The Southernization of America How Right to Work, Personhood and Voter Suppression are the New ALEC Crow
The “Southernization” of America Right to Work School to Prison Pipeline Prison Industrial Complex Anti-immigration Legislation War on Women Privatization of Public Education Voter Suppression Child Labor
Treating the New Majority as the Old Minority Seniors Women Latinos African-Americans The Poor
Role of Prisons Census re-apportionment Prisons in rural communities are households and transfer census numbers from urban to rural communities
Immigration and Personhood Reduces labor competition from immigrants Reduces labor competition from women
Forms of Voter Suppression Felon Disenfranchisement Photo ID/Proof of Citizenship Impediments to Registration/Absentee Voting Disinformation Voting Patterns (straight ticket voting) Purging voter rolls/Caging
Voter Suppression Targets Seniors Students/Young People Poor People People of Color Immigrants Ex-Offenders
Felon Disenfranchisement History Although Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to reinforce the 15 th Amendment, felony disfranchisement laws remained legal and began to multiply. 1850: 35% of states had felony disfranchisement laws. 2008: 95% of states have felony disfranchisement laws.
Felon Disenfranchisement Felony disfranchisement laws prevent 1.4 million or 13% of all black men in the U.S. from voting. In 5 states that disfranchise people with felony convictions, 1 in 4 black men are permanently disfranchised. In New York, over 16 times as many Latino voters are disenfranchised as white voters.
Where States Stand
5 Million Affected by Voter Suppression
Voter Suppression Breakdown 3.2 million – Photo Id 240,000 – Proof of citizenship 202,000 – Restrictive voter registration procedures 60,000 – Repeal of Election Day registration 1-2 million – Restrictions on early voting 100,000 – Former felony convictions
How This Affects the 2012 Election The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Of the 12 battleground states, 5 have restricted voting and 2 additional states have pending legislation
Virginia Fights Back and Wins! 26 voter suppression bills introduced in 2012 General Assembly 3 are still alive Photo ID was defeated
Virginia Strategy Rapid coalition building Constant presence at General Assembly Virginia won over the press Legislative Black Caucus joined the coalition Fought legislation on cost rather than morality
Where We Need to Go Move from States’ rights legislation to People’s rights legislation Elect progressive legislators and progressive judges The individual struggles are part of a larger single struggle – we must unite in our efforts The 99% against the 1%
The New 21 st Century Civil Rights Agenda Create Jobs for Everyone who wants to work Protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid Constitutional Equal Rights for Women Universal Healthcare for All Comprehensive Immigration Reform Protect and Expand Voting Rights Restoration of Voting Rights for Ex-Felons Restore Roe v. Wade as law of the land Protect Public Education