Last Thursday, March 25, Georgia Rep. Park Cannon was arrested for knocking on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's door as he was signing a voting bill into law. According to a NY Times article, this measure corresponds as a blow at minority groups in Georgia, specifically Black Georgians, for the 2020 presidential election since Mr. Trump blames Georgia's expanded voter access for his defeat due to "widespread fraud." The other week in class we learned about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which eliminated voter literacy tests, enabled federal examiners to register voters in states with a "history of discrimination" and that those same states must receive federal approval to change voting rules. However in 2013, it was ruled by the Supreme Court that states haven't shown evidence of discrimination recently and therefore no longer require federal oversight of voting procedures, or changes to them. Georgia's governor used this to his advantage and has enacted a law which "imposes new voter identification requirements for absentee ballots, empowers state officials to take over local elections boards, limits the use of ballot drop boxes and makes it a crime to approach voters in line to give them food and water" which targets voters of color (CNN article).
On Friday, President Biden "condemned the law as 'un-American' and 'Jim Crow of the 21st century'" and said, "You don't need anything else to know that this is noting but punitive, designed to keep people from voting" (NY Times article).
From a CNN Tonight interview with Rep. Park Cannon's attorney, Gerald Griggs, it was revealed that Cannon was only trying to get "transparency" of the signing ceremony but was prevented of it, and now she's facing 8 years of prison on the basis of felony obstruction and disruption. It was also shown that Gov. Kemp responded to the situation with "you'd have to question or ask the Georgia Department of Safety about what happened there. It's unfortunate that a city state representative would actually stomp and kick a Georgia state patrol officer." Cannon was released from Fulton County Jail late Thursday night after newly elected Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock visited her, but she still is being charged.
Questions:
1. Seeing the video of Rep. Cannon knocking on the door and then being arrested, I felt helpless and frustrated watching at home while the police put hand cuffs on her and escorted her out. Thankfully cameras on people's mobile phones came in good use to record the whole scene so we can know the truth. What do you think you would have done in that moment if you were Rep. Cannon or someone at the scene?
2. What are your feelings or opinions on Georgia's new voting bill? What do you think this says about Trump's influence on Republican leaders and America's ability to move on from Trumpism? Do you see any similarities to the Civil Rights Movement events we learned about?
3. What do you think this says about America's ability to make progress from 1965? And when President Biden says "un-American," what does "American" and "un-American" mean to you?
Frankly if I was someone watching this firsthand I would probably be shocked, but I would most likely not do anything as I would feel as it weren't my buissness to be involved. As for my thoughts on the voting bill I don't know too much on the bill if it would restrict minorities groups based on regristration customs or by region but I assume it probably does which is why its driving controversy. However I do feel though that when Biden says its un-American I disagree with that statement. I think that this voting bill is just an example of conservative backlash and while we may see it as un democratic today it may change in the future. I think America has always had its values change back and forth from liberal to conservative similar to a thesis and anthesis. I think the bill is nessasary in that back and forth of American soceity in order for us to progress culturally. Maybe in the future people will accept these voting laws or reject them finding a loop hole to exploit or fight it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiments that what Biden sees as "un-American" is "American" by now because America has probably done as much "bad" as it has "good" so if someone thinks "American" means "good" then they are not completely true and vice versa. I would like to disagree though on needing back and forth because although it's better to have more than one opinion to make progress, going back and forth doesn't appeal as progress, but then again as many patterns as we've seen from America's history it still feels like there aren't enough examples to prove a pattern for when it's a "good" time to be conservative or to be liberal. Only time will tell if this voting bill should be accepted or not, but I think the implications that it is meant to be a jab at minorities who didn't vote for Trump is a bad and shameful intention.
DeleteI am very sad and angry to see voter suppression laws like the one in Georgia being enacted. It shows that it will be very difficult and will take a very long time for America to move on from Trumpism. This, in turn, hinders our ability to make progress from 1965 because the hate and discrimination that Trump fostered in American society, politics, and legislation is the antithesis to civil rights. I definitely agree with Biden that this bill is un-American because democracy and equality are some of the most important founding values, and this bill blatantly goes against them. A lot of times it is difficult to draw the line between American and un-American because of the diverse political beliefs in this country, but this is not one of these times. Ultimately, I do not understand how inhibiting the right to vote can be seen as what America stands for, although I do understand why it was passed--as a desperate attempt by Republicans to get more votes and power by any means necessary, no matter how wrong or unjust.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with what you're saying, Ella. As seen with many trends of discrimination, it takes generations for people to become open-minded again, so it won't be one quick sweep to forget Trumpism since there are so many people who support the idea, so it's going to take a while which is upsetting. I think of past advocates and it's upsetting to think that their progressive work hasn't impacted everyone and maybe there has been de-progress too so everyone's on a different page and America is also diverse in political beliefs which makes it a gloomy thing to think that maybe America will never reach the values we're supposed to cherish. But to end on a happy note, I think that with technology and social media, people are united under something whether it be humor or similar interests, and more than past generations could have, so our generation can be the one to hammer home what America stands for and be the ones to maintain it too.
DeleteI find voter suppression infuriating – it completely undermines the principles of our democracy. Hearing that voter suppression laws are being put in place is angering, and I do think that the lingering Trumpism in the Republican party does play a role. Trump did have a huge influence on Republicans during his presidency, and his influence encouraged voter suppression within the Republican party. During the 2020 presidential election, Trump made many efforts to suppress voting, one example being making claims that mail-in voting was fraudulent without any real evidence of fraud. The Republican party believes the only way to maintain its political power and influence is to reduce votes either by discouraging people from voting or outright voter suppression. Trump’s influence has only promoted voter suppression, and it’s clear that the Republican party has not moved on from Trumpism, and I am not sure if or when it will.
ReplyDeleteI am aghast at Georgia's new laws restricting voting rights. They are very obviously trying to prevent minorities from voting, since many of the laws prevent accessibility to absentee voting with the lessened amount of drop-off locations. Additionally, minority communities have historically had the longest election lines, while this new bill restricts simple food and water to people standing in those lines, another clear obstruction of justice. I agree with Biden that this law goes against America's values of equality and democracy, and is a clear continuation of systematic racism. I've also heard about pop-ups of similar actions in other areas in the deep south, so I'm worried they will begin combining forces into an area-wide campaign. The government needs to crack down on these laws and create a voting rights standard to prevent further action.
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