Biff_Poindexter
Diamond Member
He became the first Black mayor of Newbern, Alabama. A white minority locked him out of town hall.
Now, Mayor Patrick Braxton has filed a federal lawsuit he hopes will make things right.
www.treadbylee.com
"Everyone in town knows the question, but they all have a different answer. Who is the mayor of Newbern, Alabama? Todd McGilberry, owner of the Newbern Mercantile, one of the only businesses in town, answered the question Friday afternoon. “I think Woody Stokes or Pat Braxton,” he said. “I don’t really know which one.” He’s not alone. Since 2020, Newbern — a majority Black, one-square mile town of just 275 people — has had two mayors. Or one. Or none. It depends on who you ask. The confusion began in 2020 when Patrick Braxton became Newbern’s first Black mayor by operation of law. The town’s previous mayor, Haywood “Woody” Stokes III, had failed to file the necessary qualifying paperwork to run for the town’s top office. No citizens had filed to run for town council, either. Braxton, though, had taken great lengths to qualify. So without opposition, he assumed the office of mayor and, as had been the practice for years.
Then the cogs of conspiracy, it seems, began to turn. Former members of the then-majority-white town council, members who had also failed to file qualifying paperwork, held what Braxton claims was an unpublicized, unlawful meeting to order a special election to fill their own seats. Now, nearly three years into his term, Braxton is still unable to discharge the duties of his office. In a federal civil rights lawsuit, Braxton claims that since he became mayor of Newbern, former Mayor Stokes and others have participated in an illegal conspiracy to prevent him from “governing the affairs of the town” simply because of his race. That conspiracy, Braxton argues, violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The defendants claim immunity from the suit, arguing that the law in situations like this was not “clearly established.” Even the former mayor and his co-defendants admit it’s been decades since the citizens of Newbern have been able to vote for the town’s leader. In an interview with Rev. Michael Malcom conducted last year, Mayor Braxton said there haven’t been elections in Newbern for one simple reason — its citizens haven’t felt that democracy was a realistic possibility. "They didn’t even know they could vote for mayor,” Braxton said. The position was always handed down from white man to white man, he explained; “It was always just passed from one friend to another,” Braxton said."
This is the problem with these uppity darkies; this guy thinks just because he filed the necessary paperwork and the other person didn't -- that he is supposed to just be able to be the mayor? No, that is not how things work in this country. If no one cared about having elections and doing things that way, why interfere with it? The way that had been working is fine enough and just because you decided to learn the process and file the right paperwork, doesn't give you the expertise and mental skills to be a mayor of a small town..why don't these people just stay in their place??
I am proud that the real mayor and city council decided not to turn over power to this trouble maker and hopefully they will continue to stand up and fight back against this coup attempt. I researched this Braxton guy, I am hearing reports that he is receiving funding from BLM and Soros - I read where he first decided to run for office because he wanted to hang up flags and commemorate holidays like the 4th of July and Memorial Day, because there was no one doing it beforehand. Yea right, he probably really wanted to hang up pride flags and KKK flags like his Democrat masters Soros and Antifa commanded him to do. So it makes sense why the "real mayor" decided to take this bold step and lock Braxton out from being mayor. If only we can do this more to other uppity darkies who managed to get into positions they are too dumb and unqualified to hold.
