Children of civil rights leaders blast Georgia voting law

By Teddy Grant Published: March 31, 2021

Children of civil rights leaders blast Georgia voting law

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020 file photo, Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., speaks about a series of events to be held in and around The King Center in Atlanta. The annual celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in his hometown in Atlanta is calling for renewed dedication to nonviolence following a turbulent year. The slain civil rights leader's daughter said in an online church service Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, that physical violence and hateful speech are “out of control” in the aftermath of a divisive election followed by a deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump.(AP Photo/ Ron Harris, File)

The children of civil rights movement leaders condemned lawmakers and corporate leaders to support the new restrictive voting law in Georgia.

In a letter, Bernice A. King, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Al Vivian, the son of the Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian; and John-Miles Lewis, the son of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, said that corporations have not met “their racial equity commitments,” according to CNN.

“Rather than sowing seeds to provide democracy the greatest chance to grow today and prevail tomorrow, legislators are attempting to transport us back to the shameful period of American history when mass voter suppression for communities of color was the law of the land,” they wrote.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp last week signed the bill into law, which introduces tougher voter I.D. requirements for absentee ballots, limit ballot drop boxes, allows state officials to take over local election boards and makes it a crime to handout good and water to voters in line.

“The new voter suppression laws are a perversion of truth. Our democracy will be destroyed if we use blunt instruments to appease falsehoods,” King, Vivian and Lewis wrote.