Show Me Your Papers’ Politics Could Suppress Black Vote
Racism = Prejudice + power. The power to legislatively and politically supress and oppress based on skin color. When those disproportionally affected negatively by your policy are of a particular color (or class) you are practicing racism (or classism). It’s also necessary to mention that no epithet was used in the process and their are political & legislative winners in these policies…and they are, for the most part, members of the white majority culture.
Proponents of these restrictive laws allege that they’re necessary to curb vote fraud but can proffer no real empirical data to support their claims. The evidence makes plain that vote fraud is a myth and few states can put forth examples of individuals impersonating the dead or undocumented persons casting ballots at the polls. The baseless claims of vote fraud serve only to stir up anxieties and spark unnecessary hysteria.
And, the racially charged and xenophobic atmosphere in which many of these efforts are unfolding is undeniable. In a recent legislative hearing, Kansas State Rep. Connie O’Brien claimed that she could tell that a person was illegally in the country because of their “olive complexion.”
In Georgia, during a hearing leading up to the adoption of a restrictive proof of citizenship requirement, State Senator George Hooks, remarked that “we’ve been invaded by people who were born and raised elsewhere. They don’t share our language. They don’t share our culture…. They eat foreign food…. They don’t share the same manners we share.” Both states now have burdensome photo id and proof of citizenship requirements in place. – Kristen Clarke
Related Articles
- The Republican Threat to Voting (bruceturnerjr5.wordpress.com)
- What America Means When It Asks For Your Papers (bruceturnerjr5.wordpress.com)
The Republican Threat to Voting
At what point does the trend become a pattern? At what point do we accept the reallity that Republicans really want to suppress the vote of the opposition party. And when do we understand that these policies negatively impact Blacks and other minorities and the poor and hence is a move to control and oppress based on skin color and class through the legislative process… What do you call this. What is the correct term? Racism & Classism. And the Republicans are pushing these policies…
“Less than a year before the 2012 presidential voting begins, Republican legislatures and governors across the country are rewriting voting laws to make it much harder for the young, the poor and African-Americans — groups that typically vote Democratic — to cast a ballot.
Spreading fear of a nonexistent flood of voter fraud, they are demanding that citizens be required to show a government-issued identification before they are allowed to vote. Republicans have been pushing these changes for years, but now more than two-thirds of the states have adopted or are considering such laws. The Advancement Project, an advocacy group of civil rights lawyers, correctly describes the push as “the largest legislative effort to scale back voting rights in a century.”
Call it what it is…
The Republican Threat to Voting – NYTimes.com.
Related Articles
- Obama is a Moderate Republican from the 1990′s, but the GOP has run far to the Right… (bruceturnerjr5.wordpress.com)
- The GOP’s 2012 Campaign Plan: Disqualify Eligible Voters (alternet.org)
The Enclave 