Human rights and civil rights violations often occur in many parts of the United States as evidenced by the recent voting and marriage laws passed in state legislatures, the miscarriage of justice that occurs through sentencing in our judicial system, the prejudice and discrimination that occurs at the corporate level and bullying in our schools. When they do occur, these violations have a serious negative impact on community race relations, can cause civil disobedience and conflict, and sometimes even threaten our ability to maintain law and order. What avenues are open to us to prevent it from happening in the future?
Our current race relations assessment is based on sixty years of observation
I’m no race relations expert, but I grew up with the civil rights movement in full swing and saw what’s happened over the past 60 years in both Florida and the nation in general. The best way I know of to solve civil rights problems like the ones described is to prevent them from happening in the first place by eliminating the underlying causes, but this is not always possible and when it is possible it does not happen overnight.
The American Civil Rights Movement brought us great advances in race relations through the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, the American Civil Liberties Union, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the US Congress signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson and the well-documented efforts of countless others.
But even though our country elected its first black president, our different ethnic groups if given a choice still prefer to mingle with members of their own race most of the time. This self-distancing of the races from each other when and where it occurs undermines mutual understanding and respect, provides an opportunity for misunderstandings to emerge and sometimes becomes conformity that sparks civil disobedience when perceived human rights violations occur. My view illustrates the protests and demonstrations that occur as a result of voter suppression laws, marriage inequality, and alleged miscarriages of justice caused by unpopular jury verdicts.
My primary focus will be on the voter suppression laws in place during the 2012 presidential election.
Violations of human rights and civil rights are evidenced by voting laws passed in state legislatures
When laws like those listed below become law with a deliberate but almost Russian intent to lower the percentage of minority voters who go to the polls and cast ballots because the party that passes such legislation receives far less support from those voters than the opposition party receives, it is a deliberate weakening of racial harmony and a clear attempt on the part of the political party in office to maintain power at all costs even by violating human and civil rights. The said laws and practices are reminiscent of the laws enacted by the so-called “banana republics”. When these laws do not have the desired result and the party passing them loses, what is next? military junta? It is outrageous that a political party in the United States has stooped to this level. If a political party cannot obtain the majority vote in a legal and moral way, then it has no right to win the election. Consider these tactics for a moment that have all been used recently in trying to win elections.
- Make it more difficult to register to vote.
- Imposing restrictive and onerous identification requirements as a prerequisite for registering to vote and casting your vote.
- Prohibition of registration on the same day on the date of the general election.
- Reducing the number of early voting days to a minimum.
- Early voting is canceled on Sunday — the day many voters of color prefer to cast their ballots.
- Make voting as inconvenient as possible for those who don’t normally vote for you.
- Intentionally distributing flyers in Spanish that misrepresent the date of the elections and show them later than the date set for them.
- Place more voting machines in preferred constituencies than in opposing constituencies to ensure long lines and voting delays in opposing constituencies and to ensure that there are only short lines in constituencies controlled by the ruling party.
- Shortening the hours the polls remain open.
Wherever there are such discriminatory attempts to suppress minority rights the next time a situation these minorities consider discriminatory develops—such as a miscarriage of justice in a court trial—they will inflame and mobilize civil rights advocates, initiate litigation, cause public protests and petition government officials for grievances to be redressed. Did he create the need for such a measure to preserve and exercise the rights to which we are all clearly entitled in the interest of racial harmony? Is it in the national interest to allow these practices to continue? Let the reader be the judge of the appropriateness of such a measure.
It is very disappointing, that even after decades of efforts – legal, judicial, public, private, personal and corporate to give equal opportunities and create a level playing field for all, we are still trying to extricate ourselves from the quagmire created by the attitude of people frozen in time and unwilling to see the need to change their position.
Conclusion
We must continue to teach our children to understand the fundamentals and the great significance of the American Civil Rights Movement, its causes and the sacrificed lives it has brought. And we must instill in them the need for strict adherence to legal equality for all: black-white (or any other race or color), lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender, straight, male-female, young-old, and disabled regardless of religious faith or political ideology.
It seems that respect for ethnic and cultural differences in all age groups is essential to overcome the remnants of intolerance and hatred that sometimes still disrupt racial harmony and social integration. Old habits die hard. In that case, let’s hope they die sooner rather than later.
© 2013 Douglas M. Midgley, JD All Rights Reserved Worldwide