We Must Continue the Fight for Justice
Across the country, we are witnessing the continued trend of Republican leaders passing measures that make it harder for Black and poor people to vote. In Georgia’s Spaulding County, two Republican officials created a new law that only applies to the county to elect a fifth member of the Spaulding County Board of Elections. Upon the law’s passage, the legislators privately interviewed candidates, selected a Republican to fill the new vacancy and then the newly constituted group ended Sunday voting, which Black voters disproportionately use.
But the levers that allow Republicans to manipulate voting rules for partisan gain were laid years ago. In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court eliminated Sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That allowed Republicans a means of restricting the right to vote without having to get their plans precleared by the Department of Justice. Many of the voting rights laws that we see today would have had to be precleared prior to going into effect. That extra step protected voters and the franchise. Unfortunately, all hell has broken loose since the Voting Rights Act was gutted.
Making matters worse, in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission, the Supreme Court allowed corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections. That reversed a century-old precedent around campaign finance laws and allowed entities all over the country to interfere with elections, tipping the outcome in races without transparency or accountability. It also minimized average voters’ ability to determine candidates of choice. The truth is that unlimited dark money has terribly influenced American politics.
But the nail in the proverbial coffin is redistricting. Redistricting is the drawing of state and congressional lines. It occurs once in a decade following the census and determines the number of seats allotted to each region. It also impacts who can win those seats in the first place. When redistricting is done unfairly, it gives certain politicians, namely Republicans, a chance at picking up more seats per state, even when the demographic population would naturally make it easier for a Democrat to win. When done with ill intent, elected officials pick their voters, and voters have little chance – regardless of how large their voting bloc may be – of determining candidates who will represent their interests.
Attempts to make it harder to vote aren’t new. They have been going on in one form or another for decades. But here is the lesson I want readers to grasp: Organized resistance from ordinary people has been the most effective check on the power of the elite, dictators and authoritarian sympathizers. The power of the people has been the only check on the machinations of strong men. It has been the wall of resistance, challenging the power of money.
In conclusion, my message to people who are discouraged is to remember the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.” The arc is long but there is a place for all of us to engage. We are a part of an unbroken chain of freedom fighters. Let’s remember their legacy and continue the fight for justice.
