The Supreme Court's redistricting ruling last week has unleashed a Jim Crow fury by Southern legislators to deny the voice of Black voters and ensure continuing economic failure
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it — always.” - Gandhi
Didn’t the good guys win the Civil War? Have I misread a page in my history book?
Redistricting efforts may be prettied up with language of law, courts, and other anemic descriptions. But if we use our magnifying glass, we are able to see a replay of that despicable period.
So redistricting has replaced the Klan and entrenched racism? Brainless Republicans believe that moving voters like chess pieces is all that is needed to assure their party’s wins.
Forget fresh policies that would give all Southerners -- despite color and philosophy -- access to an equal chance to vote, prosper, and live happily ever after.
It appears Jim Crow has risen from the grave, dusted off its dirt --that should’ve remained attached -- and with chutzpah, is attempting to rise and conquer fairness.
Sadly, I believe that for some vindictive and unredeemable Southerners, people of color will continue to be in the crosshairs of many of their cruel crowd. Diversity, equity and inclusion, while a beacon of light and hope for all decent Americans, has become too hard to swallow for Southerners . Sadly, their throats are already crammed with racism, jealousy, and other undigested dogmas.
Trump is no Southerner. Indiana and Ohio are not Southern States. Neither is Iowa. Steve King (Iowa) became a political liability in 2019 and was censured for racist remarks & removed from committees. He ultimately lost his primary because not because of his comments but because voters considered him unable to be effective.
Missouri is geographically midwestern but with economic & cultural ties to the South. The klan was not confined to the South. Neither is bigotry and racism. The Klan ran Indiana during its 2nd heyday. Its klaverns spread coast to coast; heavily concentrated in the eastern half of the US — North & South. Their sentiments didn’t evaporate everywhere but the South. The Northeast is currently awash in bright red on the SPLC ‘hate map’. https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map/
Gerrymandering had already done its job elsewhere. There are efforts from the DNC and DGA (Dem Gov Assoc) to change the approach to getting voters involved. To not stick to trying to turn out more of the base; instead to grow the base and go into places often ignored. Register more voters. The DNC is focusing on registering young people to vote.
It is my hope that the GOP has outsmarted themselves. The 2026 elections (maybe 2028 too) aren’t easily predicted based on party registration. Too many states don’t register by party & unaffiliated / independents are a huge group of voters. Census & prior elections are not as relevant this time either. Not the best year for the GOP to further dilute their majority districts with Dems over-performing by double digits in many places. OTOH, this won’t be their only tactic.
When we allow racism to rear its ugly head, we all lose. Lower wages and opportunities reduce the tax base, that hurts ALL americans. It’s drives up costs and lowers morale.
Plain and simple this is a new Jim Crow. I am sick to death by this crap. If you wanted to drag this country down, this is one way of doing it.
How to respond? By making sure we speak out, and more importantly to treat all citizens with the pride and dignity they so richly deserve.
Our family lived in Nashville during my teenage years, so I saw a lot of this racism up close…and realized that it goes hand-in-hand with antisemitism. We were in the minority on both counts. However, my mother worked hard to become president of the League of Women Voters and to try to crack the polite veneer that protected Nashville society. She was an art collector and staunch supporter of Cheekwood, a lovely venue for art. She supported the efforts of Al Gore and his father, and was hopeful that Democratic voices would eventually prevail. But my father made it possible for all of us to live without ever worrying about finances. We lived a life of white privilege. I distinctly remember my mother driving our maid, Arlette, home one afternoon. For the first time in my young life, I caught a glimpse of how racially and economically divided Nashville was. My best friend’s father called me his “Little Hebrew”. I did not realize it then, but I do now, what an antisemitic slur that was.
She would be heartbroken today, as am I, to see what her beloved Nashville has become…the seat of injustice, racial gerrymandering and outright discrimination. How far we have fallen as a country…and how angry it makes me to see a city like Nashville and a state like Tennessee embrace its regressive past.
A stirring & tragic personal history in just a few paragraphs. One quote from the Machiavellian schemer Henry Kissinger comes to mind. Asked by a despairing colleague "what's the solution" to never-ending Mideast violence, Kissinger responded, "there is no solution. We just have to keep working on it." I am no fan of Kissinger, but I gotta say that this direct and crystal clear declaration still strikes me as brilliant in its simplicity and underlying vow of human persistence. I wonder whether I'm just dumbfounded by the obvious, but inspiration can emerge from some unexpected quarters, so let me just redeploy the concept/quote here. MAYBE it will strike a chord with other readers.
THANKS for your comment & sketch of your life story. Among many other things, you evoke another plaintive reminder to "choose your parents well".
Four of the secessionist States wrote in their declaration of secession that the reason for their attempt to leave the United States was was that their white privileged economies depended on slavery. Eight generations after the surrender at Appomattox the undercurrent of racism and attempts to continue the political war between the slave and free States are still obvious. We are a single nation, a melting pot in name only. The continuous unrest, violence and chaos will continue until we recognize this truth ad tell the discontent to go elsewhere and let the majority of us continue moving toward a true democracy. These separatists do not realize that without the generous support of eight States that pay more into the federal treasury than they get back in benefits, the other 42 would lose the federal subsidies of infrastructure, FEMA emergency relief, military and social benefits that permit their current levels of prosperity.
What if Blue states just started a massive recruitment and incentive program for Southern Black and Brown people? I know, I know. Roots and all that. But if you are not wanted in a place, are deeply exploited and wronged there, your prospects are near zero, what have you got to lose? The Great Migration of 1910-1970 saw six million disaffected and disenfranchised people of color move to the North and the West. They settled there. Got union jobs. Made homes and families. One of their progenitors became president of the United States. Opportunity. Inclusion. Community. Happiness. What's not to like? I think a Democrat-led master plan for all the Red state Southern Blacks and Browns to get the hell out of where they are not wanted, would solve the problem. That way the only neck racists could plant a foot on would be their own.
There's *a lot* not to like about this idea. The North of today is not the North of the post-New Deal decades. Neither is the South: the white Southern-state governments are reacting against the progress that's been made since the mid/late '60s -- not enough progress, to be sure, but progress nonetheless. And don't forget: the civil rights movement started among Black people in the U.S. South.
Since then the whole country has been undermined by Reaganomics and subsequent Supreme Court decisions, especially Citizens United (2010, not coincidentally the year of the Tea Party election). Racist and "anti-modernity" white people have provided the votes that corporations and the über-wealthy lack. And too many Northerners, especially the white ones, and extra-especially the ones in Congress, haven't paid enough attention.
Interesting idea, but this would likely set off a backlash of "white flight" from those states with increased numbers of black and brown. But that's another discussion.
It’s my guess you are not a student of social science. I’m mystified at how casually moving OTHER people to different states to solve political and now political / racial issues gained credence the past few yrs. — “Roots and all that.” Really?
Nothing says a New Great Migration would offer “Opportunity. Inclusion. Community. Happiness.” - especially happiness. Large influxes of people moving into communities result in a lot of strife. A plan like this is a gateway to awakening overt and latent racism. That’s what history tells us.
It’s much easier to pretend northerners = good; southerners = bad. The truth is more complicated and uglier. By the way, Donald John Trump & his father - not southerners. Kushners - not southerners. Both families discriminated against Blacks and made a ton of $& as slum landlords.
I was being hyperbolic and a bit ironic. Sorry to seem so off-kilter. No. We'll just have to renew the Civil Rights Movement again, try to regain some foothold in doing the right thing for people who have suffered so much discrimination and hatred. The best I can offer is that we help with all our collective might those in the South who are fighting to be first-class citizens, achieve that goal.
Such an accurate description of the ultimate outcome of hatred on the hater. Boot on the neck. But will they ever see what they are doing to themselves and their state and their country? Hope persists.
Steven, I’d be very surprised if TDump gave a care about Racism in the true sense of the word. It just happens to be the current weapon of choice to continue to drive dissension and confusion as wedges in among Americans. Primarily to protect his corrupt, illegal activities/regime but also to dissipate any cohesive action to challenge him! As well as, to Gin up his equally corrupt, self serving base. His primary target…disrupt the Midterms…because if he loses his Party’s majority position he may well be doomed! Of course, with our ”Bastardized” and complicit SCOTUS and the dysfunctional Congress…that’s a “Toss-up” as well.”
As I write this “comment” to your Substack Post I’m receiving flash notifications of Protests to the obscene political maneuvering in the South. Who knows where this may eventually lead us!
Be surprised — DJT got caught discriminating against Blacks and violating the Fair Housing Act, in the true sense. It’s one of the more well documented examples.
“A former Trump superintendent named Thomas Miranda testified that multiple Trump Management employees had instructed him to attach a separate piece of paper with a big letter “C” on it — for “colored” — to any application filed by a black apartment-seeker.”
He had a reputation. Eventually “white testers” were sent to see an apartment Blacks had been told was no longer available. After 2 yrs of fighting it, he settled, 1975. One of the conditions required the company to take out ads specifically encouraging minority individuals to apply for housing, and to provide weekly lists of vacancies to the Urban League. 3 yrs later there were complaints the company was still refusing to rent to Black applicants.
Here’s a segment that aired on Rachel Maddow’s program with remarks from the rental agent confirming & a “white tester.”
Ann, I grew up in a very Racial City…I saw how black folks were treated. That said, the Racial sub-set I was specifically referring to are those actions to deprive people of their right to vote and have that vote count as intended through any form of Voter suppression. Thanks for your comments
Thanks Steven: On the outside looking in is seems the red southern states are less educated, paid at a lower standard , despise unions, It seems like the Civil War never ended. Racism and bigotry is the norm.
Thank you for this detailed analysis of our situation. Steven, as well as for your ongoing scholarship on an issue - namely, racism - that has eaten away at the soul of our nation.
Somehow, we All must band together to stomp out this dastardly evil that has come over our Country. Despite what gop are doing to the voting system, we must turn out in numbers too large to dispute. Then, the electoral college must be abolished - one vote per person, one vote is counted. Then the detention centers must be abolished; a safe, sane immigration system developed; restore America's value to the world. Happy 250th United States and may God continue to shed His light on thee.
This is an excellent thread of reader comments, and completely troll-free (the best reason to have a "gated community" paywall, I guess). The idea of a deliberate black exodus from the still-depraved south has a lot of problems BUT I really like the "what if" alternate-reality whiteboard moonshot thinking it exemplifies. Tragically, most human partitions turn into gigantic disasters, India & Pakistan and our own Trail of Tears comes to mind up front.
The idea of abandoning the south as forced "shock therapy" to the ruling class Confederates has a lot of rueful appeal, I admit. Especially after seeing the overfed doughboy Cletuses in the TN legislature gleefully strut & swagger as they voted earlier this week to reaffirm Apartheid via their flagrantly racist gerrymander. I'd say it's SHAMEFUL but centuries prove that they've got zero fks to give and are always gonna be plantation overseers. 100 years ago, they would be posing for postcard snapshots of lynchings.
Like it or not, moving north is gonna be even more disruptive especially since it's not gonna be the safe harbor oasis we might hope it to be. Speaking for myself, I'd dig in AGAINST moving just because I'm as much a native as the white oppressors are, and I'm not gonna be run out by these midnight rider thugs.
I'm a white senior citizen, and I'm reluctant to propose "solutions" I don't have to do the heavy lifting to enact. However IF this so-called "Democracy" and the courts are nakedly complicit in brutish oppression like this, WHAT stake exactly do the underclass have in submission to such tyrannical "authority"?
Is a person who is considered a racist or a bigot ever going to change his or her stripes? Or are they the masters of keeping our nation destabilized? By doing nothing positive in this regard they channel their hatred through successive generations making improvements nearly impossible. This type of behavior casts a pall on our beautiful nation and until enlightened leadership steps forward we will continue this reverse spiral to the pre-Civil War era. This movement is unsustainable and will only yield pain and suffering to everyone.
If anyone has read The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, none of this should be surprising. Disgusting and horrifying? Yes.
It's not just voters that are being disenfranchised. It's the Indigenous. And heaven forbid if you're not 100% abled and white....oooeee, you're next to lose the ability to vote, according to the justice system under trump.
What people have to realize is that it's deeper than not allowing the votes. By not allowing the votes, they are sending a message that they are ok with poorer school quality and poorer healthcare. If you aren't white, don't speak the language, the schools are crap. Your healthcare options are crap. Many of the families don't have enough to eat. The only source of food might be childcare centers and schools all day. If you are lucky, the childcare centers and schools provide a bag of food for an entire family twice a month. Good luck finding something to eat if you have Diabetes, food allergies, food intolerances, or food sensitivities. Because far too often, those options aren't in those bags of food.
I'm reminded of the song from Avenue Q...everyone's a little bit racist. I say that as an educator and an aunt of 3 biracial kids. Most of the kids at work have been Latinx/Hispanic. A lot of my sentences are in 2 (or more) languages in private or in public. There are UGLY LEWKS by members of society. One really notices the LEWKS and comments with mixed family members.
The civil rights era proved that lasting change requires something more than shifting from protest to institutional integration. Strategies are resilient when they move beyond litigation and legislation into grassroots and broad-based coalitions. A "messenger" model—uniting business, faith, and labor—creates a shield against political pushback by framing equality as a shared social and economic necessity rather than a niche interest. In the past, education built the foundational empathy and legal understanding needed to sustain progress over generations. Today, the right wing podcasters may be temporarily winning the educational battle--but the tide is turning--thanks to policies of words of Trump, ironically.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it — always.” - Gandhi
THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US OF GANDHI'S WISDOM
Didn’t the good guys win the Civil War? Have I misread a page in my history book?
Redistricting efforts may be prettied up with language of law, courts, and other anemic descriptions. But if we use our magnifying glass, we are able to see a replay of that despicable period.
So redistricting has replaced the Klan and entrenched racism? Brainless Republicans believe that moving voters like chess pieces is all that is needed to assure their party’s wins.
Forget fresh policies that would give all Southerners -- despite color and philosophy -- access to an equal chance to vote, prosper, and live happily ever after.
It appears Jim Crow has risen from the grave, dusted off its dirt --that should’ve remained attached -- and with chutzpah, is attempting to rise and conquer fairness.
Sadly, I believe that for some vindictive and unredeemable Southerners, people of color will continue to be in the crosshairs of many of their cruel crowd. Diversity, equity and inclusion, while a beacon of light and hope for all decent Americans, has become too hard to swallow for Southerners . Sadly, their throats are already crammed with racism, jealousy, and other undigested dogmas.
Trump is no Southerner. Indiana and Ohio are not Southern States. Neither is Iowa. Steve King (Iowa) became a political liability in 2019 and was censured for racist remarks & removed from committees. He ultimately lost his primary because not because of his comments but because voters considered him unable to be effective.
Missouri is geographically midwestern but with economic & cultural ties to the South. The klan was not confined to the South. Neither is bigotry and racism. The Klan ran Indiana during its 2nd heyday. Its klaverns spread coast to coast; heavily concentrated in the eastern half of the US — North & South. Their sentiments didn’t evaporate everywhere but the South. The Northeast is currently awash in bright red on the SPLC ‘hate map’. https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map/
Gerrymandering had already done its job elsewhere. There are efforts from the DNC and DGA (Dem Gov Assoc) to change the approach to getting voters involved. To not stick to trying to turn out more of the base; instead to grow the base and go into places often ignored. Register more voters. The DNC is focusing on registering young people to vote.
It is my hope that the GOP has outsmarted themselves. The 2026 elections (maybe 2028 too) aren’t easily predicted based on party registration. Too many states don’t register by party & unaffiliated / independents are a huge group of voters. Census & prior elections are not as relevant this time either. Not the best year for the GOP to further dilute their majority districts with Dems over-performing by double digits in many places. OTOH, this won’t be their only tactic.
https://labs.library.vcu.edu/klan/
When we allow racism to rear its ugly head, we all lose. Lower wages and opportunities reduce the tax base, that hurts ALL americans. It’s drives up costs and lowers morale.
Plain and simple this is a new Jim Crow. I am sick to death by this crap. If you wanted to drag this country down, this is one way of doing it.
How to respond? By making sure we speak out, and more importantly to treat all citizens with the pride and dignity they so richly deserve.
Our family lived in Nashville during my teenage years, so I saw a lot of this racism up close…and realized that it goes hand-in-hand with antisemitism. We were in the minority on both counts. However, my mother worked hard to become president of the League of Women Voters and to try to crack the polite veneer that protected Nashville society. She was an art collector and staunch supporter of Cheekwood, a lovely venue for art. She supported the efforts of Al Gore and his father, and was hopeful that Democratic voices would eventually prevail. But my father made it possible for all of us to live without ever worrying about finances. We lived a life of white privilege. I distinctly remember my mother driving our maid, Arlette, home one afternoon. For the first time in my young life, I caught a glimpse of how racially and economically divided Nashville was. My best friend’s father called me his “Little Hebrew”. I did not realize it then, but I do now, what an antisemitic slur that was.
She would be heartbroken today, as am I, to see what her beloved Nashville has become…the seat of injustice, racial gerrymandering and outright discrimination. How far we have fallen as a country…and how angry it makes me to see a city like Nashville and a state like Tennessee embrace its regressive past.
A stirring & tragic personal history in just a few paragraphs. One quote from the Machiavellian schemer Henry Kissinger comes to mind. Asked by a despairing colleague "what's the solution" to never-ending Mideast violence, Kissinger responded, "there is no solution. We just have to keep working on it." I am no fan of Kissinger, but I gotta say that this direct and crystal clear declaration still strikes me as brilliant in its simplicity and underlying vow of human persistence. I wonder whether I'm just dumbfounded by the obvious, but inspiration can emerge from some unexpected quarters, so let me just redeploy the concept/quote here. MAYBE it will strike a chord with other readers.
THANKS for your comment & sketch of your life story. Among many other things, you evoke another plaintive reminder to "choose your parents well".
What an eloquent response…thank you so very much, Sam!
Ellen, have you seen the short series on PBS by Henry Louis Gates Jr about racism & the Jewish community? Very informative! https://www.pbs.org/show/black-and-jewish-america-an-interwoven-history/
Thank you, Barbara! I’ll watch it!
Four of the secessionist States wrote in their declaration of secession that the reason for their attempt to leave the United States was was that their white privileged economies depended on slavery. Eight generations after the surrender at Appomattox the undercurrent of racism and attempts to continue the political war between the slave and free States are still obvious. We are a single nation, a melting pot in name only. The continuous unrest, violence and chaos will continue until we recognize this truth ad tell the discontent to go elsewhere and let the majority of us continue moving toward a true democracy. These separatists do not realize that without the generous support of eight States that pay more into the federal treasury than they get back in benefits, the other 42 would lose the federal subsidies of infrastructure, FEMA emergency relief, military and social benefits that permit their current levels of prosperity.
What if Blue states just started a massive recruitment and incentive program for Southern Black and Brown people? I know, I know. Roots and all that. But if you are not wanted in a place, are deeply exploited and wronged there, your prospects are near zero, what have you got to lose? The Great Migration of 1910-1970 saw six million disaffected and disenfranchised people of color move to the North and the West. They settled there. Got union jobs. Made homes and families. One of their progenitors became president of the United States. Opportunity. Inclusion. Community. Happiness. What's not to like? I think a Democrat-led master plan for all the Red state Southern Blacks and Browns to get the hell out of where they are not wanted, would solve the problem. That way the only neck racists could plant a foot on would be their own.
There's *a lot* not to like about this idea. The North of today is not the North of the post-New Deal decades. Neither is the South: the white Southern-state governments are reacting against the progress that's been made since the mid/late '60s -- not enough progress, to be sure, but progress nonetheless. And don't forget: the civil rights movement started among Black people in the U.S. South.
Since then the whole country has been undermined by Reaganomics and subsequent Supreme Court decisions, especially Citizens United (2010, not coincidentally the year of the Tea Party election). Racist and "anti-modernity" white people have provided the votes that corporations and the über-wealthy lack. And too many Northerners, especially the white ones, and extra-especially the ones in Congress, haven't paid enough attention.
Interesting idea, but this would likely set off a backlash of "white flight" from those states with increased numbers of black and brown. But that's another discussion.
It’s my guess you are not a student of social science. I’m mystified at how casually moving OTHER people to different states to solve political and now political / racial issues gained credence the past few yrs. — “Roots and all that.” Really?
Nothing says a New Great Migration would offer “Opportunity. Inclusion. Community. Happiness.” - especially happiness. Large influxes of people moving into communities result in a lot of strife. A plan like this is a gateway to awakening overt and latent racism. That’s what history tells us.
The 1900s in the North were nothing like what you describe. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/restrictive-or-racial-covenants
It’s much easier to pretend northerners = good; southerners = bad. The truth is more complicated and uglier. By the way, Donald John Trump & his father - not southerners. Kushners - not southerners. Both families discriminated against Blacks and made a ton of $& as slum landlords.
https://labs.library.vcu.edu/klan/
I was being hyperbolic and a bit ironic. Sorry to seem so off-kilter. No. We'll just have to renew the Civil Rights Movement again, try to regain some foothold in doing the right thing for people who have suffered so much discrimination and hatred. The best I can offer is that we help with all our collective might those in the South who are fighting to be first-class citizens, achieve that goal.
I see. Well, there’s a symbol to warn ppl about that.
/s
Such an accurate description of the ultimate outcome of hatred on the hater. Boot on the neck. But will they ever see what they are doing to themselves and their state and their country? Hope persists.
Steven, I’d be very surprised if TDump gave a care about Racism in the true sense of the word. It just happens to be the current weapon of choice to continue to drive dissension and confusion as wedges in among Americans. Primarily to protect his corrupt, illegal activities/regime but also to dissipate any cohesive action to challenge him! As well as, to Gin up his equally corrupt, self serving base. His primary target…disrupt the Midterms…because if he loses his Party’s majority position he may well be doomed! Of course, with our ”Bastardized” and complicit SCOTUS and the dysfunctional Congress…that’s a “Toss-up” as well.”
As I write this “comment” to your Substack Post I’m receiving flash notifications of Protests to the obscene political maneuvering in the South. Who knows where this may eventually lead us!
Be surprised — DJT got caught discriminating against Blacks and violating the Fair Housing Act, in the true sense. It’s one of the more well documented examples.
“A former Trump superintendent named Thomas Miranda testified that multiple Trump Management employees had instructed him to attach a separate piece of paper with a big letter “C” on it — for “colored” — to any application filed by a black apartment-seeker.”
He had a reputation. Eventually “white testers” were sent to see an apartment Blacks had been told was no longer available. After 2 yrs of fighting it, he settled, 1975. One of the conditions required the company to take out ads specifically encouraging minority individuals to apply for housing, and to provide weekly lists of vacancies to the Urban League. 3 yrs later there were complaints the company was still refusing to rent to Black applicants.
Here’s a segment that aired on Rachel Maddow’s program with remarks from the rental agent confirming & a “white tester.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hme351wP2dk&time_continue=547&source_ve_path=NzY3NTg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Ann, I grew up in a very Racial City…I saw how black folks were treated. That said, the Racial sub-set I was specifically referring to are those actions to deprive people of their right to vote and have that vote count as intended through any form of Voter suppression. Thanks for your comments
Thanks Steven: On the outside looking in is seems the red southern states are less educated, paid at a lower standard , despise unions, It seems like the Civil War never ended. Racism and bigotry is the norm.
Thank you for this detailed analysis of our situation. Steven, as well as for your ongoing scholarship on an issue - namely, racism - that has eaten away at the soul of our nation.
Thanks, Homi.
Somehow, we All must band together to stomp out this dastardly evil that has come over our Country. Despite what gop are doing to the voting system, we must turn out in numbers too large to dispute. Then, the electoral college must be abolished - one vote per person, one vote is counted. Then the detention centers must be abolished; a safe, sane immigration system developed; restore America's value to the world. Happy 250th United States and may God continue to shed His light on thee.
maybe these states should sucede from the union... we won't miss their bit of taxes but they will miss our care...
This is an excellent thread of reader comments, and completely troll-free (the best reason to have a "gated community" paywall, I guess). The idea of a deliberate black exodus from the still-depraved south has a lot of problems BUT I really like the "what if" alternate-reality whiteboard moonshot thinking it exemplifies. Tragically, most human partitions turn into gigantic disasters, India & Pakistan and our own Trail of Tears comes to mind up front.
The idea of abandoning the south as forced "shock therapy" to the ruling class Confederates has a lot of rueful appeal, I admit. Especially after seeing the overfed doughboy Cletuses in the TN legislature gleefully strut & swagger as they voted earlier this week to reaffirm Apartheid via their flagrantly racist gerrymander. I'd say it's SHAMEFUL but centuries prove that they've got zero fks to give and are always gonna be plantation overseers. 100 years ago, they would be posing for postcard snapshots of lynchings.
Like it or not, moving north is gonna be even more disruptive especially since it's not gonna be the safe harbor oasis we might hope it to be. Speaking for myself, I'd dig in AGAINST moving just because I'm as much a native as the white oppressors are, and I'm not gonna be run out by these midnight rider thugs.
I'm a white senior citizen, and I'm reluctant to propose "solutions" I don't have to do the heavy lifting to enact. However IF this so-called "Democracy" and the courts are nakedly complicit in brutish oppression like this, WHAT stake exactly do the underclass have in submission to such tyrannical "authority"?
Is a person who is considered a racist or a bigot ever going to change his or her stripes? Or are they the masters of keeping our nation destabilized? By doing nothing positive in this regard they channel their hatred through successive generations making improvements nearly impossible. This type of behavior casts a pall on our beautiful nation and until enlightened leadership steps forward we will continue this reverse spiral to the pre-Civil War era. This movement is unsustainable and will only yield pain and suffering to everyone.
Some are capable of it. Others aren't.
If anyone has read The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, none of this should be surprising. Disgusting and horrifying? Yes.
It's not just voters that are being disenfranchised. It's the Indigenous. And heaven forbid if you're not 100% abled and white....oooeee, you're next to lose the ability to vote, according to the justice system under trump.
What people have to realize is that it's deeper than not allowing the votes. By not allowing the votes, they are sending a message that they are ok with poorer school quality and poorer healthcare. If you aren't white, don't speak the language, the schools are crap. Your healthcare options are crap. Many of the families don't have enough to eat. The only source of food might be childcare centers and schools all day. If you are lucky, the childcare centers and schools provide a bag of food for an entire family twice a month. Good luck finding something to eat if you have Diabetes, food allergies, food intolerances, or food sensitivities. Because far too often, those options aren't in those bags of food.
I'm reminded of the song from Avenue Q...everyone's a little bit racist. I say that as an educator and an aunt of 3 biracial kids. Most of the kids at work have been Latinx/Hispanic. A lot of my sentences are in 2 (or more) languages in private or in public. There are UGLY LEWKS by members of society. One really notices the LEWKS and comments with mixed family members.
This is true. Anyone who can be deemed ‘less than’ is pushed to the fringes. What works to push back is coalition and community building.
The civil rights era proved that lasting change requires something more than shifting from protest to institutional integration. Strategies are resilient when they move beyond litigation and legislation into grassroots and broad-based coalitions. A "messenger" model—uniting business, faith, and labor—creates a shield against political pushback by framing equality as a shared social and economic necessity rather than a niche interest. In the past, education built the foundational empathy and legal understanding needed to sustain progress over generations. Today, the right wing podcasters may be temporarily winning the educational battle--but the tide is turning--thanks to policies of words of Trump, ironically.