Democrats are the new "Negroes"

[Bill Bored]

I first heard this from Mike Malloy, so please don't blame me for it, but it's not just African Americans who were targeted for voter suppression and disenfranchisement -- it was ALL Democrats! Targeting Blacks is racial profiling -- a way to identify opposition party members, but it's not the whole story.

We are the opposition party and we our not a protected class under the Constitution the way African Americans, those over 18, women, etc. are. There is no Equal Protection for Democrats. Think about it.

Democrats of all races were disenfranchised in Ohio by an African American SOS. The Repubs have a Black SCOTUS Justice, SOS, NSA, etc. You may say this is tokenism, but there's more to it than that.

The Democrat (or the liberal, progressive, or whatever) i.e., a member of the opposition party, is now the new N-word. This is political, not necessarily racial discrimination and disenfranchisement. And it may be perfectly legal in some perverse way.

I know this is disturbing, but we have to put things in perspective factually and legally. We are second-class citizens in our own country now.

There are some possible solutions, but I'm not going to waste time with them here if there's no interest in this thread. Anything on DU that goes to Page 2 is lost pretty much forever. But if anyone wants to discuss it further, go for it. I'll be around.

At the very least, I think our next DNC Chair needs to become aware of it.

[RaulVB]

1. Truth hurts...

Words don't kill. Malloy is right.

[Bill Bored]

5. Thanks Raul

And if we think so, we have to think of the struggle using the Black experience as historical precedent. We are not all slaves or descendants of slaves (surfs perhaps?) and their unique heritage should not be trivialized. But when it comes to voting rights, we are where the "Negroes" were in the early 1960s. There efforts, which of course also involved White support, may be the guide for us now.

This means, unfortunately, that we may need some Republican help, but that's just off the top of my head.

[RaulVB]

6. I hope you're right...

And we find one day decent people on the Republican party...

[Child_Of_Isis]

7. "Negroes" were in the early 1960s

You mean the 2000 election don't you? That election was a trial run for this one. Except this time, it included all Dems, not just the black ones.

[Bill Bored]

14. Fair enough

More of us should have stood up at that time. But I don't think the bogus FL felons list came out until after the election was decided, did it?

In any case, the point is still valid, right?

And there are Uncle Tom Dems, rebellious Dems, and all the rest. We don't have to name names. We and they know who they are. The question is how to fix it.

I'm still a big proponent of verified voting so that at least once we get to the polls, our votes will count. But as we've seen in Ohio, getting there is half the "fun!"

[goclark]

2. Yep, they have enslaved the Democratic Party

and the Democratic Party is worried about who is running in '08!

Don't they know that our votes will not count then or evermore?

[RaulVB]

3. No, they don't want to know (n/t)

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. .

[latteromden]

8. I'm quite used to being treated as a second-class citizen. It's not so bad

once you get used to the occasional beating of members of your party.

(I wish I were joking, I really do.)

[EFerrari]

9. I wrote about this to the L.A. Greens on 11/4 but it didn't get

broadcast because we don't know how to talk about ways we're manipulated yet, race being one of them.

I started my essay by pointing out all the ways that black voters were suppressed in OH. Then I ran down the little I know of the history of suppressing the "black" vote. The, I said, "On November 2, we were all black in America.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. kick

[EuroObserver]

16. Last kick (probably)

Not right for an (already half-spanish) englishman to intrude here anymore, at least for now.

With great respect.

[bear425]

11. A caller on Air America Radio yesterday offered this suggestion:

She said the only way we can protect our vote and be assured that there will be enough voting machines in our precincts is for us all to register Republican.

Cold day in hell for me to do that. I'd rather work for change. How 'bout you all?

NGU

[EFerrari]

13. I've thought of it but won't because the consequences are too

serious.

I do think (did Will Pitt say this?) that the coalition of the Black Caucus, with all their fire AND experience, and of progresseive voters is unbeatable. I'm a Latina, and even though Bushco tried to co-opt that vote, Latino activists are busy bursting that bubble.

[bear425]

19. Awesome. We should never give up[ our Democratic/Progressive

principles. We must force our leaders to embrace our message.

[Bill Bored]

17. Well suppose 75% of us registered Repub?

The other 25% would be entrusted with the responsibility of choosing our Dem candidates in the Primaries. Don't think stuff like this doesn't go on the Repub party either. I know it happened in Iowa!

Now imagine, if this really happened. How could they respond? They would also end up with a lot more moderate Repubs winning their primaries, which wouldn't be so bad either. Their party would become Democrats Light!

But how to pull this off on a national level? And what, if any, ethical issues does it raise? People of color couldn't do this because they couldn't pass for White. But we can easily become "stealth" Republicans, can't we?

[bear425]

18. Good arguments...you go first.

edit: I just can't bear (no pun intended) to go to the dark side. And I don't think you should, either.

[liberal43110]

21. Interesting Idea....

Wow, I never thought of this. I agree that the thought of registering as a Republican is horrifying, but interesting nonetheless...

--Nancy

[roseBudd]

24. That won't work, here's why...

We live in politically segregated neighborhoods. I liver near a university in an urban area, in a racially integrated neighborhood, therefore I am a democrat. In addition the GOP knows I drive a 95 Suburu wagon, therefore I am a democrat.

My husband got Bush campaign literature mailed to him simply because he drives a BMW.

[EFerrari]

28. Interesting. I got a call to go to a fundraiser and have lunch with

the President. (They didn't mean Gore.) And can't figure out why. Maybe some teenager just threw our number on the list.

We don't drive a BMW AND subscribe to The Nation. Or, we did :(

[roseBudd]

32. They used market research to pinpoint likely GOP voters, my husband's

BMW and subscription to GQ led them to think he was receptive.

It was in either the NYTimes or WaPO shortly after the election how much they spent on it and how effective it was.

[EFerrari]

33. Must have been the NYT subscription, that bastion of left wing

conspiracy theories. Oy.

The NYT had just started publishing my letters, too, before I got into an information debate with Okrent.

[bear425]

30. I agree it won't work and don't advocate trying. It would be

disgusting, anyway. We must stand by the integrity of our democratic values and NGU.

[vpigrad]

12. And like blacks in the 60's...

our leaders are afraid to challenge the people in power. Great analogy. We need to find a Martin Luther King type of person.

[Bill Bored]

15. Dean? n/t

[ClassWarrior]

20. Waitaminnit!! I thought woman is the nigger of the world.

John Lennon said so.

NGU.

[EFerrari]

22. NO, she's the MULE of the world, as per Zora Neale Hurston,

which is why women will save your party :)

[ClassWarrior]

23. Amen. Some of my favorite people are women.

Heck, even my dear sainted mother was a woman.

NGU.

[EFerrari]

25. We have a tremendous amount of trouble talking about this.

And it's such a shame. In our present situation, for example, there's so MUCH people like Mr. Conyers could teach us about what to expect. About strategy. About negotiation.

This is a very deliberate policy being waged against us. It hurles some wacky burden of shame on US -- as if somehow we're culpable victims -- and exerts a good deal of "shut up" power. Hard as it is, if we can thoughtfully think through this, it would be valuable in this fight.

[Barney Rocks]

26. can we push for "protection"

I know that some species are protected like the Giant Panda and alligators.

Some groups are protected (if they are targeted by hate crimes etc) could we get protection for Democrats as a group?

[EFerrari]

29. lol!

[corbett]

27. Who's Our Medgar Evers?

I'm afraid that, all race-baiting aside, he may be right. We need to find the 21st-century equivalent of the sit-in and other forms of non-violent protest while we work toward fair and open elections.

[EFerrari]

31. Why not do what all seekers do and look to our elders? Geeze,

Mr. Conyers has taken on this thankless task -- once more, because he's been working this street all his political life.

Why not throw serious support his way and learn from him?

[corbett]

42. He Certainly Deserves It!

However, we also need a martyr. No amount of propaganda can stop a martyr.

[Blue Christmas]

41. I don't think we necessarily need to look for NEW ways...

of non-violent protest for the 21st century. I think it would be just as effective to mobilize and protest in the "old ways." The methods that Gandhi and MLK and Cesar Chavez (among others) employed will never go out of style or cease to be effective. The problem is simply no one is mobilizing the masses and using those methods today.

[Bill Bored]

34. This is turning out to be an interesting thread.

OK, so we don't register as Repubs, although a few of us could just to infiltrate their ranks. But if we accept that we are being marginalized, the answer would seem to be to give it back to them in spades! In other words, don't just write letters to the friendly Dem reps. Write to the other side too, especially if you're in their district. Blame them for stuff! Start with the fact that there's no verified voting. Blame the Electoral College challenge on THEM. See this thread:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x264034>

And if the subject ever comes up, hold their President accountable for 9/11! He knew something was coming and he didn't do squat. The Kerry campaign should have used this but they were too wussy.

But on Jan. 6, we stood up! I don't think we can sit down again any time soon. My only Repuke reps are state reps. I went easy on them, but I made my feelings known about the vote. It's in the above thread.

I hope this one serves to provoke some thought about our situation.

[NVMojo]

35. worse than that, try being the new "Indians"

[EFerrari]

37. Geeze, I'm still trying to be the old ones. lol n/t

[GuvWurld]

36. American Apartheid

Take this another step, beyond the partisan level, and see the tiny minority of people with power over the majority in this country (and a lot of the rest of the world for that matter). With as little say as we have, you could say we are subjected to the whim of the ruling elite. Ergo, we are not as much citizens as subjects. It is the American Apartheid.

[roenyc]

38. ok, What did we do in the 60's We black and white

Created liberals. and we marched and we yelled and we screamed until we were heard. and until blacks got their civil rights. and woman got their rights.

If you read 1984 we are becoming the prolls. the underclass. the un-important.

now we need to organize the communities. Jesse Jackson needs to get dirty. he needs to get into the INNER city and get the masses. his little protest the other day was not enough. he needs to raise enough money to get buss loads of people in his protests. to help people who cant afford to take a day off from work or cant afford to get to Washington. He needs to tell these people like martin Luther King did that they are losing their rights. they dont even know for heaven sake no one knows!

thats the difference between now and 1960, it was blatant then. it was visible then. it was on the TV then. its not now. its being denied now. no one is seeing Jesse Jackson.

everyone saw Martin Luther King on TV = No one seeing Jesse. He needs to get on a box and scream. and get a huge crowd that the media cant ignore. and get his kid or sharpton or someone to energize other parts of the country. in the inner cities where the suppressed live.

because their lives are about to get worse and worse. what will happen to them when this shit head starts to screw with social security? ok, off topic sorry.

ok, so we need Howard dean. we need black leaders. we need to get rid of Reid. he is a horror. and pelosi and out lived her usefulness. put a black person in that spot please. and i would like to see boxer leading the house. someone with some guts and values would be nice.

[mattclearing]

39. That's a totally irresponsible and stupid comparison.

Equating Democrats and Jim Crow-era blacks is totally ridiculous, and says quite a bit about Malloy.

They aren't beating and lynching us. They aren't burning crosses in our back yards, or making us watch our backs when we walk down the street. There isn't a separate bathroom for us, nor are we relegated to the back of the bus.

There is an attempt to infringe on our rights, but to say this is insulting would be an understatement.

I don't see how Mike Malloy can expect to be taken seriously when making such a silly statement.

[AirAmFan]

40. NO! You are misinterpreting the significance of Blackwell, Thomas, Soaries,

and other "Uncle Tom" Black Rethuglicans. Whenever you see an African-American in a position of power in Rethuglican politics, you can be sure he or she was put there to oppress his or her own people. You are falling into the exact trap Rethuglicans meant to spring when they made Blackwell Ohio SOS and Soaries NJ SOS: They planned to do something INCREDIBLY RACIST, and wanted to project the appearance of just hardball politics, rather than a continuation of 400 years of repression of African-Americans.

The 'New Negros' who were disfranchised in 2004 were almost all the 'old Negros' who've been disfranchised ever since they came here pack like sardines in slave ships. One poll showed that while about 70 percent of whites thought the 2004 election was fair, only 27 percent of African-Americans did. I haven't seen survey results on the same question for Democrats versus rethuglicans, but I'll bet you a dollar the disparity was much much smaller.

Except for his directive making provisional ballots meaningless, nothing Ken Blackwell did in Ohio was new by any means. Virtually all the mechanisms of disfranchisement Blackwell successfully deployed in 2004 have been going on since Reconstruction, wherever African-Americans have lived in significant numbers. See "The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States", by Alexander Keyssar, excerpted at http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0465029698/002-2468899-4316848?