HIGHEST
COURT ISSUES CONTRADICTORY RULINGS
John Roberts
and The Supremes sing discordant tunes
TAGS: SUPREME COURT, DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT, VOTERS RIGHTS ACT
(VRA), EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW, SPLIT DECISIONS, HISTORICAL PREJUDICES, “GAY”
MARRIAGE, MINORITY VOTERS DISENFRANCHISED, DISSENTING OPINIONS, CONSTITUTIONAL
DOCTRINE, ARTICLE 4 VRA, CALIFORNIA “PROP 8”
(Monday July 1, 2013. Gettysburg, PA) Today marks the 150th
anniversary of the first day of battle between Confederate troops and Union
forces in this unremarkable locale in Pennsylvania. The epic battle that lasted for three days was
the bloodiest in American history. It
has been designated by historians as the decisive confrontation that turned the
tide in favor of the Union. Up to that
point the Confederacy had defeated the Union on virtually every battlefield and
skirmish. Though the Confederates were
outnumbered by an estimated 30,000 soldiers, their previous routings of Union
troops had them confident as they assembled here determined to “take the fight”
directly to “the North”. Voluminous
accounts and records, a mountain of scholarly studies, papers and books dissect
the battle from every angle. That is
what historians do; they assess from afar, from well beyond the immediate and
with the “after the facts” perspective.
Gettysburg may have more name recognition than some of the other Civil
War battle sites because of the famous address delivered by President Abraham
Lincoln here on November 16th, 1863.
Despite the outcome of “the
War between the States” it took over 100 years for African Americans to win the
right to vote and still additional years for them to obtain “equal rights under
the law” as codified in our Bill of Rights and Constitution. It was as epic a battle as any fought with
firearms and cannons, bayonets and hand to hand. For those of us old enough to recall, it took
more than activism and legislation to overcome the long arms of racism,
prejudice, and inequality. Decades of
overt hostility, segregation, and “Jim Crow” passed before President Lyndon
Johnson was able to sing into law the body of legislation that began to ‘level
the playing field’ for African Americans in our society. Yet none of those federal actions were
sufficient to eradicate the long standing bias against our fellow citizens who
happened to be of African descent. The
legacy of 400 years of slavery would not die an easy death no would it loosen
its grip simply because a bill was signed.
We can fast forward through
the tough years of affirmative action, forced busing, active desegregation, the
longevity of stereotypes, bias, and lingering animus, resentment and garden
variety prejudice and assess where we as a nation, as a society, are
today. Yes, we have twice elected by
wide margins an African American President of these United States. Surely, our children and our children’s
children have grown up in a far more “color blind” culture than we could have
imagined as youngsters.
AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER
American history is a history
of immigrants. Each nationality that
migrated to these shores has faced some degree of racism and efforts to exclude
them from assimilation. While it is true
that no other ethnic or racial group were ever enslaved, by law, there have
always been significant obstacles towards acceptance and inclusion. Irish Catholics who fled their homeland
during a famine and militant oppression were initially discriminated against as
were those who sailed from the ports in Italy, Sicily, and other countries in
Eastern and Western Europe. But somehow
the simmering light beneath our perpetually melting pot was able to absorb the
newcomers. Our history is a unique
beacon of hope and the world over folks yearn for a shot at “The American
Dream”. As clichéd a phrase as that is,
as tired, antiquated, dusty and tattered as it may be, it still represents who
we are.
Be we first generation
Americans with our familial roots patently visible or seventh generation
Americans with little or no connection to our forefathers, at some level, we
can admit that “we came” from somewhere else.
Perhaps that is why the notion that this job that is America is complete
and no more immigrants need apply is
nothing more than infinitely selfish and plays to the baser instincts some
among us exhibit. If it were not so
disturbing the efforts of some to distort the concept of equal rights would be
comical. Sadly, there is no comedy in
this equality tragedy.
THE SUPREME COURT JESTERS
Admittedly, our country and
the world is of a far different composition and protocol than it was 100 years
ago. Societal and cultural constructs
are varied and more diverse and governmental agendas, attitudes and allowances
far more circumscribed. Last week, in an
unabashedly schizophrenic spasm, our Supreme Court rendered judgments on issues
that were, at their very core, matters of equality. One day they struck down an essential element
of the Voters Rights Act (VRA); the next day they vacated the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA). In the case of the
former minorities will encounter challenges to their access to vote, in the latter,
non-heterosexual couples who marry will be granted the same rights and
privileges that come with any legal marriage. This is a classic example of one
step forward, two steps back.
In striking down Article 4 of
the VRA while Republicans have already gerrymandered and redrawn the electoral maps
from coast to coast effectively guaranteeing GOP dominance in many districts,
huge segments of the electorate will be disenfranchised. The right to vote was hard fought and
bitterly contested for decades in parts of the country and now, the Supreme Court
has paved the way for states to enact all sorts of harsh legislation the likes
of which have not been seen since the days of Jim Crow. The majority opinion held that Article 4 of
the VRA has lost its relevance in today’s America. This couldn’t be farther from reality.
Many of the laws passed in the
1960’s have lost their relevance such as Affirmative Action, quotas, and forced
orchestrated integration. It has taken
almost 50 years for this to be the case.
A wide majority of Americans across all demographic blocs including
African Americans agree that Affirmative Action and its protections have become
antiquated. However, by an equally wide
margin Americans agree that voting should be made easier for all legal voters
to participate. Americans recognize the
power of the vote and it is a fundamental, if not sacrosanct right.
It has been the explicitly
pronounced desire of many Republican Party state chairman and elected officials
on all levels to enact law that will restrict African Americans and other
minorities from casting their votes. They have made no secret of their motives
and goals as they have accelerated their efforts towards this end in a host of
states with even more similar efforts spreading into more jurisdictions. In the run up to the last national election
cycle 17 states had passed legislation that overtly limited minorities’ access
to the polls. Their tactics have ranged
from reducing the number of polling places in heavily and predominately
“minority” districts to abolishing “early voting” in those very same places. The GOP believes that minorities are automatically
“Democrats” so it is in their best interest to have fewer and fewer of these
voters participate in the electoral process.
The Supreme Court ruling on the VRA last week has essentially given the
GOP free reign to do whatever they care to in their districts when it comes to
voting laws and statutes.
PROGRESS ?
Our country’s history is one
of stubborn social inertia punctuated by spasms of clear headed decency. It is improper to equate the struggle of
African Americans with that of the GLBT community. There is a parallel but the ferocity of the
resistance to full recognition of African Americans as full members of our
society, of total acceptance of them as rightful recipients of all elements of
citizenship, was a terribly long bloody and bruising campaign. A member of the GLBT community can easily
hide their true identity while African Americans could not conceal their skin
color. However, the essence of equal
rights under the law is that no one among us should have to conceal our true
identity be it racial, religious, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately in the 237th year of
the United States our Supreme Court has yet to demonstrate that inequalities
still persist, that many overt and subtle discriminatory factors and practices
are still condoned. Until we are all
treated equally without qualification or caveat, none of us is truly living in
a society that upholds our nation’s most fundamental founding doctrine.
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