Taking Control! by Anthony Barnett

Author:Anthony Barnett
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781914420276
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2022-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Vote and Race

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Biden government’s presentation of its national security strategy is the inclusion of commitments to end voter suppression in the US itself and to combat the corruption of its own political system. Both are articulated with a sense of genuine urgency, as it sets out its priorities for the rest of the world. A battle has been joined to make America a rule-based electoral democracy in which all its citizens have an equal opportunity to vote and dark money is brought into daylight. It is a momentous, ongoing confrontation to end the country’s caste system, endemic racism and economic exclusion when it comes to voting — and therefore when it comes to more than voting.48

We’ve seen how the Republicans launched an exceptional effort to suppress the vote of the poor and minorities in a coordinated multi-state effort immediately after the 2020 election. For this to be defeated, there has to be a fight back. When it began, my fear was that the media and Democrat establishment would put up only feeble resistance and that the long permissiveness of racial injustice would be reproduced. Instead, Biden declared, “We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” The Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan denounced her colleagues with a blistering, authoritative minority opinion. A ground and legislative campaign has been announced to reverse Republican efforts to rig the political system even more in their favour.

This is America. Minoritarians have launched widespread attacks on the 8,000 election officers across the US. One in six have received threats of violence; one in three say they feel unsafe. According to a report in August, “Election workers had their homes broken into. Their private information was maliciously posted online. Some fled with their families into hiding. Others faced down armed crowds outside their workplaces and homes. And nearly nine months after Election Day, the threats persist.”49 Many may leave their jobs. Some Republican states are seeking to impose political control over returning officers. In the background, half of Republicans are reported to agree that force may be necessary to “save” America’s way of life. The right is laying siege to the other side of America and its thorough and in the best sense bureaucratic administration that plays by the rules.

Securing the vote across this battleground will be decisive for American democracy. The issue has outstanding advocates like the Brennan Centre, Ari Berman’s coverage in Mother Jones, reports on the Daily Poster, investigations by Greg Palast and others, and above all by the many on-the-ground campaigners now symbolised by Stacey Abrams in Georgia. Today, all such advocates of democratic reform confront a modern problem. The historic demand for the vote dramatised by the suffragettes was a fight for inclusion in a system of representation that seemed to matter. The neoliberal era has been so successful in eviscerating elections from making a difference it is harder to persuade people to concern themselves with the right to vote.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.