Campaign finance is a civil rights issue By Byron Alex Tonight at 8 p.m. in Shanklin 107, Stephanie Wilson of the Fannie Lou Hamer Project will be speaking about campaign finance reform as a civil rights issue. Campaign financing deals with how political candidates get money to run for elections. The amount of money required to successfully run for elections in America is astronomical, running into the millions of dollars for a single national congressional race. Newt Gingrich alone spent over $6 million in the 1998 House elections, which means that other candidates who hope to compete in similar elections must always be chasing money. Once the candidate has found donors, the candidate knows that if he supports the donors’ interests while he is in office, he can be pretty sure about receiving money from the same donors the next time he is up for election. The current system of campaign finance insures that those who make the big donations to political campaigns will have their interests supported. What about those who can’t make the same huge donations to campaigns? Are their interests ignored by politicians? Often times the answer is yes. The 100 communities with the highest campaign donations are over 80% white and they contribute $65 per capita. In contrast, the 100 communities with the highest percentage of people of color contribute only twenty-four cents per capita. One of the results of this campaign donation disparity can be seen in the fight for gun control. According to the Fannie Lou Hamer Project website, “guns are the leading cause of death for black males aged 15-24, and young Black males are five times as likely to be victimized by gun violence than their white counterparts.” Despite this horrible tragedy, gun control continues to be an elusive piece of legislation in American government. Tonight’s presentation will further explore the relationship between campaign finance and civil rights. The event is sponsored by Wesleyan Students for Campaign Finance Reform and co-sponsored by the Wesleyan Democrats, the Wesleyan Green Party, Wesleyan’s Malcolm X House, Ajua Campos, SPECTRUM, and the statewide organization Democracy Works. For those who want to find out more about campaign finance and its relationship to other issues, Wesleyan is hosting a statewide campaign finance reform conference this Saturday. Contact rsolow@wesleyan.edu for more info. Alex is a member of the class of 2004

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