Is Voter Suppression Racism?

Changes to voter ID requirements and reduced access to polls and absentee voting is intended to suppress Democratic voting, not to prevent voter fraud as claimed by Republican lead state governments that are enacting the changes. The Republicans are making changes that disproportionately affect Democratic voters. The voters affected are the poor, the elderly and the young.

Urban areas are predominantly Democratic. Therefore, making changes that only affect urban areas and disproportionately affect the poor can significantly reduce Democratic voting and give Republican candidates a winning advantage in swing states.

I believe that racism is still a significant issue in the United States, however, even though the African American population is impacted the most by voter suppression, the suppression is not racism. The urban African American vote is being suppressed because it is predominantly Democratic not because the voters are black.

Even though suppression looks and feels like racism because the population most affected is black, I think Democrats should be careful not to call this racism because it is a weaker argument that is easily attacked.

Carrying Firearms Near The President

One of Chris Matthews guests on Hardball, today, is a university professor. The subject was the recent public statement by President Jimmy Carter that some of the extreme protesters at rallies and townhall meetings oppose President Obama because they do not accept an African-American as their president. The GOP and conservative pundits are calling the statement outrageous. The Democrats, including the White House, are politely disagreeing and as usual prefer to avoid a serious discussion of racism in the US.

Joe Scarborough, on Morning Joe, said that President Carter is wrong. To support his opinion he pointed out that Obama won the election and early on had an approval rating of 70%. If only one-third of the 30% that disapproved of Obama did so because he is Black, I think that is a significant population. One that could easily account for many of the extreme political demonstrators. To further make his point against President Carter, Joe Scarborough asked Pat Buchanan for his opinion. What a joke. Pat has personally spewed racist remarks on Scarborough's show about both President Obama and Justice Sotomayor. Why didn't Scarborough ask David Dukes if the demonstrators are racists or just fervent patriots opposed to health care reform.

I agree with President Carter. I think that many of the protesters are opposed to a Black as president rather than just health care reform. If I was Obama, I would probably rather see the issue dropped rather than to have it debated since getting health care reform legislation passed is far more important and may be jeopardized by accusations of racism from the White House. Nothing will get the Whites that are on the fence to join the racist element more than to have a Black president accuse White Americans of racism.

I know a racist when I hear one. I'm not saying that every person prejudice person is a skinhead, but I do think that a lot of the anger and distrust is fueled in part by the protester's prejudice.

Chris Matthews' guests, the university professor and a past-president of the NAACP both agreed with President Carter and both, especially the professor, thought that it was a mistake for the Democrats to pretend that racism isn't a factor. They also thought that the GOP was making a very bad mistake by not calling on the demonstrators to stop the racist demonstrations before violence occurs. The GOP has instead attended these demonstrations without urging the demonstrators to be civil and even used the same rhetoric as the demonstrators.

The university professor on Hardball was especially concerned that the demonstrations would turn violent or inspire others to violence. He said that bringing firearms to a townhall meeting was unacceptable. He said the government should enact legislation that makes it illegal to carry a firearm within one mile of the president. In fact, the professor thought that 80% of Americans would support such a law. From what planet is the professor visiting our Earth?

You couldn't get 80% of Americans to support that law even if the president was a White Republican and you don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of getting half of America to approve of such a law if it is being promoted by a Black president that is accused by so many of masterminding a Socialist-Communist-Fascist-Nazi-Muslim Terrorist take over of the United States.

The Arrest of Professor Gates - Update

I think Obama is technically incorrect to support Gates since Obama admits not knowing all the facts BUT we should not be surprised that a black man’s initial response to such a story would be to take the side of the black man arrested. I don’t think a typical American minority person, especially a black, should be expected to "react" differently in situations like this.

However, Obama is not a typical black man when he opens his mouth in public. As the President he should not have commented until he adequately understood what took place. He certainly has enough resources at his disposal to inform him well in a short time.

When our politicians have spoken out as white men or Christian men rather than for all Americans, the majority has rightly disagreed with their narrow-minded positions. We should not make an exception for Obama.

The Arrest of Professor Gates - Who's Responsible?

I've read two accounts of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. One account was written by a friend, Lawrence Bobo. The other account was provided by the attorney for Henry Louis Gates, Jr. They are, in my opinion, very different accounts. The attorney's account would leave one to believe that the policeman had no cause to make an arrest. But, the account by Lawrence Bobo convinced me that Gates was responsible for his own arrest even though Bobo blames the policeman for a false arrest. Gates and a second black man broke into a house that he had just rented when he found that the door was damaged and the key would not open it. This activity was reported to the local police who responded as though it was a possible burglary.

I agree that race continues to be an issue in the US. Having a black man as president gives white America a new perspective that is not wasted on many, if any, whites and it gives blacks a new perspective of themselves and hope for continued improvements in race relations. However, I think Professor Gates is responsible for his arrest. Professor Gates could and should have reacted like an “unknown person” confronted by a policeman investigating the report of a possible crime. Instead, he chose to assume that the white policeman was disrespecting him because he was black. Then again, it may have been a “class” issue: the working class cop versus the “famous and successful Harvard professor”, according to Lawrence Bobo. I can’t be sure whether either the policeman or Professor Gates turned this into a “class” issue but Lawrence Bobo’s own words suggest to me that he has a “class” attitude. I didn’t recognize the name Henry Louis “Skip” Gates in spite of the fact, according to Lawrence Bobo, that Professor Gates is “one of the most readily recognized black men in America and the most broadly influential black scholar of this generation.” I looked at a photo of Professor Gates and he was not familiar to me. That doesn’t mean that Professor Gates is not highly recognized and most broadly influential. What it means to me is that at least Lawrence Bobo, if not Professor Gates, is wrong to assume that the policeman had to have recognized Professor Gates by sight and by name and was bent on punishing him for his race and/or his status.

Let me know what you think after you have read both views.

More Richard Nixon Tapes!!!

I get to post twice today thanks to Gov. Sanford of South Carolina and the late and disgraced President Richard Nixon.

More taped oval office conversations of Richard Nixon have been released. These tapes reveal that he was a racist. While discussing the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion Nixon stated, "I admit, there are times when abortions are necessary, I know that." Nixon cited "a black and a white" as an example. Charles Colson with whom Nixon was speaking added, "or rape." "Or rape," said Nixon. Did the weary Civil Rights Movement know that it had an opponent in the White House?

In another taped conversation with George HW Bush, who was then Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Nixon stated, "I noticed a couple of very attractive women, both of them Republicans, in the legislature, I want you to be sure to emphasize to our people, God, let's look for some … Understand, I don't do it because I'm for women, but I'm doing it because I think maybe a woman might win someplace where a man might not … So have you got that in mind?"
To which Bush replied, "I'll certainly keep it in mind."

Nixon's tapes have ensured that his legacy will be as poor as it deserves to be. More poor than we could have imagined without the aid of his tapes.