Is this racist? I think so...

An article in the Washington Times caught my eye today. It was about Black voters in a small town in North Carolina who were unable to identify the "Black candidate" unless they had the (D) next to their name. The town had gone to a non-partisan vote, with the political affiliations removed. However, a judge has overturned this ruling, saying "partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black"

Here is an excerpt from the article.

KINSTON, N.C. | Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate and decided that equal rights for black voters cannot be achieved without the Democratic Party.

The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" - identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voters' right to elect the candidates they want.

Several federal and local politicians would like the city to challenge the decision in court. They say voter apathy is the largest barrier to black voters' election of candidates they prefer and that the Justice Department has gone too far in trying to influence election results here.

Stephen LaRoque, a former Republican state lawmaker who led the drive to end partisan local elections, called the Justice Department's decision "racial as well as partisan."

"On top of that, you have an unelected bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., overturning a valid election," he said. "That is un-American."

Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party

In this day and age, it is truly disturbing that a black voter:
a) Can't tell if the candidate is black unless there is a (D) by their name.
b) Uses a person's skin color as a measuring stick for their vote.
c) Is voting, yet doesn't know the candidate's ideology by their name alone.

This is one of the most heinous forms of racism, as it enforces the stereotype that blacks must vote for Democrats and that they are too "dumb" to know who to vote for unless they are specifically TOLD by a political party affiliation.

Voters of ALL colors and creeds should do research on the candidates values and policy ideas and use THAT as the measuring stick for who receives a vote. Using any other method is truly a bastardization of democracy and against what the founding fathers intended for our country.