A
recent excerpt of Dr. Eddie Glaude’s
response to the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling on voting rights went viral.
Glaude is a frequent guest
on “MS Now’s Deadline: White House,” hosted
by Nicolle Wallace.
The Princeton University historian was
eloquent as he expressed his
rage at the further attacks on the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
How
many people are at the bottom of rivers in
Mississippi because they
tried to vote, he asked. Glaude was born in
Moss Point, so he is
intimately familiar with the history of
white terrorism in his native
state. The fatigue at people playing fast
and loose with our dead and
our sacrifices summed up the sentiments of
many Black folk in this
country. It certainly touched the deepest
crevices of my soul.
Since
the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965,
there has been a relentless
campaign to dismantle its vital protections.
Courts, legislatures,
local and state governments, and white
supremacist groups have all
played a role in this. They have employed
voter intimidation and
suppression tactics to undermine the rights
of individuals. The
dismemberment of the VRA accelerated after
Shelby v. Holder in 2013,
which struck down key protections under
Section 5. This section
mandated that areas with histories of racial
discrimination obtain
federal approval before altering their
voting laws. That important
provision was effectively eliminated.
I
have long written that people of African
descent will remain
second-class citizens as long as a law is
necessary for us to
validate our humanity. Our full
participation in U.S. society hinges
on our recognition as citizens, a
prerequisite to voting rights. The
reauthorization of such laws makes our
citizenship vulnerable,
leaving us exposed to losing our voting
rights with just one
legislative action or court ruling. The law,
along with its
reauthorization, puts our citizenship in a
precarious position.
Today, we find ourselves without voter
protections and potentially
just a legislative action or court ruling
away from no right to vote.
While
they are a majority in the legislatures and
the courts, MAGA monsters
have been methodical in striking down
hard-won protections for
formerly enslaved people. It’s not only
about voting rights. From
workplace protections to healthcare access
to freedom to protest, we
have witnessed the systematic erosion of the
rights and privileges
supposedly afforded to U.S. citizens. When
those are stripped away,
so goes the ability to fight for rights when
the laws that protect us
are no longer there. As the new laws take
effect, it will be
increasingly evident who gets redefined as a
legitimate citizen in
this country.
This
is dangerous territory - especially for
Black folks. Since we arrived
on these shores as a kidnapped labor force,
we have struggled to make
our way into civil society. Despite our
righteous efforts and the
challenges before us, we have come to the
same place at a different
time. It’s like something out of the
Twilight Zone.
We
are now face-to-face with what the future
could hold for people in
this country who basically are not white,
heterosexual, able-bodied,
or rich. And if we believe, as Dr. Glaude
believes, that racism still
sits on the throne in the belly of the
beast, it requires more than
mass protests. The protests prove that we
are woke, but this
political moment requires resistance tactics
that must stop the tide
of authoritarianism.
As
the midterm elections approach, the MAGA
monsters have intensified
the looting of our treasury, expanded their
abuses of power across
every branch of government, and sharpened
divisive tactics meant to
confuse, contain, and exploit us. We must
imagine - and prepare for -
all worst-case scenarios between now and
November. No scenario is too
extreme. We must organize strategically and
effectively before the
next pen or gavel wipes away another piece
of our existence.
