By Victor Ray. [the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Criminology and African American Studies at the University of Iowa and a Nonresident Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution]
***The voting rights bills Manchin and Sinema are blocking would help to alleviate some of the most egregious problems with the country's current anti-Democratic push. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act weakened by the Supreme Court, once again requiring preclearance for potentially-discriminatory election changes. The Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access by, among other things, establishing minimum periods of early voting and making Election Day a national holiday. These reforms are non-partisan, and it appears Republican opposition is based on the recognition that democracy itself hurts the party's electoral chances.
America's multiracial democracy is a recent, and fragile invention. Dr. King was, after all, protesting for the protection of rights supposedly guaranteed by the 15th Amendment but denied for nearly a century through anti-democratic schemes that barred Black Americans from voting. The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act finally guaranteed Black voting rights and led to dramatic increases in both voting and substantive representation. But conservatives on the Supreme Court have substantially undermined that law and now voting rights are once again under attack by Republicans in a bid to maintain and secure power.
Get our free weekly newsletter
Sign up for CNN Opinion's newsletter.
Manchin and Sinema's claim they want a bipartisan solution to voting rights is, at best, a refusal to face political reality. At worst, their so-called moderate position of defending the filibuster gives cover to an anti-democratic extremism reminiscent of many of the worst moments in American history. To paraphrase Dr. King, by choosing order over justice, they remain the nation's great stumbling block in the stride toward a fully inclusive democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment