When I need to calm down, I sometimes turn to MSNBC's Melissa Harris Perry, who somehow is frequently serene and practical when I am fuming and useless. Well, maybe she's fuming too but she rarely (albeit sometimes) shows it:
She wrote a piece on 4 steps to take in fighting for voting rights.
Here's the quick version:
1. Litigate
2. Vote in 2014
3. Watch Mount Holly (another Supreme Court case)
4. Work for a Constitutional Amendment
I suggest that everyone go read her piece for more information.
First, the good news: This does not change who has a right to vote.
I have received panicked emails from friends asking if the right to vote for African Americans is in jeopardy. Strictly speaking, it is not. ...
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder does not strip black men and women, or anyone else, of the right to vote. However, it does incalculable violence to the primary tool necessary to ensure state governments honor these constitutional rights.
What about those four steps?
Litigation and Vote in 2014(and getting out the vote) seem to me to be the most significant areas where we can have impact, at least in the short term.
Keeping an eye on Mount Holly is important.
The Supreme Court will soon decide a case known as Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. This will allow the Court to decide if it is constitutional to determine if a policy is discriminatory based on “disparate impact.” In other words, Mt. Holly will decide if it is enough to be able to show that a policy has a strong, negative impact on communities of color, or if you must also show that the policy makers have a racist intent. Depending on how the Court decides Mt. Holly, it may be impossible to keep lawmakers from restricting access to the polls, unless you can prove they were purposefully racist in their intentions.
I am not a lawyer, or an expert on racism or even a Supreme Court groupie, but it seems to me that we can do more than keep an eye on this. We can be proactive and perhaps set the scene by helping to define how you test for racism.
The Constitutional amendment is a long-term solution, and I don't know how hard it would be to pass.
Chins up! to quote MHP. Democracy was never expected to be easy.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try one of my Greek mythology based novels, either the story of Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus or one of the first examples of civil disobedience, Antigone and Creon. Or, if you like mysteries and/or Jane Austen, treat yourself to The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma.