lune 25, 2014
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The NRA’s Accidental Brush with Sanity
Uncomfortable
turf for gun
dogmatists
saw something involving fire­
arms that even it considered too
extreme.
In T exas (naturally),
worshippers of the glori­
ous gun god have taken to
by J im H ightower
shouting out their ideologi­
Whoa, that was close.
cal absolutism in coffee
The National Rifle As­
shops, museums, chain res­
sociation nearly shot itself in the taurants, and other public places
foot recently with acommon-sense by having a dozen or more of
editorial it posted online.
their ilk walk in together with
The group of rootin’-tootin’, shotguns, assault rifles and other
bullet-spi tti n ’, doctrinaire, guns- weaponry strapped onto them.
everywhere extremists finally
“Any gun, anywhere,” is their
message, expressed in an un-
su b tle , d o n ’t-m e s s-w ith -u s
swagger.
“Scary,” exclaimed the NRA
editorial, calling the macho show
counterproductive to the cause of
gun rights, adding that such
peacocking is downright “weird.”
That is, of course, a sane re­
sponse.
But sanity isn’t comfortable turf
for gun dogmatists. The NRA
soon got hit with a barrage of fire
from its own ranks, plus an explo­
sion of rage from gun groups that
are — believe it or not — even
gunnier than the NRA.
So the big, bad, never-surren-
der rifle organization quickly
threw in the towel. It recanted
its momentary lapse into sanity,
and cravenly blamed some un­
named lowly staffer for the ideo­
logical impurity.
The upshot is you can expect
to see newly sanctioned NRA
gun strutters parading into cafes
near you. But let me ask this:
How would those strutters react
if a band of African-Americans
or Latinos were to stride into one
of their cafes, armed to the teeth?
I’m with the president on this
one: “T here’s no reason,” he
said, “why on the street today a
citizen should be carrying loaded
w eapons.”
O h, th a t w a s n ’t B a ra ck
Obama. It was Ronald Reagan,
in 1967 — back when he served
as the governor of California.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commen­
tator, writer, and public
speaker.
We
Doing the work
to register
voters
percent o f unregistered black,
H ispanic, and A sian voters
co uld upset the b alance o f
p o w er in F lo rid a, G eo rg ia,
M a ry la n d , N o rth C a ro lin a ,
South C aro lin a, T en n essee,
Texas and V irginia.
The conventional w isdom
would say that this is im pos­
sible - that candidates who rep­
resent the views o f com m uni­
ties o f color and progressive
w hites sim ply do not have a
chance o f w inning statew ide
office in these southern states.
This conventional w isdom is
w rong for two reasons.
First, it ignores the changing
d e m o g ra p h ic an d p o litic a l
trends in the Black Belt. Black
re-m igration and Latino and
A sian im m igration are reshap­
ing the dem ographics o f the
reg io n . M ean w h ile, the e x ­
trem ism o f the ruling far-right
w ing is pushing aw ay w hite
w om en and young voters o f all
ra c e s.
sure th a t does not h appen of people o f color below the
Second, it takes a pessim is­ again. In some states it may
Mason Dixon Line, and through
tic view o f p rogress. M any ultim ately be too late to m ar­
the grow ing num ber of unions
people look at the Black Belt shal, funds for the 2014 elec­
and other progressive organi­
an d say th a t n o th in g h as tion, but there is no reason we
zations that are sprouting in
changed for years, and ask cannot start focusing on 2016. the South.
why we should invest in the
We have the pow er in G eor­
D uring Freedom S um m er
reg io n . T his has it ex actly gia, w here the N ew G eorgia
and the turbulent 1960's, civil
backw ards. If we invest, then Project is working methodically
rights activists used to ask new
things will change. The light o f to register 120,000 black, H is­
recruits, "Are you willing to die
southern politics has no dim ­ panic and Asian A m erican vot­
for Freedom ?" Today we need
m er switch. It is either on or it ers in the state - the biggest
to ask each other, "Are you
is off, and we have the pow er voter registration drive in 20
w illing to live for Freedom ?"
to sw itch it on again.
years.
D oing the w ork to register
The sum m er of 2014 can be
We have the pow er in M is­ voters in the South will take
a season o f revival. In the com ­ sissippi, w here the M ississippi
our collective tim e, treasure
ing m onths, as black political Freedom Sum m er 50th A nni­
and dedication. But it is cru­
conventions convene across versary Conference is m eet­ cial, and it can make the future
the country to discuss their ing in late June to reflect on the
come faster than many people
political strategy for the com ­ past five decades of political think.
ing year, we should rem em ber organizing and put a plan into
Benjamin Todd Jealous is
the m istakes of 2010, when action for the next five de­
the former president and chief
low turnout rates led to a wave cades.
executive officer o f the
o f extrem e right wing candi­
W e have the pow er through NAACP. He is currently a part­
dates w inning office across the all o f the black civic organiza­ ner at Kapor Capital and a
country.
tions, which can collectively senior fellow at the Center fo r
W e have the pow er to make reach hundreds o f thousands American Progress.
B enjamin
T odd J ealous
We have the
antidote to voter
s u p p r e s s io n :
m assive voter
registration.
We proved it 50 years ago
during Freedom Summer. We
proved it again in Florida in 2012,
when NAACP activists regis­
tered 115,000 people in a year
when the legislature had effec­
tively made traditional voter reg­
istration strategies illegal.
We need to prove it again this
summer.
As
we
p re p a re
fo r
November's midterm elections -
and look forward to 2016 - our
focus should be on the stretch o f
heavily black states and coun­
ties below the Mason-Dixon Line
that make up the "Black Belt".
O ur new rep o rt from the
Southern Elections Foundation
Fill Out & Send To:
and the C enter for A m erican i
Progress show s that a m as­ i
sive w ave o f voter registration
Arfzi: S ubscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208
co u ld up set the b alan ce o f
p o w er in m any B lack B elt | $45.00 for 3 months • $80.00 for 6 mo. • $ 125.00 for 1 year
states.
(please include check with this subscription form)
For instance, registering 30
percent o f unregistered black I N ame : ______ _______________ __________
voters w ould create enough
"new black voters" - even af­ I T elephone : ____________ _ _ _ _
ter accounting for turnout rates.
A ddress :
- to sw ing a governor's race in
V irginia or N orth C arolina.
I
M eanw hile, registering 60 I or email subscriptions@portlandobserver.com
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