In Frenzied Georgia Canvassing, No Door Goes Un-Knocked

Voters say they have been deluged as never before as Georgia’s bitterly fought, closely contested governor’s race comes to a close. In the last days before Tuesday’s election, both parties dispatched an army of volunteers, both ordinary working people and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and President Obama.

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Voter Suppression

Georgia officials have begun to enforce the “Use it or lose it” law, removing over 107,000 from voter rolls. Voting rights activists see the law as a new voter suppression tactic, which has been an issue in the South since the beginning of African American Suffrage. Stacy Abrams, a black GA legislator, is running for governor in the state.

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Georgia Police Chief, Other White Leaders Apologize for 1940 Lynching

The police chief of Lagrange, Georgia, along with the city’s mayor and the white business community, issued an apology to the Callaway family and the NAACP for the 1940 lynching of teenaged Austin Callaway. A commemorative ceremony and memorial plaque will be placed to honor Callaway and other victims of lynchings in the county.

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Efforts by Counties and Towns to Purge Minority Voters From Rolls

Sparta, Georgia, is purging its voter rolls of African Americans. Before the 1965 Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court, this is precisely the sort of electoral maneuver that once would have needed Justice Department approval before it could be put in effect. And this is but one of many places in the USA where such seemingly small but effective efforts at voter suppression are taking place ahead of November’s presidential election.

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The Long Afterlife of a Lynching

Karen Branan returns to her ancestral home in Georgia to discover the truth behind the lynching of three black men and a black woman in 1912 – including the complicity of her family. She tells the story in a new book, The Family Tree.

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