NAACP President Cornell Brooks sharply criticizes voter suppression

NAACP President Cornell Brooks sharply criticized voter identification laws and other methods of voter suppression in a speech Friday at a National Press Club Newsmaker press conference.

Brooks called voting a “civic sacrament in the temple of democracy,” but noted 2016 is the first presidential election in 50 years without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act.

“If you have an ID that allows you to carry a concealed weapon, it is deemed sufficient democratic and civic proof of identification to vote. But a [library card] ID that allows you to carry a book of Shakespeare… English… engineering… chemistry… is [often] deemed insufficient," he said.

Brooks highlighted the example of 94-year-old black woman Rosanell Eaton, who is challenging North Carolina’s voter identification law in federal court.

“Because she was born at home, and because her name [now] does match the name on her birth certificate... her franchise is at risk. Notwithstanding the fact that she voted for 70 years," he said.

Responding to claims that the rules have been instituted to combat voter fraud, Brooks said, “We know empirically that one is more likely to meet the Tooth Fairy standing next to Santa Claus at the voting booth than to encounter an actual instance of voter fraud.”

Most provisions of the Voting Rights Act were struck down as unconstitutional in 2013 by the 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The controversial ruling was criticized roundly by progressives, who contend that the absence of voter protections has been used almost entirely by Republican-controlled states to suppress turnout in areas with Democratic-leaning demographics, including the poor, Hispanics, college students, and African-Americans.

Brooks’ speech, entitled “Democracy Awakening: Trumpism and Voter Suppression," focused particularly on African Americans. Brooks renounced Trump, comparing his candidacy to the Ku Klux Klan in three ways: “an un-American patriotism,” “thin Christianity,” and “anti-immigrant virulence.”

The NAACP and Brooks maintain an official stance of non-partisanship and neutrality, though unofficially the group is often associated with Democrats. That’s not entirely the group’s fault, Brooks contended -- mentioning that the group, in partnership with their sister organization the Urban League, recently invited the five remaining presidential candidates to a briefing on civil rights. However, only the two remaining Democrats -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- accepted.

Many see deliberate timing in the NAACP’s choice to hold their annual convention in Cincinnati in July, the same week as the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, in the same state.

Brooks also attacked Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, who was in Washington on Thursday to testify before the House Oversight Committee on his handling of the water crisis in Flint, a largely African-American city. “Corrosion control would have cost less than $200 a day,” Brooks said, “but now we have a city of poisoned children.” The NAACP has publicly called on Snyder to release a plan for Flint by Wednesday.

During the Q&A following the speech, Brooks was asked about Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP Spokane chapter president who briefly became a national sensation last year after it was revealed that despite visually appearing African-American, she was actually white and had lied about her race. She has since resigned from the organization. “We wish her well,” Brooks said, “as we would any member of the NAACP.”