Alabama town that hasn’t held elections in decades sued to allow voting | The town of Newbern saw white officials deny its first Black mayor, Patrick Braxton, from exercising his duties for three years
by newnemo
Alabama town that hasn’t held elections in decades sued to allow voting | The town of Newbern saw white officials deny its first Black mayor, Patrick Braxton, from exercising his duties for three years
by newnemo
28 comments
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>The LDF lawsuit builds on a previous one filed last year, which alleged that white officials had manipulated the political process for years to maintain their power in the majority Black town. The defendants, listed as former mayor Haywood “Woody” Stokes III and his town council, held a secret, special election, preventing Braxton from appointing his town council. During their special election, the previous town council re-elected themselves, and ultimately re-appointed the previous town mayor. They were aided, the lawsuit alleges, by the town’s bank and clerk. Newbern has effectively had two mayors since 2020.
>Though the white officials have not recognized his position, Braxton has continued trying to serve as mayor, using his own funds to host events and food distribution drives.
>The LDF suit aims to give all citizens in the town an opportunity to vote – something that would be history making.
article continues…
“What do you mean racism exists in America?”
If every police force wasn’t basically filled with fascists, this would have been very simple to solve.
“Despite Alabama law requiring quadrennial regular municipal elections for mayor and town council (or “aldermen”) positions, Ala. Code §§ 11-43-2(a) and (d), 11-46-21(a), the Town has not held a municipal election in six decades. (Doc. 57). Instead, the Town has a practice of hand-me-down-governance: the sitting mayor picks a successor to “inherit” the position, and the successor then appoints residents to serve on the town council. (Id.). Stokes, a white resident, was sitting mayor in 2020 and had served in that role since inheriting it from his predecessor in 2008. (Id.). The town council at this time was comprised of Broussard, Leverett, Brown-Thomas and Tucker, each of whom had been appointed by Stokes. ” ([source](https://casetext.com/case/braxton-v-stokes-3))
For some demographic context, which makes it seem even worse: Newbern, AL, population by race, per 2020 Census: 42 white people, 85 black, 3 Hispanic/Latino (any race), 3 mixed/multi racial. That’s it.
Or by percent: 31.6% white, 63.9% black, plus a few percent for the 6 other people.
In 2000, black folk made up 77% of the town. Even higher in past times.
Newbern was also the location of one of the largest slave plantations of antebellum Alabama. Plantation owner was a rabidly pro-slavery white supremacist. After the Civil War he turned to sharecropping and getting his former slaves into indebted forced labor. Yet he still complained about “lazy [black people]”. During the war he certainly didn’t fight like poor people: He fled to Europe until the war was over.
He was one of the wealthiest people in the region. Today Newbern is highly impoverished, with over 30% living below the poverty line.
Wow, that sounds weird, a town in Alabama with no elections. Wonder what that could be about?
>Newbern is about 80% Black and 20% white,
Being a black mayor in Alabama… try that in a small town
So fucking corrupt. I hope the assholes who did this are shunned in the town.
Every white person in that town will swear up-and-down that they aren’t racist. Pieces of shit
Between this and the goon squad cops in Mississippi, it’s looking like the South really is rising again.
That’s impossible. The Republicans and their supporters told us that racism in the USA ended when Barack Obama was elected president!
Southern self determination is a failed experiment.
The South is the anus of America.
This is wild. Let’s take a wild guess what party these racist autocrats are registered with.
“Whew, not us this time!”
— Mississippi
For a country that fought an independence war, it sure does love royalty
Can the federal government send in US Marshalls to remove them from office and oversee their elections?
How is this even possible? The FBI needs to get involved immediately
Remember, Don Lemon brought up to Elon Musk that white people had advantages over other races for simply being white and Musk tried to question that simple fact and then stated racism would disappear if we just stopped talking about it. Always remember a genius can still be a racist.
So the backwoods version of rule by divine right.
All of this and in the 21st Century? So much for progress. Too bad they will walk away unscathed.
This is on a smaller scale exactly what Maga would like the future of all government to be. What is the phrase….If conservatives cannot win with democracy they do not abandon conservatism, they abandon democracy.
Looking up the demographics of this town now, and it’s glaringly obvious the vocal minority in power will accept having a $20k *household* income (the US average is about 70k) and scorch their own earth as long as they still have someone to look down on.
What a shame.
Theres motherfuckers in 2024 USA that say racism doesn’t exist.
This that systemic racism I keep hearing about?
Alabama. Proudly clinging to those 18th century values that made the South great.
/s
IIRC, they also changed the locks so Braxton couldn’t get in
Time for Uncle Sherman to visit