Racism Round-Up
shocking, I tells ya!
Excellent piece on the shameful disenfranchisement of Imaginary-Americans:
David Becker, formerly a trial lawyer for the Justice Department, wrote a recent commentary for the Washington Post, entitled Reviving Jim Crow?, in which he called the Photo ID law “one of the single most discriminatory pieces of voting legislation of recent years.”
Photo ID is discriminatory.
Photo ID is the new Jim Crow.
Photo ID is the Klansman in your pocket.
Cuz heavenonlyknows, it is completely impossible for anyone with any black blood whatsoever to get a Photo ID.
And in further news:
“Lil’ Kim totally freaked out on the attendant. Some first-class seat mix-up. Called the agent a racist and pulled a ‘Do You Know Who I Am?’
“The attendant had no idea and couldn’t have really cared less...."
It’s really about class and economics, and not about race. But the class card generally can’t be played successfully because it’s always countered with the class warfare card.
I have experienced first-hand how Photo ID will be used to disenfranchise the poor. I once was homeless for four months while going through a divorce - I was delivering pizzas and earning minimum wage, sleeping in my car with no street address (I did have a PO box). My drivers license expired during that time (because I was a “new” driver, it was valid for only four years before having to renew it). The DMV would not let me renew my license without a street address, saying a PO box was not acceptable (they want to know where to find you if they want you). While many young adults continue to use their parents’ address for DMV (while they more around until they get settled), I did not have that option because I did not have family in that state.
There was an election during the time I was homeless. The poll workers let me vote because I was known to them - having voted in that precinct for the previous four years - but under Photo ID, I would be turned away from the poll because my expired drivers license was, well, expired and thus not valid. (Yes, I was driving illegally...what would you have done?)
Of course, the middle class homeowner or the rich person with two or more homes would never be similarly disenfranchised
Posted by on 09/11/05 at 11:47 AMWow, Terry—and pizza delivery was the best job[s] you could find.?!? That musta really sucked! No friends who’d let you get mail at their place? What a kick in the head from the Universe. Glad to see you worked your way outta that. I bet it was a tough haul.
And, when someone is in that position, voting is one of the last things they have to worry about. It’s hard enough to figure out the issues and the candidates when ya have stability and some time to sit down and research it all. I’d say someone in the pizza-delivering-car-living situation might not make the most informed of choices and might want to wait til they’re more stabilized to worry about voting.
Posted by Claire on 09/12/05 at 08:12 PM
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