Violations of civil and human rights often occur in many parts of the United States, as illustrated by recent marriage and election laws passed by state legislatures, miscarriages of justice that occur through verdicts rendered in our court system, bias and corporate-level discrimination and harassment. in our schools. When they occur, these violations have a serious negative impact on community race relations, can lead to civil disobedience and conflict, and at times even threaten our ability to maintain law and order. What ways are open to us to prevent them from happening in the future?
An Assessment of Our Current Race Relations Based on Sixty Years of Observation
I’m not an expert on race relations, but I grew up with the civil rights movement in full swing and saw what happened over the last sixty years both in Florida and in the nation at large. The best way I know of to solve civil rights problems like the ones described is to prevent them from happening by removing the underlying causes, but that’s not always possible, and when it is, it doesn’t happen overnight.
The American civil rights movement has brought us much progress in race relations through the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, the American Civil Liberties Union, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act. of 1965 by the United States Congress. signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson and the well-documented efforts of many others.
But even though our country has elected its first black president, in fact our various racial groups, given the choice, still seem to prefer to mingle with members of their own race most of the time. This self-imposed alienation of races from one another when and where it occurs undermines mutual understanding and respect, provides the opportunity for misunderstandings to arise, and sometimes becomes the match that ignites civil disobedience when human rights violations occur. . The protests and demonstrations taking place as a result of voter suppression laws, marriage inequality, and alleged miscarriages of justice stemming from unpopular jury verdicts illustrate my point.
My focus will be primarily on the vote suppression laws in place during the 2012 presidential election.
Human and Civil Rights Violations Illustrated by Election Laws Passed in State Legislatures
When laws like the ones listed below are signed into law with the deliberate but clandestine intent of reducing the percentage of minority voters who go to the polls and cast their ballots because the party that passes such legislation receives far less support from those voters than the one received by the opposition party, is a deliberate undermining of racial harmony and a clear attempt by the political party in power to maintain power at all costs, including violating human and civil rights. The laws and practices mentioned are reminiscent of the laws enacted by the so-called “banana republics”. When those laws do not have the expected result and the party that approves them loses the election, what happens next? A military junta? It is outrageous that a political party in the United States lowers itself to that level. If a political party cannot legally and ethically obtain a majority of votes, then it has no right to win elections. Consider these tactics for a moment, all of which have been used recently to try to win elections.
- Make registering to vote more difficult.
- Impose restrictive and onerous identification requirements as a prerequisite to registering to vote and casting a ballot.
- Prohibit same-day registration on the date of the general election.
- Minimize the number of days for early voting.
- Eliminate early voting on Sunday, a day many voters of color prefer to cast ballots.
- Make voting as inconvenient as possible for those who don’t normally vote for you.
- Knowingly distributing flyers in Spanish that incorrectly state the date of the election and show that it was held on a later date than the scheduled date.
- Place many more voting machines in favored precincts than you do in opposing party dominated precincts to ensure long lines and voting delays in opposing party dominated precincts and ensure only short lines at precincts dominated by the party in power.
- Shorten the hours that the polls are open.
Where these discriminatory attempts to suppress the rights of minorities exist, the next time a situation develops that minorities find discriminatory, such as a miscarriage of justice in a court trial, it will ignite and mobilize civil rights advocates, initiate litigation, it will provoke public outcry and provoke petitions to government officials for redress of grievances. Is the need for such action being created to maintain and exercise rights to which we are all clearly entitled in the best interest of racial harmony? Is it in the national interest to allow such practices to continue? Let the reader be the judge of the appropriateness of such action.
It is extremely disappointing that, even after decades of efforts – legal, judicial, public and private, personal and corporate – to provide equal opportunity and establish a level playing field for all, we are still trying to extricate ourselves from the quagmire created by the attitude of people who are frozen in time and don’t want to see the need to change their attitude.
conclusion
We must continue to educate our children to understand the foundations and great importance of the American civil rights movement, its causes, and the sacrificed lives that gave rise to it. And we must instill in them the need to firmly commit to legality for all: black – white (or any other race or color), lesbian – gay – bisexual, transgender or heterosexual, men – women, young – old and disabled. regardless of religious doctrine or political ideology.
Respect for our racial and cultural differences across all age groups seems key to overcoming persistent remnants of intolerance and hatred that still sometimes disturb racial harmony and social integration. Old clothes get tough. In this case, let’s hope they die sooner rather than later.
© 2013 Douglas M. Midgley, JD All rights reserved worldwide