The Power of Voting
The last several elections – midterms or presidential – we’ve heard variations of “This is perhaps the most consequential election of our time.” They can’t all be, so let’s examine this one.
In three months we’ll remember the second anniversary of the day that thousands of Americans tried to violently overthrow the democratic government of the United States. The day that some Americans tried to re-create our democracy to more closely mirror the autocratic “democracy” of Vladimir Putin’s Russia…a democracy that works for only a minority of Russians.
Among the insurrectionist of January 6th, you may have noticed certain colors were absent. There were no Black or brown people trying to tear down our democracy. And you may have felt that any actual love for America also seemed absent.
You may have noticed that the most prominent symbol on display was the Confederate Flag, that distinctly anti-America-as-we-know-it, uniquely American hate symbol flown by those violent insurrectionist of the Civil War era, and resurrected again during the Civil Rights era.
That flag does not scream, “Patriotic American”. It means exactly what Alexander Stevens, vice president of the Confederacy - a group of earlier insurrectionist - said it meant in 1861 when he described the new nation: “Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” The Confederate Flag that both groups of insurrectionist flew meant the same things on January 6th, 2020 as it did in 1861…white supremacy and a stand against our democracy.
When we think of the takeover of a democracy, we envision tanks and guns. We envision a Russia moving on Ukraine. Or maybe a January 6th, where Americans moved on America. The world has fewer democracies today than it had 20 years ago. The truth is that the majority of those democracies ended at the ballot box not the ammo can. And the terrifying boogeyman used again and again to rile up the population and instill fear remains race, immigration, the color brown. Yesterday citizens of Brazil – the fourth largest democracy in the world – went to the polls to decide between a democratic or autocratic government. The results were mixed and require a runoff in a month. So stay tuned.
The assault on American democracy didn’t end on January 6th. It continued. And it will continue to continue, led and organized by people who think the original framers of our democracy - as imperfect, racist, and misogynistic as they were – got it all wrong when they set in motion the idea that all people are equal regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, and have the right and even the responsibility to participate equally in governing this country.
The November midterms are rife with those who adhere to the idea that the framers got it wrong and see it as their role to correct that mistake. To secure the country for those who, in their view, have the right to rule and govern, and to do so for the benefit of the few. The few who look and think like them. “True Americans”
I’m reminded of the famous and poignant poem of the 1930’s by German theologian Martin Niemöller:
First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Here in this country, they came first for indigenous people. Then they came for Black people. Then they came for brown immigrants. Then they came for Muslims. Then Jews. Then for school teachers who dared mention race or LGBTQ…then gay people …poor people…old people…Mormons…Catholics. Eventually they’ll come for your children, your children’s’ friends, your friends, your in-laws, the women who sought abortions, the neighbor you’ve unexpectedly grown to love. They may never come for you. But will you have spoken out? Will you have cast your votes for America’s democracy?
So yeah, this midterm is, in fact, a critically important election. The 33 new election laws in 19 states are designed to replace the idea of democracy with a hierarchy in which a minority will determine our fate. Your fate.
Sherrilyn Ifill, is an acknowledged expert on voting rights, an accomplished and acclaimed civil rights attorney named in 2021 by Time Magazine as one of the entire world’s most influential people, and was the president and Chief Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund - founded by Thurgood Marshall - for 9 years having stepped down just this year. This is what Sherrilyn has to say about voting and taking a stand:
Get involved in your local prosecutor races. Show up at your school board meetings. You can be the white person in the room who says, “Yes, we should segregate our schools.” You can be the person who shows up at the zoning meeting who says, “Yes, we should build housing for low-income families and abused woman.”
Vote! Know every race on the ballot this year. When you walk into the polling place you should actually know why you’re voting for a school board candidate; that you actually know why you choose that sheriff candidate over that other sheriff candidate; when you’re asked to pick three judges you actually know which three judges you would pick and why. It’s not a small thing. It’s a lot of work. And it’s work that most people don’t do.
When I asked a few of my acquaintances why they had voted for politicians that are racist, their response was usually two-fold. “I don’t think the race thing is that important.” Or, “I didn’t know they were racist.”
As Sherrilyn says, know who you are voting for: Politicians speak in code. We all want law and order. Politicians who run as “Law and Order” candidates, and “get tough” policies though are racist candidates. That is not to be confused with politicians who want to find ways to reduce crime, and express support for law enforcement. But when it’s an emphasis as it was, for example, with former Attorney General/former Alabama senator Jeff Sessions – a man so outwardly racist that he was denied a seat on the Supreme court by his own party – then that person is trying to code talk to white people and is a racist.
When a sheriff candidate describes him or herself as a “Constitutional sheriff”, he or she is a racist. Again, not to be confused with a candidate who adheres to the constitution and seeks to uphold the laws enshrined within as being racist. But when they claim to belong to or adhere to a “Constitutional Sheriff’s” philosophy or an organization such as the Constitutional Sheriffs’ and Peace Officers Association, they’re a racist.
The Constitutional Sheriff’s Blue Book, written by white supremacist Henry Lamont Beach, asserts that the county sheriff is "the highest authority of government in our Republic". The Blue Book goes on to claim that whites are a higher kind of citizen subject only to "common law," not the dictates of the government. Blacks, meanwhile, are merely "14th Amendment citizens" who must obey their government masters and are a "retrograde species of humanity."
Politicians who emphasize the need to get tough on crime or to reduce or eliminate safety nets for the least among us…racist code talk.
Politicians who are endorsed by and seem to associate with folks who are often mentioned as holding racist beliefs…well if it looks like a rat, acts like a rat, hangs out with rats, and eats cheese…. it’s rat. Pay attention. Trust that queasy feeling in your stomach. People, even the slyest of politicians, will eventually let you know who they really are. When that happens, believe them.
America’s struggle with race and coming to terms with our past is our national disease. Our cancer. If you were diagnosed with cancer, would you just continue on with your daily routine and hope it somehow magically went away? Probably not. You’d pay attention to it. You’d do all that you could to get the best outcome possible. You’d do it not only for yourself, but for those that you love.
It's time America took care of its national illness. It’s already metastasized everywhere. But maybe it’s not too late. So much of our political divide and dysfunction is about race. Take a bite out of the divide and dysfunction. This year – and in all future years – vote for the person with no hint of racism. And if that person happens to be not in your party, vote for America over party.
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The League of Women Voter’s Vote 411 is an amazing resource to learn about all of your candidates.