nation. It will take a people with the personality of a “Junk Yard Dog” to take wrestle our Democracy back from these thieves. Come on FAMU do it again in 2004!!!
Dr. J. Alva Scruggs, Chemist, Educator, Professor, WriterLook forward to hearing from readers!!!jscru5750@aol.comhttp://franklyspeaking.info