July 9, 2014
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Overcoming the Supreme Court’s Setbacks
Restoring the
right to vote
by
M arge B aker
L ast year, the
S u p re m e C o u rt
decimated one of
the c iv il rig h ts
m o v e m e n t’ s
crowning achieve­
ments. Now, it’s
time for Congress
to pick up the pieces, put it back
together and make our laws
strong enough to protect our most
important right: our vote.
Many folks who lived and
fought through the civil rights
m ovem ent w eren’t ju st frus­
trated by the Supreme C ourt’s
decision in Shelby County v.
Holder, which undermined a core
provision of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965.
They were heartbroken.
The ruling gutted the Voting
Rights Act provision that required
the Justice Department to
pre-approve changes to vot­
ing laws in areas with a
history of discrimination at
the ballot box. For nearly
half a century, the Justice
Department used that au­
thority to block some o f the
country ’ s most egregious attacks
on voting rights.
The Supreme Court’s deci­
sion didn’t eliminate the Justice
Departm ent’s preclearance au­
thority itself, but it removed the
formula that determined where
it could use that authority, ren­
dering the entire preclearance
provision useless.
In doing so, the Court opened
the gates for a flood of new laws
that restrict the right to vote
through a range of methods.
Since Shelby, states and munici­
palities have pushed through leg­
islation making it harder for mil­
lions of people to cast ballots.
States have cut back on early
voting, made it harder to regis­
ter, and begun requiring specific
forms of identification — docu­
ments that many eligible voters
don’t have and can’t easily get.
From shortening the hours the
polls are open to moving polling
locations, these restrictions fall
heaviest on people of color, the
elderly, students, and the poor.
Now it’s up to Congress to solve
the problem.
The Suprem e C o u rt’s ruling
left room for C ongress to re­
pair the dam age and put the
la w ’s protectio n s back into
effect. And a bipartisan group
o f representatives have been
w orking to do ju st that with the
Voting Rights A m endm ent Act
. It is a flexible, m odern, na­
tionw ide solution to com bating
voting discrim ination. And it
would provide new tools to stop
voter suppression and ensure
th at any p ro p o sed electio n
changes are clear and fair.
Unfortunately, after a biparti­
san process in which members
of both parties had a hand in
drafting the new legislation,
House Republican leaders and
the chair of the House Judiciary
Committee have decided to block
the fix and refuse even to hold
hearings on the legislation.
T hat’s very bad news for vot­
ing rights and very bad news for
our democracy.
Voting rights shouldn’t be a
partisan issue, and representa­
tives from both parties should be
applauded for doing the hard
work of repairing one o f our
nation’s most important laws.
Now it’s up to ordinary people
across the political spectrum to
take a lesson from the civil rights
movement and call out the law­
makers standing in the way of an
important bill.
W ith grassro o ts pressure,
there’s no reason the Voting
Rights Amendment Act can’t
become law this year, restoring
and strengthening our civil rights
protections.
M arge Baker is the execu­
tive vice president o f People
fo r the American Way.
In an Uneven World, What does Solidarity Mean?
Understand
privilege as
starting point
R ev . J on B arnes
I recently returned
from a trip visiting in­
ternational partners in
Haiti. On the flight to
Port au Prince, pas­
sengers boarding in
matching t-shirts made it evident
that the plane leaving Atlanta was
full of church groups going on
mission trips. One t-shirt read
"GO.LOVE.HAITI!" Another,
with the words emblazoned on a
cross, said "Mission to the Least
of These."
When my wife and lived and
worked on South Africa, we
would see the same phenom­
en o n on p la n e s b o u n d fo r
Johannesburg, many of the shirts
referring to the need to "save"
Africa.
These group journeys to help
others, matching t-shirts and all,
may be easy targets for us to
mock. But I wonder if we main­
line Protestants are that differ­
ent? At Global Ministries, we part­
ner with international churches
and organizations in relationships
of mutuality and solidarity.
In addition, we have the op­
portunity to work with many
by
churches and individuals in North while international partnerships chance at realizing relationships need matching t-shirts to do that,
America who want to make a usually begin by focusing on the o f m utuality and interdepen-
The Rev. Jon Barnes is a
difference in the world. And there needs and poverty of others, they dence in our globalized and un- ju stice and peace fe llo w fo r
is no doubt that this desire comes instead need to start with the even world. And we don’t even the United Church o f Christ.
from our calling to follow God reality of privilege that many of
and to work for a world o f justice us in the West take for granted.
and peace.
She goes on to note that "be­
But it is also evident that cause a first-world ethic of soli­
due to our privilege as North darity begins from a position of
ummer
un partments
Americans, many times we privilege rather than a position of
see ourselves as "doers" and marginalization, analyzing and
• S tudio & O ne -B edroom A partments
agents of change, making it understanding privilege must be
• A ffordable R ent
difficult to experience soli­ its starting point" (Peters, Soli­
• No B uy -I ns or A pplication F ees
darity and learn from these rela­ darity Ethics: Transformation in
• F ederal R ent S ubsidies A vailable
tionships.
a Globalized World, M inneapo­
• I deal U rban location near shopping ,
W hen we meet with interna­ lis: Fortress Press, 2014).
bus lines , restaurants , and more !
tional partners, one of the most
Yes, there are needs around
• E njoy our small community
important lessons we can learn the world. And yes, God calls us
7810 SE Foster Road
ATMOSPHERE THAT’S RELAXED
Portland, OR 97206
is how U.S. political, economic, to minister to the "least of these."
AND FRIENDLY!
and military policies affect the But when our solidarity with oth­
« 503*774*8885
lives of the most vulnerable.
ers begins with the premise of
During the visit to Haiti, one their poverty, it is very difficult
of the comments we heard over for us to relate in any form other
and over is how W estern aid, than donors or patrons.
especially after the 2010 earth­
We must begin to understand
quake, has actually served to that in a globalized world, it is not
undermine H aiti’s ability to re­ always our direct assistance or
spond to the many issues cur­ direction that others need. Rather
rently facing the country.
we must recognize that our cul­
Rev. Patrick Villier, president ture of hyper individualism and
Attorney at Law
of the National Spiritual Council over consumption is tied, both di­
of Churches of Haiti, noted that rectly and indirectly, to the social
1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon
true partnership is not about build­ realities and deprivations faced by
ing independence in either Haiti millions around the world (includ­
Portland: (503)244-2080
or the United States, but should ing here in the United States).
Hillsoboro: (503) 244-2081
instead be rooted in our mutual
If we begin with our privilege
interdependence.
Facsimile: (503) 244-2084
as the starting point so that we
Similarly, in Solidarity Ethics, might be encouraged to fight for
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Rebecca Todd Peters writes that change here, we may just have a
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