For decades, white officials appointed Newbern’s mayor and council members in lieu of holding elections. Most residents weren’t even aware that there were supposed to be elections for these positions.
The settlement will reinstate Patrick Braxton as the mayor of Newbern, the first Black person to hold the position.
Braxton was the only candidate who filed qualifying paperwork with the county clerk in 2020, so he won the mayoral race by default. The incumbent, Haywood “Woody” Stokes III, hadn’t even bothered to fill out the paperwork to run again. Haywood Stokes Jr., his father, had previously been mayor of the rural Black Belt town.
Cross posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16944653
Why not Federal prison? NOTHING they did was legal and at least the mayor (sic) and city council knew full well they were subverting the Democratic principles of the US.
No fine, no probation. Prison for these manipulative shits
Good news. One of the most overt examples of organized racism in the modern era. I hope they make real change.
I remember when this happened, and I was stunned. There are only 133 people in the town and the vast majority of them are black, it should have been a self solving problem to throw out the white minority.
Another good article here:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/06/us/newbern-alabama-mayor-dispute/index.html
Kinda hard to throw them out when the majority didn’t know that they could.
Most residents weren’t even aware that there were supposed to be elections for these positions.
I think he was meaning more “run them out of town” and less “vote them out of office”
Does this mean everything the previous administration, every action taken every policy passed, every decision ruled on is void because they were illegitimate
The incumbent, Haywood “Woody” Stokes III, hadn’t even bothered to fill out the paperwork to run again. Haywood Stokes Jr., his father, had previously been mayor of the rural Black Belt town.
The end of a dynasty. Good riddance.
