This month we celebrate Juneteenth on June 19, marking a day in 1865 when African Americans in Texas were finally freed from slavery, more than two years after President Lincoln proclaimed them free. Some states and regions clung to slavery even beyond this date, the last two states finally ending legalized slavery only with the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment.
The battle for full freedom and social justice continues. Last month, with the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, we had a bit of our faith in the justice system restored. This month we are given reason to think that the fight to defend our democracy will be joined by Congress and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Arizona.
On May 19, the House passed a bill to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. The bill passed 252–175, with 35 Republicans voting in favor. The deal was brokered by Representative Bennie Thompson, a Democrat and the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, and ranking member Representative John Katko, a Republican. Although Republican leaders in both the House and Senate publicly oppose the bill, it marks one tiny step in the right direction.
Another tiny step was taken by the Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors when they called the Arizona State Senate’s audit of the county’s 2020 election results as a “sham.” The audit was initiated to look for fraud in the election despite a complete lack of evidence. Maricopa County was forced to turn over their election materials to an “audit team” that has been widely discredited as both partisan and unprofessional in its methods. Arizona, in fact, has become a laughingstock as the so-called auditors pursue false claims of election fraud. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, spoke out after he and his staff were accused of deleting files from the voting database. The audit continues.
To respect our efforts to defend democracy, we need to participate in our own elections! Please sign up to attend our Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 3, and register for the LWVC state convention (June 7–13) today!
Stay safe, stay strong, stay involved,
—Martha Y. Zavala
