"...a deepseated racial animus and a desire to suppress black votes..."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/judge_dojs_witnesses_in_alabama_bingo_bribery_case_motivated_by_racism.php?ref=fpa
Ryan J. Reilly-October 21, 2011, 4:50 PM29668151
A federal judge accused two state Republicans, called by federal prosecutors in a http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/bingo_bribery/">massive Alabama corruption case, of cooperating with the feds because of their “ulterior motives rooted in naked political ambition and pure racial bias.”

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The judge’s order, http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/10/judge_says_legislators_who_wor.html">first reported by Birmingham News, http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/10/judge_says_legislators_who_wor.html">continued:

Beason, Lewis, and their political allies sought to defeat SB380 partly because they believed the absence of the referendum on the ballot would lower African-American voter turnout during the 2010 elections. One of the government’s recordings captured Beason and Lewis discussing political strategy with other influential Republican legislative allies. A confederate warned: “Just keep in mind if bill passes and we have a referendum in November, every black in this state will be bused to the polls. And that ain’t gonna help.”

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Thompson continued: “It is, perhaps, unsurprising that politicians have political motives to disrupt and defeat legislation advanced by opponents. But Beason, Lewis, and other influential Republican politicians did not target Democrats generally in their opposition to SB380; they plainly singled out African-Americans for mockery and racist abuse.”

“Beason’s and Lewis’s statements demonstrate a deepseated racial animus and a desire to suppress black votes by manipulating what issues appeared on the 2010 ballot,” Thompson said. “Lawmakers who harbor such sentiments lack the integrity expected from elected officials.”