Left Labeling
Election Integrity
Reforms As
“Jim Crow”
Is a Lie and
Insulting to
Black People
As a Black woman who grew up in
the segregated South, I’m shocked
and appalled with the race-baiting
from mostly White left-wing politicians
who are throwing around the “Jim
Crow” label to score political points
in the debate over strengthening our
voting laws.
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen’s line
from the 1988 vice presidential debate
with Dan Quayle: I knew Jim Crow.
Jim Crow was no friend of mine.
And these common-sense voting laws
that states are adopting are no Jim
Crow.
Frankly, it’s insulting that politicians
are trying to manipulate Black folks
like me into thinking that voting
reforms that actually protect our right
to vote are somehow racist. It’s
insulting to be lied to, and—yes, I’m
going to say it—it seems awfully racist
to be thought of as so ignorant and
gullible.
These state election reforms are about
one thing—making it easier for
American citizens to vote, while
making it harder for cheaters to cheat.
>>>4 Myths About the Election Integrity Law in Georgia
Yet everyone from President Joe
Biden to The New York Times to
Coca-Cola and those in Hollywood
are labeling voting reforms adopted
in Georgia and other states as voter
suppression and the new Jim Crow.
There’s even a Senate hearing this
week being held around this lie called,
“Jim Crow 2021: The Latest Assault
on the Right to Vote.”
Growing up as a Black teenager
during the 1960s, I knew the tremendous
sacrifices and the dangers that my friends
and relatives endured to secure the right
to vote for Black Americans. I myself
was part of the Civil Rights Movement
when I was thrust into an effort to
desegregate my middle school in
Richmond, Va.
So let me be perfectly clear: I have
zero interest in disenfranchising or
suppressing the vote of any portion
of the population.
But that’s not what’s happening in
Georgia or other states pursuing
election reforms. And don’t let
anyone tell you otherwise.
As we’ve heard from the few truth
tellers there are in the media, the
new Georgia election reform doesn’t
discourage voting or suppress votes.
In fact, the availability of absentee
ballots and early voting is a lot more
robust than what it is in most “blue”
states.
And Georgia provides a free voter ID
to people without ID and has exceptions
that mirror federal law. Turnout in the
state as well as studies also show that
ID requirements don’t suppress votes;
and polling shows that voters,
including Black voters, agree that
voter ID is a common-sense reform.
Claims that Black people are somehow
unable or unwilling to obtain
identification are insulting and have
no basis in fact.
“You know what’s racist? Assuming
because I’m black that ‘I just don’t
have the capability of getting an I-D,’”
Rep. Burgess Owens recently tweeted.
I couldn’t agree more.
So why is the left calling these reforms
racist? It’s a scare tactic and an attempt
to rally support for a voting bill
currently in Congress ironically called
the For the People Act, or H.R. 1.
H.R. 1 would create a federal takeover
of elections and force changes to
election laws that would actually
allow for greater fraud and election
tampering. It would diminish the
very voting rights that my relatives
in the 1960s, the women suffragists
of the early 1900s, and the men and
women of the armed forces throughout
our history fought so hard to gain and
protect.
Under H.R. 1, no one has to prove
they are who they say they are in
order to vote. It’s likely to automatically
add ineligible individuals like
non-citizens to the voter rolls.
And it outlaws or restricts
safeguards that help states maintain
accurate voter rolls to prevent people
from voting twice. In other words,
it would allow illegal votes to cancel
out our legal ones.
And that’s just scratching the surface
of this terrible law.
H.R. 1 isn’t for the people; it’s about
creating more power for certain
politicians. The people who
support this bill expect that most
illegal votes will favor left-wing
politicians, and they are willing to
dilute our legal votes by encouraging
more illegal ones.
>>> Debunking the Left’s Big Lie on Election Integrity
They are lying and calling
common-sense voter protections
racist to make people think that
there is a groundswell of voter
suppression coming from the states
so that they can pretend to save us
all with H.R. 1. But they aren’t
really interested in protecting us;
all they are interested in is helping
themselves.
The right to vote is one of the most
sacred rights that we as free
citizens can exercise. That’s why
we must protect it and not allow
politicians to get away with
pushing sinister bills like H.R. 1 that
would diminish that right.
Free and fair elections are the
cornerstone of our republic, and
every citizen—no matter their color,
ethnicity, background or political
persuasion—must be able to trust
the voting process and its results.
The very future of a free nation
depends on it.
This piece originally appeared in The
Washington Times
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