2008 Woodie Awards
Global Humanitarian
COM history professor thrives in civil work
Stephanie Rinker
Issue date: 11/2/04 Section: News
|
Recently, Walter Turner-who teaches ethnic studies and American history at COM-traveled to Florida with Fair Elections 2004 to examine the faults in the previous election process. There he met with election supervisors, the NAACP, women's organizations and people who said they felt disenfranchised by the election process. There he saw faulty machines with no paper trail to verify votes and evidence that incorrect votes were appearing.
"African-American and poor people are intimidated by the process," he said. "It's unacceptable. If your vote is not being counted, then you are not a citizen. If you're not a citizen, then what is the message being sent to you? It speaks volumes that 150 years after the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments people are still wrestling with the idea of whether their vote counts."
Voting, however, is what Turner describes as "just the first step." He sees much more involvement needed. When asked what African-American issues have not been addressed, he quickly and passionately responds "damn near everything...The list goes on and on but these need to be addressed-not just addressed for African-Americans, but for the country."
Turner said he feels it is important that people have a role in choosing their representatives. "You have to hold on and fight for what people before you have fought for-you have to have your voice heard," said Turner. He explained that of the disenfranchised people in Florida, a third were African-American and a fifth were Spanish-speaking. "This shows how race and color play out in politics," he said. "That has to be challenged and shouted from the roof tops."
Turner is well-traveled. He's visited Senegal, the Ivory coast, Egypt, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, England, Germany, France, Spain, Iceland and all over the United States. "I've been traveling since so early in my life that I don't know if I feel I live in the U.S.-I can identify with many places," he said.