Black Pastors and Churches in Colorado Overlooked as Poll Places
Members of the Southern Colorado Ministerial Union are demanding answers because they feel like they were left out when the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office chose its 112 polling place in preparation for the November 6 general election.
The group’s leaders who are traditionally Black churches voiced their concerns to county commissioners on Thursday, saying that hey were not showing enough sensitivity to minorities in their selection of polling places.
The church leaders pointed out that 48 churches were chosen and yet not a single one of their 18 churches was among the 48 that were chosen.
The pastors also requested that commissioners open early voting locations near downtown in addition to the already selected three locations.
The board seemed to ignore the demands of the church leaders and went on to unanimously approve the polling place changes that excluded the Black churches. Rev. James H. McMearn of the New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Fountain spoke out saying that the commission ignored their concerns, remarking:
“I was born and raised in the South in Crockett, TX in the ’40′s and the ’50′s and I think that there’s no difference today than when I was 18 years old.”
Alissa Vander Veen, the Chief Deputy for Clerk and Recorders Office denied that the Black churches were being excluded and even denied having heard of their concerns. According to Vander Veen, the polling place selection process began in March and since then, no one had told her about the concerns of the Black church leaders.
“This is the most open the process has been where we really reached out to both (political) parties and pretty much anybody that we felt was affected and we were relying on those organizations to reach out to their participating members to make sure that they were raising all the concerns that they had,” she said.
Vander Veen pointed out that less churches were being used because the group Common Cause had also complained that here were too many churches in use as poll places. She went on to say that she appreciated the concerns of SCMU but it was probably too late to change any of the locations.
7 Responses to Black Pastors and Churches in Colorado Overlooked as Poll Places
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Speak up is the only way that we as a people will know that they are still trying to keep us down.
I’d make sure I dragged as many Black folks onto buses and driven to those polls to make sure these crazy whites understood their antics were not going to keep Black people from voting.
While I no longer live there, I am from Colorado Springs, and trust me, they made no attempt or effort to secure a polling venue in the black community. Alisa Vander Veen can talk all the c**p that she wants, I AM NOT FOOLED. One of the reasons why I left Colorado springs was because I got sick of white peoples s**t. In the Springs, white people act like people of color are a necessary burden; first ones they want to call to clean a toilet or put stucco on their house, but a pain in the a*s when “minorities” complain. I cannot begin to tell you how many times i have heard white people say IN A PUBLIC FORUM, ” we have a Black President, isn’t that enough?” Take my word for it, Steve Bach, the current mayor of Colorado Springs, is a good ole boy. When running for mayor, he didn’t meet with local “minorities” to hear complaints or concerns that they had regarding the city, all of his fundraisers were held in private homes of the wealthy, or in upscale establishments in parts of town that “minorities” do frequent. When “Minorities” did show up at these functions, (I was told), the question “May I help you?” was always asked. And I’m told it was only asked of the “minorities”.
I say all of this because people do not realize that Colorado Springs has a very large community of color. There are FIVE military bases in Colorado Springs; Fort Carson, Norad, Petersen Air force Base, Air Force Academy, and Schreiver Air Force Base respectively. To not have a polling place in a community center or a church that serves the community of color in that town is sheer travesty.
I’m happy that story has been told. Maybe now the elected officials of the City of Colorado Springs, will recognize that they represent ALL citizens of that city, not just the ones they choose to associate with. I won’t hold my breath though.
shaking my head…I have always felt that there are some totally f’d up things about this state. And, unfortunately, your experience has only served to confirm this.
They need to stop using all religious places as polling stations, there are enough school auditoriums. Remember separation of church and state?
Well instead of protesting the President’s stance on same-s*x marriage why not call these band of black ministers to take a stand on such an important issue. They exclude you like none of you exist or matter like in the 1960′s and you don’t see the correlation. This is Colorado, home of the recent shooting, Columbine, Kobe, Skiing, Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies, do you feel invisible and/or are you insignificant?
RETURNING TO THE DAYS RACIST LOVED THE BEST
By: David W. Johnson, Jr.
Well Brothers and Sisters, we have another wakeup call
A New Law Allows Loaded Guns In Our National Parks
Will we now have even more of our names on deaths wall
Nothing but more hatred and racism will such laws spark
Would they pass a law like that for Inner-City Citizens?
Course not; they do not care about their lives being saved
They consider us losing our lives as merely misdemeanors
These people prefer us in our graves or have us re-enslaved
Firearms will remained banned in federal buildings
Can be carried in private lodges & concession stands
To Our Children, a lot more deaths these type laws brings
Hey, let’s take control of our lives into our very own hands!
Doesn’t have anything to do with Race, a lot of you will say
Pass laws that if not hunting only police can carry weapons
For some politician’s stupidity, with dead bodies, we will pay
Very, very soon African Americans will loose lives by the tons
Do I believe African Americans will be the only ones dying?
No but the racists does not care if non-racist loose their lives
When we loose our lives they like seeing our loved ones crying
No more college degrees, they want us killed by guns or knives
Who in their right minds would want guns around little babies
If it is done illegally, that’s one thing but making it legal is crazy
Such people should be locked in a cage with wolves with rabies
Unless we protest this law, we truly are sorry, worthless and lazy
Chris W. c*x, NRA’s chief lobbyist, is a supporter of the law
Probably consider African Americans nothing more than pest
Even think we should still be in fields picking cotton or bailing straw
WAKEUP, we are “Returning To The Days Racist Love The Best”