Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders mourned
the passing of Rosa Parks, and encouraged Americans to recognize that
the struggle for human rights and freedoms -- of which Ms. Parks
remains a towering symbol -- is far from over.
"The best way to remember Rosa Parks' courage
in 1955 is to rededicate ourselves to civil rights in 2005," said
Rick Tingling-Clemmons, Black Caucus delegate to the National
Committee of the Green Party of the United States. "Ms. Parks'
act of civil disobedience on a bus led to passage of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act, which enforced the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal
protection under the law. The obstruction and manipulation of votes in
the 2000 and 2004 elections -- especially African American votes --
demonstrate that the civil rights movement isn't over, that we're
still fighting for the right to vote for all Americans."
Greens have called for congressional legislation,
a new Civil Rights Act, guaranteeing and enforcing a national right to
vote. The U.S. Supreme Court gutted the principle of 'one person, one
vote' in its 2000 Bush v. Gore decision, in disregard of the 14th
Amendment's voting rights provisions (Section 2).
The experiences of the 2000 and 2004 national
elections, including evidence uncovered in the Ohio and New Mexico
recount campaigns in 2004 initiated by Green presidential candidate
David Cobb, have proven an ongoing and concerted effort to prevent
people from voting and to prevent votes from being counted. African
American, young, and low income voters were especially targeted. A
state 'Voter ID Law' passed earlier this year makes voting more
difficult for citizens in Georgia, an effect of which will be the
disenfranchisement of thousands of African American and other voters
<http://www.gp.org/press/states/ga_2005_09_02.shtml>.
"There are many civil rights struggles still
being fought: for the right to vote; for the rights of poor and
African American Katrina survivors who have faced official
indifference and mass removal; for social safety net guarantees of
health care and housing; for basic freedoms in the era of the USA
Patriot Act; for reparations for the descendents of slaves; for repeal
of draconian drug laws sending thousands of young people to prison;
for women's equality and the right to make our own health care and
reproductive decisions -- the list goes on and on. We in the Green
Party are fighting these battles, and we're doing so in the spirit of
heroes like Rosa Parks," said Morgen D'Arc, co-founder and
co-chair of the Green Party National Women's Caucus.
"The greatest tribute we can pay to Rosa
Parks, who moved the conscience of America, is to recognize that the
struggle for equal rights and human dignity continues around the
world. Here in America we still suffer from racism, segregation, and
poverty that are often hidden from sight, which makes its impact even
more devastating for so many," said Dr. Alice Green, Green Party
candidate for mayor of Albany, New York and founding director of the
Center for Law and Justice.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Green Party Black Caucus
http://www.greenpartyblackcaucus.net
Green Party National Women's Caucus
http://www.gp.org/committees/women/