Post 5

A public issue that concerns me? Just one? I have a veritable LAUNDRY LIST of public issues that concern me. Racism in policing, politicians who vote against the needs of their constituents, explosions in London, poisoned water in Michigan. But let's talk about one that's maybe overlooked in the wider context of our culture: Voter Disenfranchising.

It's been "technically" illegal to discriminate voters based on race or nationality since 1870. EIGHTEEN SEVENTY. It's been ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN YEARS since the United States made illegal to discriminate at the voting booth. I say "Technically" because at almost no time since then has it been enforced in the spirit of the law.

Immediately after it passed, ESPECIALLY in southern states literacy tests were required for non-whites, which was intentionally done to keep former slaves and their children from voting, because slaves RARELY knew how to read or write. Poll taxes were also often enforced which kept these same groups away from the polls because they were often intentionally made to be beyond their expenses. This continued until 1953 with the Supreme Court case Terry v. Adams, which was the 7th case brought to the Supreme Court about this practice. The 7th case where the practices were struck DOWN, that is. These cases spanned nearly four decades, from 1915 (Guinn v. United States) until Terry v. Adams.

We're never really explained what the term "Civil Rights Movement" means. Sure we know what it is, but during the countless years of state schooling, I've had not once has a teacher explained what Civil Rights are. Civil Rights are what protect the freedom of individuals from being diminished by governments, organizations and private citizens.

Voting was possibly THE most important issue of the civil rights movement because, in the South, minorities were kept from registering to vote in the first place. This kept African Americans from voting in elections, but even more insidiously, it kept them from serving on juries. This meant that when an African American citizen brought a criminal charge against someone, none of the jury meant to uphold justice was truly a member of their community. This simple act of disenfranchisement kept hundreds of cases from being served with any true substance of justice or integrity.

But lets skip ahead to right now. Present day. That's all over right? Wrong. Take for instance the case of Dorothy Cooper, who had been voting for nearly 60 years when her home state of Tenneese passed legislation requiring voters to have a state-issued ID card to vote in 2012. Dorothy Cooper didn't own a car. Or have a passport. Those are things people who drive or who can afford international travel have. She'd been voting for 60 years, so what was the sudden problem?

For more recent examples you can go here.
Voter Fraud. Under the claim of stopping voter fraud, nearly 31 states have passed laws requiring IDs to vote. Even though there were only FOUR cases of fraud in November's presidential election. not Four percent, four CASES. Total.

"A FRONTLINE analysis of voting laws nationwide found that only six of the 31 states that require ID at the polls apply those standards to absentee voters, who are generally whiter and older than in-person voters. And two states with strict photo ID policies for in-person voters — Rhode Island and Georgia — have recently passed bills that allow anyone to mail in a ballot." (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/why-voter-id-laws-arent-really-about-fraud/)

So, Why are we letting people mail in ballots if they need to show proof of ID? 

Because it's about keeping the 11% of minorities, or the impoverished from voting against the people in power. Certain groups do better in elections if certain groups don't vote, so it's more convenient to just prevent them from voting at all.

It's still happening in 2017, folks, make no mistake. It's just wrapped up in a lot of red-tape and blatant falsehoods to make it seem like its above-board and fair. It's not. It's a load of horse feces.