Karen White, president of the Afro-American Historical Association in The Plains, speaks at the All Souls to the Polls forum. The history of voting explains how black citizens faced significant roadblocks. The poll tax, for instance, wasn’t barred until 1966. The right to vote is cherished; the audience of about 90 attending a forum on the history of voting in Fauquier County didn’t need to be convinced of its value. By a show of hands, all but one signaled they were registered to vote. The lone holdout said he planned to do so the next day. The All Souls to the Polls forum, held in The Barn on the Fauquier campus of Lord Fairfax Community College on Sept. 23,came a day before National Voter Registration Day. There was a table with voter registration materials at the forum. Voting “is essential to our way of government, our democracy,” said Conway Porter, in opening remarks. “There were efforts to exclude people along the way. Who should vote has always been an issue.” A multi-racial audience heard Karen Hughes White, founder and president of the Afro-American Historical Association, describe the efforts of blacks in Fauquier County and in Virginiato […]

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