Injustice in America, States Rights and the return to a poll tax.

GreenWatch

Injustice in America, States Rights and the return to a poll tax.

By Jay Burney

If you thought that the modern Republican Party is just about being anti-women with anti-contraception and invasive vaginal probe legislation tied to women’s medical decisions, you are wrong. Think again. They are anti-education, anti-environmental, anti labor, and anti-democracy. They are also against the historic civil rights that transformed America in the 1960’s.  Modern republicans are ushering us back to a time of Jim Crow.

Between 1876 and when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965 were implemented by the Federal government, the United States, especially many of the southern states, made racial segregation the law of the land.  The civil rights and liberties of African Americans were targeted by what are known as Jim Crow laws that codified racial segregation of public schools, public places, transportation, restrooms, drinking fountains, bank lending, job discrimination, and military segregation. Among the Jim Crow laws were “poll taxes” collected by several southern states from residents that wished to vote. These highly discriminatory “taxes” heavily and disproportionately impacted minorities especially African Americans, Native Americans, and the poor. If you couldn’t pay the taxes you couldn’t vote. You were disenfranchised. The Civil rights and Voting Rights Acts helped to put an end to that injustice.

If you do not know about this stuff, you really don’t know much about American history including the legacy of  Martin Luther King. He died fighting the institutional racism that characterized ( and often still characterizes) America.

You may have heard of the “southern strategy”. This is an American political term that has long characterized how national leadership has dealt with discrimination and segregation issues.  During the Civil Rights movement, democrats were able to both embrace the civil rights movement and to empower a newly emerging class of voters in the south. The strategy resulted in national and local election victories that were embodied in a 90% democratic enrollment by southern black voters.

This strategy helped lead a transformation of America into a place of more hope, more justice, and more equality. The world seemed a better place and America was taking the lead.

Today, the Republican Party is turning back the clock. Among other things they are returning to a “southern strategy” that is predicated on the exploitation of anti-African American racism, misogyny, fear, and the characterization of “States rights” as a panacea for the perceived evils that infest the Federal government. This is a thinly disguised but effective attack on women, minorities, the poor, the elderly, labor, education, students, economic and environmental regulations, and the fundamental freedoms, rights, and liberties that so many have fought and died for. It is a disingenuous and cynical strategy at best. The fundamentalist republican’s use the argument of  “potential voter fraud” as the foundation for requiring voter ID. This despite the fact that studies done in the past decade by the Federal Government find that less than .003% of voter fraud has been found nationwide. Despite that 38 states have advanced bills requiring voter ID.

In recent months, several states including Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Indiana, Tennessee, Kansas, South Carolina, and Wisconsin have passed discriminatory voting practices, including voter ID laws. All of these come with real cash costs to the voters whom have to purchase the ID’s, purchase paperwork supporting the ID’s, and often travel great distances to access places where the ID’s are sold.

The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that if fully enacted, these laws could prohibit as many as 5 million otherwise eligible voters from participating in the next Presidential election. A preponderance of those affected will be people of color.

Because of this countries historic racial discrimination including voter rights atrocities traced back to Jim Crow and the prohibitive poll tax requirements, states that are trying to reintroduce new discriminatory voting regulations have to be approved by either the Justice Department or a Federal Judge.  Despite fundamentalist attempts to disembowel the federal government it still plays a role protecting our rights and liberties.

The states rights lie embodied in voter ID legislation is an attempt at a political power grab backed by an oligarchic empire that has outsourced, downsized, and disenfranchised the American dream. And they still like to refer to this dung heap of an idea “a shining city on a hill”.  American Exceptionalism indeed.

Here are profiles of some of the states that have enacted voter ID legislation.

Mississippi

Mississippi’s population is 59 % white and 37% black, and 2.7% Hispanic.  In November Mississippi voters approved a state constitutional amendment requiring all voters to have an approved photo ID such as a drivers license before they could vote.  The “make voting harder” amendment to the Mississippi State Constitution passed with a 62% plurality.  Opponents of the amendment say that the ID requirement will make it harder for the elderly, the disabled and poor and African American residents to vote. Among other issues is the actual cost of a driver’s license or photo ID and access to agencies that can provide these items to a fundamentally rural poor population, which is disproportionally African American.

Election results show that the amendment was very popular amongst white voters, and not so popular amongst African Americans.

Many thousands of people, including ¼ of all Mississippi African Americans in Mississippi do not have photo ID’s or easy access to them.

The law had not been enacted by the March 13 Republican Presidential primary election where 97% of the voters were white.  The Republican controlled Mississippi legislature decided not to pass the rules that will govern the voter ID process until after the Republican primary.  Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a white republican and the states chief election officer said that it is the goal of legislatures to make sure that the rule is in effect for the Presidential elections, when African Americans are sure to try to vote. Hoseman was asked by a reporter on Republican primary day what he would say to opponents of the law and he said with a laugh “get over it”. The Justice Department or a Federal Judge will have to approve the new rules before they go into effect.

Texas

The federal government is also scrutinizing a new texas law that requires photo id in order to vote.

According to the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, the new Texas law will prohibit up to 800,000 otherwise legally entitled voters from participating in the Presidential election. Other critics put that number well over 1 million.  According to Texas own data, a Hispanic voter in Texas is almost 50% more unlikely to meet the requirements to obtain the id, which include a minimum of $22 to purchase the documentation to get the Voter ID. The DOJ asked the State to offer some proof of voter fraud in Texas, and the state could nor provide any evidence On March 12 the Justice Department decided that the Poll tax made the Texas law illegal. Texas Governor Rick Perry is now suing the Federal government and seeks immediate implementation of the new law.

South Carolina

Just before Christmas the Justice Department rejected a South Carolina Law making it difficult for minorities to vote. The state is now challenging the Federal ruling and attorneys handling the case for the state have declared that it will cost South Carolina taxpayers more than $1million to prosecute the case, especially if it has to go to the Supreme Court. The return to Jim Crow is costly, but apparently the good white folks in South Carolina are glad to anti up to pay the piper.

Wisconsin

Almost 150 years after the United States fought the Civil War, and this is not just an issue of the south.

According to state democratic leaders, more than 250,000 Wisconsin voters are disenfranchised by the voter ID law.

Republican Gov Scott Walker’s administration who initiated anti-union legislation that turned the state inside out also initiated voter ID requirements.  Recently a State Judge placed a permanent injunction on the law.  The Judge said that over a quarter of a million Wisconsin voters who would other wise be eligible to vote, many of whom are democrats, would be prohibited from voting under the new rules, which would cost the individual voters money. Besides the photo id costs, the costs of transportation and lost wages for a day spent chasing down paperwork could cost individuals more than $100 each. 

Selma to Montgomery

You may have heard that Al Sharpton recently led a march with his National Action Network recreating the historic civil rights Marches between Selma and Montgomery Alabama to protest the new making it harder to vote laws.  Sharpton calls the new laws Jim Crow on steroids, saying that they are more polished and sophisticated and pretend to fix a problem that does not exist.  Sharpton says that the underlying rhetoric promoting these laws focus on voter fraud, are themselves fraudulent arguments designed to disenfranchise voters and not to strengthen the democratic process.

It seems that fundamentalist Republicans have no qualms about exploiting racial fears with a new radicalism that will bring our country to its knees. The game plan here is becoming more obvious with each passing day.

If you are wondering what this all has to do with you, and you live in Buffalo, there is a good chance that you are not a person of color. According to 2011 US Census data, the Buffalo Metro area is the 6^th most racially segregated area in the United States.  Our African American population is concentrated in the urban core of Buffalo while almost all of the suburban and rural areas are white.  This puts us on the cutting edge of the future of civil rights in America.  You may not know that the Jim Crow laws that have been inspired by the republican fundamentalists are making their way into your life today, but if they get a hold in the southern strategy states it wont be long before you will be asked to take a position. Much of Buffalo’s urban population has experienced a lifetime of racism.  As America rapidly descends into its Jim Crow past, what will you do?

ALEC The American Legislative Exchange Council

ALEC is a powerful corporate funded action organization that is behind all of the voting laws discussed in this article.  ALEC authors and promotes legislation in local and federal legislatures that further a corporate agenda reflecting smaller government, tax breaks for the rich, and legislation that is anti –environmental , anti-labor, anti-education, and a wide plethora of issues that  benefit the conservative agenda.

ALEC is organized across the America, has introduced bills in every State legislature, and is funded secretly by private corporate interests organized by the Koch Brothers. According to the organization Media and Democracy which revealed over 800 ALEC sponsored bills in July of 2011, ALEC is reshaping our democracy by financially supporting legislators that take the model bills created by ALEC and introducing them and or voting for them in the political bodies that they represent.  

For more on ALEC and voting Rights:

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Democracy_%26_Voting

http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

ALEC Exposed, Rigging Elections, The Nation, July 2011

http://www.thenation.com/article/161969/rigging-elections

Edward Moore Kennedy, A Life Worth Living

From the Sardinia Standard, August 2009

Edward Moore Kennedy

A Life Worth Living

By Jay Burney

I grew up in New England where the Kennedy legacies were imprinted on me at an early age.  I met many of the Kennedys including John, Robert, and Teddy Kennedy during various political campaigns and events. When Teddy Kennedy passed away in late August at the age of 77 from the results of a brain tumor virtually everyone in America and every person worldwide that has ever paid attention to American politics knew who he was.  Most remember Kennedy because of his well-chronicled relationships with tragedy. Some remembered him as the man who as a young Senator, found himself inextricably entwined with the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, an aide  to his recently deceased brother Bobby.  Kopechne was riding with the young Senator in his car one late night in 1969 on Cape Cod, when it plunged off a narrow bridge, resulting in her death. 

Others remembered Kennedy because of his three of his brother’s untimely deaths. Oldest brother Joe, lost at war, brother John, 42^nd President of the US, violently assassinated in Dallas on that November day in 1963, and brother Bobby, our New York State Senator, murdered on the occasion of his victory in the 1968 California primary that could have catapulted him to the presidency.  How can one forget the emotional eulogy that Edward Kennedy delivered at Bobby’s funeral mass in which he said:

“My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it,”. “Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world.” As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:  “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

Teddy Kennedy was elected Senator from Massachusetts in 1962. He took over the seat held by his brother John, who had just become President. It was a hotly contested election as he faced Edward J. McCormick, Jr. whose uncle was John McCormick, then Speaker of the U.S. House o Representatives. He served as the Senator for Massachusetts for 46 consecutive years longer than but two other senators in the history of the United States.  He played a key role in shaping the policies of America for decades, especially in the areas of health, education, civil rights, and labor. According to his Senate website, 550 of his bills were passed into law. Over 1000 carry his signature. He wrote bills that institute a fair minimum wage, made it possible for workers that lost their jobs to keep their health insurance and take paid leave for family emergencies. He worked for equal pay for equal work and worker safety He was the leader in the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act which helps to prevent discrimination against handicapped individuals. He helped pass food safety laws including labeling requirements, and funding of research into deaths involving food allergies. He helped to usher legislation involving availability of generic drugs. He was a strong supporter of Social Security and Medicare and spent most of his career ensuring that these programs were sound and secure. He also authored legislation ensuring Meals on Wheels, which has served over 6 billion meals to shut ins and the elderly that would otherwise not eat a warm fresh meal.

He was a champion of Civil Rights Legislation including successful advocacy of he Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1991, and 2008.  He was instrumental in the passages of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965, 1982, and the Fair Housing Act of 1988.  He was instrumental in passing Title IX of the 1972 Higher Education Act, which prevented discrimination against women and girls in schools that receive Federal funding. This program protects against discrimination in academic programs such as science and math, and guarantees equal access to health care, school bands and dormitory facilities.  It may be best known for guaranteeing equal access for women and girls to sports programs provided by schools that accept federal funding. He was responsible for passing legislation protecting minorities and preventing gender bias including wage inequalities and harassment in the workplace.

Edward Kennedy’s life, especially when he was younger, was not without negative aspects.  As a young person, I was often astounded by news reports and stories of his excesses.  He came from a life of privilege. His family was wealthy and powerful.  In his freshman year at Harvard he was forced to withdraw for two years because he was caught cheating on a Spanish final. His family, under the guidance of his father Joe, was very influential, economically speaking, in advancing his son’s political careers including Teddy’s first Senate Race. Edward Kennedy had a life long problem with alcohol.  As he grew into adulthood his friends and family, and most of his political associates recognized that he matured and changed and was able to control his alcoholism. For several decades he has been the cherished leader of a large extended family including his children and grandchildren and those of his brothers and sisters.   In his later years in the Senate, I grew to admire his passion and his ideology.

At his death he was considered by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle as the “Lion of the Senate.”  He will be remembered as an intellectual and political powerhouse, a warm, kind and generous father figure, and a person who has epitomized the ideals of the Democratic Party for a generation.

Teddy Kennedy is arguably one of the greatest men of the Senate.  We all benefit from the ideals and laws that he spent his lifetime fighting for.  Healthcare, education, labor justice, small business advocacy, voting rights, civil rights (including gender anti discrimination laws) and services including Meals on Wheels, access to inexpensive medicine, child health protection, Medicare, and Social Security all benefited from his tireless advocacy.  Yes he was a Democrat.  One that is well known for successfully reaching across party lines.  John McCain made these remarks upon Kennedy’s death: “As a leader of his party he fought for the future for all people.” ”When we were agreed on an issue, and worked together to make a little progress for the country on an important issue, he was the best ally you could have.”  “He made me a better Senator.”

He made our country better and that makes all of our lives better.