Posted on 09/22/2011 10:47:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
Where is the righteous indignation among black Americans at being portrayed as helpless children?
Only Democrats can get away with implying that blacks are too lazy, ignorant, or stupid to go down to the local DMV and obtain a driver’s license or non-driver photo ID card.
Voter ID laws, designed to protect the integrity of the voting process, have been a hot topic in recent years. Politico reports that so-called civil rights groups have accused Texas Governor Rick Perry of signing a “strict” voter ID law that discriminates against blacks and Hispanics. Under the previous law, voters were allowed to show documents like utilities bills, bank statements, and paycheck stubs if they didn’t have photo ID. The new law takes effect on January 1.
Is the Texas law discriminatory because it applies only to blacks and Hispanics? Or does the local DMV bar these groups from applying for driver’s licenses or non-driver photo ID cards? Is their application fee higher than everyone else’s? Perhaps blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately averse to posing for bad photos that add 20 pounds.
Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, said in a statement that the Texas law is “part of the largest legislative effort to turn back the clock on voting rights in our nation in over a century.” Dianis, who is black, alluded to America’s favorite corpse, Jim Crow, a system of government-approved racial segregation.
You may recall from history books that certain states tried to prevent black Americans from exercising their right to vote. NAACP president Benjamin Jealous implied, with a straight face, that requiring blacks to show photo ID was akin to requiring them to pay poll taxes or take literacy tests. The president of a national organization purportedly concerned about the dignity of “colored people” perpetuates the idea that grown black men and women can’t and shouldn’t be expected to get off their butts, go to the DMV, and obtain a government-issued photo ID (for free in some cases).
Even more bizarre, black lawmakers in Georgia walked out of the Capitol in 2005 after their colleagues passed a voter ID law. By staging such a spectacle, they sent the message that blacks are not responsible enough to fulfill state requirements like everybody else.
According to a study from the New York University School of Law, reports the Washington Post, a quarter of black voters don’t have a valid government-issued photo ID, compared with eight percent of whites. But a racial disparity is not evidence of racial discrimination. There are no laws preventing these voters from obtaining a valid government-issued photo ID.
Voter ID law opponents in certain states can cite Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to support their claims, no matter how outrageous. The provision requires states like Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina to seek U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) approval, or “preclearance,” to change voting procedures. In 1975, Congress added Texas to the list of states covered by the provision. A utility district in Texas that came into existence in 1986 challenged the law and contended that after over 40 years of racial progress, the preclearance requirement is based on outdated evidence. The court declined to rule on the constitutionality of Section 5, but held that the utility district was eligible to apply for a preclearance exemption.
In their accusations against Governor Perry, the ACLU and other leftist groups submitted a 31-page letter (PDF) to the DOJ, which reads in part:
[V]oters of color are disproportionately less likely to possess the required forms of identification and do not have the same access to those forms of identification (or to the “free” election identification certificate, for that matter) as their White counterparts. Under the benchmark plan, an elector may vote after presenting his/her voter registration certificate or, in lieu of that, another form of non-photographic identification. Because the Act prohibits a voter from voting unless s/he presents a photo ID, voters of color will not be able to exercise their franchise to the same degree as White voters and their voting strength will be diluted.
What is preventing these “voters of color” from acquiring a photo ID card? In what way are they different from their “White counterparts”? These are the kind of questions every black American should be asking, not just a handful that includes me. Where is the righteous indignation at being portrayed as helpless children? The only people who should take issue with voter ID laws are those who intend to perpetrate a fraud. No responsible, law-abiding citizen should have any problem with such laws.
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out why liberals engage in such hyperbole and condescension. Ninety percent of black voters choose Democrats, and if portraying them as eternally oppressed victims of racism and bias gets them to the polls, so be it.
My mother did at the age of 87, never having driven her whole life. She always had a DMV issued ID card, in order to cash checks and provide ID for other similar purposes.
Hey you compassionate, civic minded Democrats. Load up the party van with those who need a photo ID and drive them to the BMV to get their photo ids! Load up your own car. Pay their fees out of the union coffers. You can afford it. Put your money and your effort where your mouth is. Take a load a week.
Bingo, everybody gets to vote, no excuses.
Hey you compassionate, civic minded Democrats. Load up the party van with those who need a photo ID and drive them to the BMV to get their photo ids! Load up your own car. Pay their fees out of the union coffers. You can afford it. Put your money and your effort where your mouth is. Take a load a week.
Bingo, everybody gets to vote, no excuses.
I know your question was rhetorical, but what happened to the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment? I mean, how can the US Government enforce a law that is SPECIFICALLY UNEQUAL to these five states?
Dang, didn’t other states have slavery? Did they not also make it difficult for slaves? Even more importantly, we (the southern states) are paying for the indiscretions of our ancestors! THIS IS HORSE-SHITTE!
Why Do You Need An ID?
Do you ever wonder why you need a Photo Identification card? Well there are many reasons other than just knowing who you are. If you want to purchase tobacco products you must prove your age along with purchasing alcoholic beverages. By having your photo ID on you you will be able to prove your age. Another reason you should always carry ID on you is if you are applying for a job or even a bank account you need to prove who you are.
While keeping this ID card on you at all times if anything ever happened to you then you will be able to show who you are and where you live. If you get into an accident and you can’t talk than the paramedics will search for your ID right away to see who you are and who they need to contact. If someone steals your wallet or your purse, then they will be able to identify whose belongings they are so they can get your things back to you right away.
A lot of times people do not think of the reasons why they need to have an ID on them. But in reality you need to carry it on you all the time. This is a very important document to some people because it proves to others who they are if they have a brother or sister that looks almost identical to them. By receiving this document it also proves you are a resident of the United States.
http://www.photoidentification.biz/
I am sick of this whining about needing a photo ID to vote. We have to show a photo ID for all sorts of things. Either get one or don’t vote. Tough crap!
“According to a study from the New York University School of Law, reports the Washington Post, a quarter of black voters don’t have a valid government-issued photo ID, compared with eight percent of whites.”
They can use their prison ID.
It would be interested to note any significant changes
It’s not just “minorities” ie. Blacks, Hispanics, etc, who the Dems want to make dependent children, it’s everybody who is not a multi-millionaire if the truth be told. Here we have a country built by people who didn’t rely on government for squat. And the present time, even with the recession, is the best place in the world for a poor person to become rich through the dint of their own efforts. And the Dems continue to tell their constituents they’re too stupid to make it without the heavy hand of big government.
you forgot that in order to get government benefits, you need an ID.
Somebody needs to do a YouTube video just going around buying beer, to the pharmacy, etc... But whenever they ask for ID call the cashier a RACIST!
Bingo!
I agree with you 100%, DevilDog!
The “disadvantaged” already have their photo IDs. They can’t buy their booze and blunts without a state issued photo ID.
If Jim Crow was about keeping Democrats from voting dozens of times or keeping Demcorats from voting using the dead or keeping illegal aliens from voting at all...then I am for Jim Crow laws.
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