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Black Lives Matter protests have been held across the nation in response to the systemic racism occurring within law enforcement systems that results in disproportionately high police brutality deaths for people of color and, most frequently, Black people. During this time of unrest, with tensions higher than usual, a common and simple response to the outrage within the Black community is “well, we need to elect a better President.” And yes, we do need to elect better officials.
DEEPLY ROOTED
The state of race relations in the United States is exacerbated by the Trump administration. However, systemic racism within the police system wasn’t caused by the officials in power now. It’s embedded in the system, meaning that while it can be worsened by the people in power—as made evident by the tolerance (and encouragement) of White supremacy during the Trump administration—ultimately, the system itself must be rebuilt. The reason I’m addressing this point before delving into the issue of voter suppression is that it’s important to clarify the meaning of systemic racism beforehand, because even in an ideal world where voter suppression doesn’t exist, saying “elect a better President” is lazy. It doesn’t account for the fact that America was founded in racism and its systems remain in those foundations to this day. And while voting for the right presidential candidates is essential, it takes more than one person to fundamentally change racism in America.
IN PLAIN VIEW
The issue of voter suppression is one that lacks attention in the US, largely due to the fact that it’s sneaky and goes unnoticed. Voter suppression impacts Black Americans more than any other group. There are several ways that voters are suppressed. Most commonly, the prison system is an active example of systemic voter suppression for people of color. Laws vary from state to state: sometimes, a person is banned from voting only during their time in prison, but it’s not uncommon that ex-convicts are banned from voting for life. At first glance, although this may seem unfair, it doesn’t discriminate. There are people in prisons from every racial and ethnic background. However, for a small country of just over 300 million, about 5% of the global population, the US hold 21% of the world’s prisoners. Between 1980 and 2015, the number of imprisoned people went from 500,000 to over 2.2 million. This isn’t because crime rates inflated at a proportional rate—they didn’t. It’s because the War on Crime and the War on Drugs aimed to (among other things) create a prison labor force due to a loophole in the 13th amendment that legalizes slavery in prison.
BLATANT
These wars on nouns targeted communities of color. White people make up roughly 65% of US residents, and per every 100,000 inmates, roughly 450 are White. Hispanic people represent 16% of the population but for every 100,000 inmates, 830 of them are Hispanic. Black people make up 13% of the population, and for every 100,000 inmates, 2,3010 are Black. Black people are incarcerated at five times the rate of White people. If Black and Hispanic people were incarcerated at the same rate as White people, prison and jail populations would decline by roughly 40%. Therefore, because people of color and especially Black people are imprisoned at such high rates, it’s namely communities of color that are affected by voter laws for previously imprisoned people. This is just one example of how people of color are prevented from voting.
ENDLESS METHODS
Other common instances include Voter ID laws. 36 states have ID requirements at the polls on voting day, and several states have strict photo ID laws: voters need to present a government-issued ID in order to be able vote. However, more than 21 million US citizens don’t own government-issued photo IDs, due to the fact that the cards aren’t necessarily accessible to all. The ID can be expensive, and even when it is free, applicants are required to pay for additional fees to get the necessary documents to qualify. This means that Voter ID laws impact people in lower-income areas, namely people of color. This type of voter suppression is incredibly effective, and lowers voter turnout by roughly 3% each year, meaning tens of thousands of people lose the ability to vote in each state.
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There are countless ways that voter suppression occurs in America at every election. Gerrymandering, voter purges, and registration restrictions are all additional ways to prevent communities from voting. Although everyone is affected by voter suppression, it’s essential to acknowledge the primary impact on communities of color. Some examples of this are provided by the ACLU: In the 2020 census, the Trump administration wanted to add a citizenship question, and it was later proved through uncovered documents that the purpose of it was to attack immigrants. In Georgia, over 70% of voters that were purged were Black.
SMOKE & MIRRORS
In the US, 1 in 13 Black Americans cannot vote due to felony disenfranchisement. Counties with larger minority populations have fewer polling sites and poll workers per voter. Systemic racism in America is exemplified in countless ways, but voter suppression is an incredibly pressing one. It will take a new presidency, a new Senate, several different Supreme Court Justices, a new law enforcement system, voting for even the smallest local elections, good volunteers, and a thoroughly better education for Americans about the history of racism in order to eradicate the issue. This issue is beyond Trump, which is why simply electing a better President isn’t enough.
We need to address racism at every level—from voter suppression to police brutality to White teenagers using the n-word. It’s an issue that permeates throughout every crack in our systems, and it must be treated as such in order to make actual progress.
About the Article
A look at the endless ways minorities have been kept from voting in the U.S.
