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PORTSIDE CULTURE

VOTING RITES IN AMERICA  
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Philip C. Kolin
October 29, 2024
White Terror, Black Trauma: Resistance Poems about Black History
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_ Poet and scholar Philip C. Kolin offers a succinct overview of the
meanings and mis-understandings of the term “Voting Rights.” _

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Black voting has been an inalienable right
Of racists who stand in the doorway of polling
Places to give Black voters bullets
When they ask for ballots.

_Land where my fathers died._

Black voters had to take tests asking them
How many jelly beans exactly were in a jar.
White voters always passed, Black voters
Were told they left too many white spaces
Between their answers. 

_Stand beside her and guide her._

To make sure anyone who holds
Office looks like them, white politicians
Gerrymandered districts in Florida
And Alabama so Black voters could
Vanish at tallying time. 

_My country 'tis of thee._

Election boards padlocked Black polling
Places early, turned off the lights, pulled
Down the shades. 

_Through the night with the light from above._

They reduced the number of polling places
To only two county-wide and miles apart
Making it impossible for Black voters
To get to them before or after work. 

_O beautiful for spacious skies._

Surly white registrars lost
Mail-in ballots or erased Black names
On voter registration lists.
Ghosts can't vote, they declared. 

_Sweet land of liberty. _

A caravan leaves from church
On Sunday morning for the polls
Where Black women and men
Vote to their souls’ content.
In heaven, John Lewis cheers
Them on.

_Let freedom ring._

_Philip C. Kolin is _the Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus
and Editor Emeritus of the _Southern Quarterly_ at the University of
Southern Mississippi. He has published more than 15 poetry
collections, including _White Terror, Black Trauma: Resistance Poems
about Black History_ 
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_Evangeliaries._

* voting
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* Racism
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* Philip Kolin
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