Advancement Project

January 14, 2010

Martin Luther King and Voting Rights in Virginia

Jan. 15, 2010 marks the 81st anniversary of the birth of one of America’s greatest citizens, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It also marks the last full day of the term of another great American, Governor Tim Kaine. The coincidence of these events has an ironic ring of hopefulness, as the nation awaits a signal from Governor Tim Kaine as to whether he will walk down the path of justice when he leaves office. Governor Kaine has the plenary power to issue an executive order on or before Jan. 15, 2010 to grant an immediate, blanket restoration of voting rights to the 300,000 citizens with felony convictions who have paid their debt to society and who live, work, and pay taxes in Virginia but cannot vote.

We urge him to do it. The executive order would not reach any person who would become eligible after the issuance of the order – that matter would be left to Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell and the Virginia General Assembly. Gov. Kaine’s executive order would be the powerful tool needed to clear the logjam of injustice in Virginia and set forth a reasonable process for the restoration of rights in the future. Gov. Kaine might be criticized by some for undertaking such a bold, sweeping move for justice but history would look favorably upon him as it did with Lyndon B. Johnson and others.

Today’s Virginian Pilot editorial – “Rights Restoration Must Come in Time,” http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/rights-restoration-must-come-time, which is right on its position that the status quo is discriminatory, is dead wrong in suggesting that a waiting game is tolerable. The call for moderation in the editorial is not new. Demands for justice are often met with resistance to change. Now, as during the Civil Rights Movement era, even well-intentioned people who are opposed to discriminatory practices continue to drink from the intoxicating cup of gradualism. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “[i]f moderation means slowing up in the move for justice and capitulating to the whims and caprices of the guardians of the deadening status quo, then moderation is a tragic vice which all [people] of good will must condemn.” Year after year, decade after decade, the Virginia General Assembly has failed to eliminate an injustice that was put in place exclusively to suppress the Black vote.

The Virginia Constitution does not require Gov. Tim Kaine to wait for the General Assembly to end this Jim Crow era nightmare. In fact, the Virginia Constitution empowers Gov. Kaine to strike down this wrong with one fell stroke of his pen. Gov. Kaine can wake up the General Assembly by setting an example for it to follow. He doesn’t have to adjust to the status quo. He can change it. Future generations will praise him for his moral courage and for lifting the Commonwealth of Virginia out of an embarrassing morass. Gov. Kaine can be reached by telephone at: (804) 786-2211, by fax at: (804) 371-6351, by email at: tkaine@governor.virginia.gov, or regular mail at: Office of the Governor, Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor, 1111 East Broad Street, Richmond VA, 23219.

This blog was written by staff at Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization that advocates for racial justice.