Anyone who is shocked or surprised by what the states of Texas and Mississippi currently are doing to suppress Black voting must have little, if any, knowledge of the history of the two former Confederate states. Otherwise, they would know that on Feb. 2, 1861, Texas adopted “A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union.”

The white supremacist declaration included the following:

“We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.

“That in this free government all white men are and of right are to be entitled to equal civil and political rights; that the servitude of the African race, as existing in these States, is mutually beneficial to both bond and free, and is abundantly authorized and justified by the experience of mankind, and the revealed will of the All mighty Creator, as recognized by all Christian nations; while the destruction of the existing relations between the two races, as advocated by our sectional enemies, will bring inventible calamities upon both and desolation upon the fifteen slave-holding states.”

A similar, even more direct, declaration from Mississippi stated:

“Our positon is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. ...”

The only surprise in the declarations is the capitalizing of the word “African.”

Georgia, South Carolina, and other Confederate states adopted equally white supremacist declarations.

The 2021white supremacists who are passing laws to suppress Black voters are ideological descendants of those who wrote those declarations. Their goal is to maintain white supremacy by any means necessary.

A. PETER BAILEY

Washington