Factory Refurbished Jim Crow

Michael Harriot tweeted a thread in reply to someone who said one must show an ID to cash a check, why is it bad to demand ID to vote? Harriot’s points: Many people who need IDs live in rural areas where the DMV is in the next town, is always crowded, and there is no public transportation to get there. To get the ID you need a birth certificate. But a poor person can’t order online because of no bank account. Doing all this requires taking time off from a minimum wage job. Harriot wrote:

But none of that is why voter ID shouldn't be required. Here's the real reason: THERE IS NO IN-PERSON ELECTION FRAUD, noncitizen voting or any widespread cheating that could be prevented by voter ID. Studies show that states that don't require Voter ID laws don't have fewer cases of fraud. So why do they exist?

Because the law disproportionately affect minority voters. It seems to not affect turnout because in states with ID laws people work harder to register minority voters. They’re saying there is no problem for non white voters to work 5% hard than whites to cast a ballot.

The most effective voter suppression tactic is not not necessarily a voter ID law or outlawing water bottles or long lines or the ballot box changes banning Black organizations from registering voters or simply restructuring election boards. You know what's MORE effective? Changing the rules. Have you ever wondered why we're still making new rules? See, it doesn't matter WHY laws change; it matters THAT they change. The act of keeping voters unsure about election laws is an effective voter suppression technique THAT's the finesse ... Do you think that, in 246 years of trying, we haven't figured out a way to make voting secure and accessible?

Back in 2018 Michigan voters passed a voter bill of rights. It included vote by mail for everyone, same day registration, and several other measures. That’s changing the rules in a good way, learning from what other states have done in the last decade or so. And in 2020 Michigan went to Biden. So Republicans are trying other ways to suppress the vote. Maybe in 2022, likely in 2024 the rules will change again. And in a bad way. In a second thread Harriot explains why what the Republicans are doing is “Jim Crow 2.0.” He gives a history of voting while black under Jim Crow. Then he lists the kinds of laws Republicans are passing, comparing the new with descriptions of the old. The new laws would restrict drop boxes, restrict assistance to those who need language help, allow intimidation of voters, restrict access to absentee ballots, and fill election boards with people who would toss black voters. And, as under Jim Crow, these laws are passed in the name of election security.

The only logical reason for these new laws is that white people are VERY insecure. That’s why they’re resorting to these new laws. Usually (even when Obama won), more whites than Blacks trusted the vote count. But in 2020, for the first time, more whites distrusted the vote And there is no doubt the laws will disproportionately affect nonwhite voters. The data proves it. History shows it. That’s their intent. But I actually wouldn’t call it “Jim Crow 2.0” A 2nd-generation version is usually an improvement. This is “Factory Refurbished Jim Crow.”

Why white people are insecure is because they assume black people in power will oppress them as harshly as they have oppressed black people – and they know how harshly that is. Likely the only thing black people in power would do is reduce the oppression of non white people – and white people will see the inability to oppress others as an oppression of themselves. Rebekah Sager of Daily Kos reported on newly released emails that show more of the plan to keep the nasty guy in office after he lost the 2020 election. After discussing the details Sager discussed the consequences.

But, as we’re learning more every day, despite the fact that Trump lost most of the 62 lawsuits filed in one of six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—the point wasn’t ever to overturn Biden’s win but to set the stage for an elaborate excuse to disenfranchise Black and brown voters. “Trump’s ‘big lie’ has given Republicans in the states a permission framework to try to gain an advantage by changing the rules,” said Chris Sautter, a Democratic election lawyer based in Washington, DC. “This is all about Republicans creating a more favorable playing field for them to win in ‘22 and ‘24,” Sautter told Al Jazeera.

In a separate tweet Harriot wrote:

There are an estimated 600,000 homeless people in America There are more than 15 million empty housing units in America. Good morning

DJ responded with an idea: Some of the empty retail space, including empty malls, could be turned into community centers. These spaces could have a small library, sport and exercise space, a music school, and just space to socialize. Georgia Logothetis, in a pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Paul Krugman of the New York Times discussing “thought police” and America’s education system.

There’s a bill advancing in the Florida Senate declaring that an individual “should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.” That is, the criterion for what can be taught isn’t “Is it true? Is it supported by the scholarly consensus?” but rather “Does it make certain constituencies uncomfortable?”

Sander from the Netherlands and Suzy Lee tweeted a photo and video of someone who put on a pink unicorn costume (with rainbow mane and tail) to run a snow blower down the sidewalk. Lee added “This is the kind of community I want.” I do too.