Posted on 12/06/2011 9:09:22 AM PST by IbJensen
I understand that the NAACP opposes voter-ID laws. Given the long history of fighting against uses of state law to deny blacks and other minorities the franchise until the Civil Rights Movement prevailed, their deep skepticism over proposed stricter enforcement of eligibility laws can’t help but recall echoes of voter suppression in their communities, even if the new laws are innocent of any racial animus. We still have plenty of mistrust that will take generations to undo, especially given that we still have those with living memories of having been denied the right to vote.
Still, if the NAACP wants to make the argument against such laws, shouldn’t they do it in a forum that has some jurisdiction over them?
The largest civil rights group in America, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is petitioning the UN over what it sees as a concerted efforted to disenfranchise black and Latino voters ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The organisation will this week present evidence to the UN high commissioner on human rights of what it contends is a conscious attempt to “block the vote” on the part of state legislatures across the US. Next March the NAACP will send a delegation of legal experts to Geneva to enlist the support of the UN human rights council.
The NAACP contends that the America in the throes of a consciously conceived and orchestrated move to strip black and other ethnic minority groups of the right to vote. William Barber, a member of the association’s national board, said it was the “most vicious, co-ordinated and sinister attack to narrow participation in our democracy since the early 20th century”.
In its report, Defending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America, the NAACP explores the voter supression measures taking place particularly in southern and western states.
Fourteen states have passed a total of 25 measures that will unfairly restrict the right to vote, among black and Hispanic voters in particular.
None of this is particularly new. It’s the same argument that the NAACP and other civil-rights groups make against voter-ID laws, and have for years. Wisconsin just passed one such law (and it’s neither southern or western, either), and Minnesota would have passed one by now had we elected a Republican governor in 2010. States have begun adopting these laws because of increasing instances of vote fraud, either in registration or in actual voting. Minnesota leads the nation in prosecutions at the moment for these violations, which erode the value of legitimate voting.
Why take this to the UN, though? The UN has no authority to tell states within the US to pass or not pass laws. They don’t have the authority to tell the federal government in Washington to do so, either. They might be able to gin up some public-relations momentum in an attempt to embarrass the states, but it’s only going to impress those people who already buy into the concept that the UN has any moral authority at all — especially its Human Rights Council (with whom the High Commissioner works), which spends most of its time and effort attacking Israel.
The NAACP should spend its time engaging with people who are legitimately concerned about voter fraud and the protection of the value of the franchise to all eligible citizens of the states. One concern mentioned in this petition is the difficulty in getting state-issued ID because of Jim Crow policies decades ago that kept blacks and other minorities from getting birth certificates. If this is still a widespread problem, then solve it as part of the necessary reform to secure the vote. They also complain that states don’t allow felons who have completed their sentences to vote; that’s another issue that can only be solved by local and state action, and not in Geneva, Switzerland.
Instead of complaining to people who have nothing to say about the law of a self-governing people, the NAACP would be better advised to start engaging with their neighbors to find ways to achieve a better result for all of the legitimate voters in their communities, and to protect the value of the votes they want to cast. A UN petition only makes it look as though they’re interested in grandstanding rather than reaching solutions, and hints that they’d be happier with the imposition of foreign diktats rather than self-governance. That’s no way to win this argument.
Ping
The naacp is full of life’s losers. Stop whining, you liberal loser putzs. You are losers...face reality. Go to NYC and “occupy” you favorite “country”: the un. Fools...
Liquor stores require photo ID—how come the NAACP isn’t picketing them?
Bump & bookmark. Thanks for posting.
The NAALCP is racist on it’s face and must be abolished. Racist organizations filled with professional racists must not be tolerated.
The naacp is full of life’s losers.
In spades
African-Americans, whether dead or alive, must be allowed to vote as many times as possible to make up for the White Man having kept them without the voting franchise during the 400 years of American Slavery.
And that goes double because many slaves were women, and the franchise was withheld from them for even longer by evil White Men, who also sexually harassed them.
The rationale for allowing illegal aliens to vote is just as good! In fact, due to the rich Latin-American literary tradition so rich in imagery and allegory, it is perfectly OK for people like the Sanchez Sisters to make up entire multi-generational Latino families. Dead Mexicans have feelings, too. Even imaginary dead Mexicans.
LOL!
Thanks justiceseeker93, EdReform, and Kenny Bunk..
They are the NAACCCP..
UN wise. USA evil running dog of capitalists.
It is indeed hurtful when my most profound political thoughts become an object of mere amusement for hegemonic, gender-normative Freepers such as yourself!
Were I not extremely busy at my ACORN post, filling out absentee ballots for members of the LGBT community, including those unable to make to the polls because of untimely death (i.e., before the election), I would severely take you to task, my "friend" (that word is Sarcasm, right there).
FYI, our ACORN Computer Geek Squad has discovered that many of the slaves and illegal aliens unfairly denied the franchise were also clandestine members of the LBGT Community! That, members of the VRWC, is like a triple letter score in Scrabble, allowing us to place THREE TIMES as many on the voter rolls.
Thank Lenin, Team Obama Bill Ayers and Van Jones understand that!
How can one man be so wrong?
Those hard-working African-American fellows were Black Muslims and were following Islam's proscription of graven images. That is why they didn't want their pictures taken.
So you see voter ID is an affront to Islam, The world-renowned "Religion of Peace," and we cannot have that, lest they submit us to the Will of Allah ... which you ain't gonna like.
BTTT
I’m just glad you’re on the job.
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