128 years ago, Frederick Douglass provided the explanation for why people are so hard on President Obama. The quote below is worth remembering next time we are invited to pile on.
"Though the colored man is no longer subject to barter and sale, he is surrounded by an adverse settlement which fetters all his movements. In his downward course he meets with no resistance, but his course upward is resented and resisted at every step of his progress. If he comes in ignorance, rags and wretchedness he conforms to the popular belief of his character, and in that character he is welcome; but if he shall come as a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman, he is hailed as a contradiction to the national faith concerning his race, and his coming is resented as impudence. In one case he may provoke contempt and derision, but in the other he is an affront to pride and provokes malice."
Frederick Douglass
September 25, 1883
As Black people across the nation face the challenge of keeping access to the franchise of voting while Republican legislators and governors try to suppress the Black vote to derail President Barack Obama's reelection efforts, Black college students find themselves a primary target of those strategizing to keep people of color away from the polls.
New voting laws that went into effect in several states could impact the turnout of young college voters in several states, including Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. Many of these states have a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with tens of thousands of student coming from the New York City area as well as other states with large Black populations.
Laws that now require college students to show government-issued ID work to exclude them from the voting process because lawmakers know they are unlikely to have such identification. Student IDs will not be accepted at the polls in several states, even if the IDs are from state institutions.
Many people told me that the remarks that President Obama made at Osawatomie High School in Osawatomie, Kansas were clear, direct and important. I thought that it would be important for all Proud Black Voters to have a chance to hear (or read) the entire speech.
I spent the weekend at the Random Hacks of Kindness hack-a-thon at Drexel University. The event brought together developers and subject matter experts to build mobile and web apps “to make the world a better place.”
I’m a voting rights advocate so I shared the problem facing millions of registered voters who, for the first time, must present government-issued photo ID in order to vote. Voters without a photo ID can apply for a free voter ID, but they need a photo ID to establish their identity.
Some background: In eight states – Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin – registered voters must show government-issued photo ID to vote.
In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, the U. S. Supreme Court held that states with strict photo ID requirements must provide free IDs. While the voter ID is free, the document a citizen must produce to establish his or her identity is not free. Those documents include birth certificates and passports. Of course, if a voter has a passport, there would no need to get a voter ID.
The cost of obtaining a birth certificate ranges from $5.00 in Indiana to $25.00 in Georgia. In addition to the state fee, an applicant will have to pay for postage and photocopying (if requested by mail), transportation (if requested in person) or the VitalChek.com fee (if ordered online).
The strict photo ID requirements will disproportionately impact young and minority voters.
Voting rights groups, including the ACLU and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, are challenging the constitutionality of photo ID laws, as applied. But the countdown to Election Day 2012 has begun and voters without government-issued photo ID need assistance right now.
So on Sunday, we presented a prototype for the Cost of Freedom App, a voter education tool.
Developed by Joe Tricarico, John Campbell, Maneesha Sane and yours truly, the mobile and web app will provide voters with the information they need to apply for a voter ID. If they do not have documents to establish their identity, users will be able to type in their address to find out how to obtain a certified copy of their birth certificate and the cost. If they want to apply in person, they will be given the office location, office hours and directions using public transportation.
You don’t have to be a developer to help build the app. If you want to get involved, join the conversation on Facebook. On Twitter, use the hashtag #costoffreedom.
My favorite era in American history was known as 'Reconstruction'. This was the era after the end of slavery when our nation had more African Americans in congress, Senate, state legislatures and statehouses than any other time in our nation's history. Of course, the white power structure couldn't stand to see people of color doing so well in politics ... so they began to find ways to 'block the vote'. Poll taxes. Counting jellybeans in a jar. White sheets and hoods. The era of 'Jim Crow' came into fruition and Blacks were driven out of congress, Senate, state legislatures and state houses.
Fast forward to 2008. The first election of an African American to the presidency. An unprecedented number of Black and Latino voters. The white power structure couldn't stand to see people of color doing so well in politics ... so they again began to seek out ways to 'block the vote'. Several states have passed laws requiring voters to present specific types of photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote; creating new rules for voter registration drives; reducing early voting days and voter registration periods; and further preventing ex-felons from voting. 'James Crow, Esquire' hopes to drive President Obama out of the White House.
There are 14 states who have passed such laws this year: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The NAACP collected this information about early voting advocacy by Black churches in Florida, hoping to convince the Justice Department to strike down a slew of new state voting laws it claims are intended to thwart growing minority participation at the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election.
NAACP President Ben Jealous said the NAACP wants to diligently document how the laws affect African Americans and Latinos, and provide the attorney general ample evidence for finding the laws unconstitutional.
"In some ways, these tactics are not Jim Crow. They do not feature Night Riders and sheets … This is in fact, James Crow, Esq.,” said the Rev. William Barber, NAACP North Carolina president and a pastor. ”...Jim Crow used blunt tools. James Crow, Esq. uses surgical tools, consultants, high paid consultants and lawyers to cut out the heart of Black political power."
For example, a law passed in Florida reduced its early voting period from 14 to 8 days, including the last Sunday before Election Day.
In 2008, 54 percent of Black voters in Florida cast their ballots early, and Blacks comprised 32 percent of the entire statewide turnout on the last Sunday before the election, said Ryan Haygood, director of political participation for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
"It’s widely known in Florida that Black churches would organize what they called ‘Get Your Souls to the Polls’ where they urged their members, after fulfilling their spiritual duties on Sundays to discharge their civic ones by voting," Haygood said.
Florida’s Black and Latino populations grew during the past decade, inching it closer to being a majority-minority state.
Supporters of the new laws, including at least one group funded by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, have said the new laws are designed to prevent voter fraud. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said voter ID laws have wide support, including in the Black community.
“It’s hard for me to believe a serious group like the NAACP would come out to say there’s some grand conspiracy to deny people the right to vote,” von Spakovsky said.
Actually, the only person in the Black community that I know who is supporting these 'voter suppression' efforts is Artur Davis. Anyhow, the NAACP has planned a protest march and rally that will start at the Koch brothers’ offices in New York on Saturday. This blog encourages all 'villagers' in the New York area to participate in this protest march.
Republican legislatures and governors across the country have launched an unprecedented effort to restrict voting rights among traditionally Democratic voting blocs. Learn more, and find out what Democrats are doing to fight back.
