this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
324 points (99.7% liked)

News

23014 readers
2 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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

top 17 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 101 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago

In america better people are not subject to the laws imposed on the loser classes.

Always has been this way and yet "we" are always "shocked"

[–] [email protected] 99 points 5 months ago

Good news. One of the most overt examples of organized racism in the modern era. I hope they make real change.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 42 points 5 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago

🎶We were moving mountains long before we knew we could

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think he was meaning more "run them out of town" and less "vote them out of office"

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Only white people can run people out of towns in the US without facing over the top legally supported retribution.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Does this mean everything the previous administration, every action taken every policy passed, every decision ruled on is void because they were illegitimate

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don’t know how to follow a story like this but it’s interesting to me

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

For sure. I doubt they'll nullify anything tho

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] ElderberryLow 17 points 5 months ago

Glad they won the ability (really their right) to vote. Insane this was happening but also not surprised. Get that Haywood guy out of there.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

Shit states gonna shit state

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

Braxton, who was born in Newbern and described himself as a “handyman for the community,” hasn’t been able to access town funds since Stokes was appointed as mayor four years ago. He has used his own money to provide residents with COVID-19 supplies, as well as to host food drives and other events, according to The Guardian.

Sounds like they voted for the right person.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago

Haywood Stokes Jr., his father, had previously been mayor of the rural Black Belt town.

Gotta watch out for all those Martial Arts experts! 🤣