Walk...

…Juan Crow.

It’s finally arrived. The moment when my anticipated run-up against a far more bigoted place at a less bigoted time resulted in legislation I’ve only read about the potential for in small, isolated towns or upper-crust towns trying to prevent inevitable demographic change.

Two new laws passed through the some part or both of the Georgia Legislature last week. One, which forces individuals to present valid state-issued identification at their polling place when voting, and Senate Bill 67 which states that Georgia drivers tests will now be printed exclusively in English.

The first of the two laws is an attack on civic participation intended to reduce fraudulent voting by undocumented immigrants. This, however, is a thinly veiled effort to reduce voter participation overall. When more people vote, more progressive politicians and legislation tends to result. By making voting laws more stringent, less individuals will be prepared to participate in the political process, and therefore more will be driven away. People who are interested in civil rights and the like generally fight this kind of legislation because it represents a new block to civic participation among a bunch of others that already exists.

Possible instances include:
a/ Elderly people who have been voting for years without ID, now turned away.
b/ Newly naturalized immigrants, who yet to be issued identification can’t vote
c/ Forgetful people (me), and folks who want to vote, but consider themselves too busy to go home and get an ID probably won’t vote.

To me, this is all fucked up.

Emily talks about this business on the television here.

The second piece of legislation is similarly disturbing, but far more fascinating to me in its intended target. Arguments in the past have attempted to say that undocumented immigrants pose a threat to drives due to a lack of car insurance and other factors, but this is a blatant denial of basic necessities to non-English speaking citizens. Among the far-reaching number of possible implications of this law is more racial profiling, wherein an individual who does not appear to be an English speaker is pulled over on the grounds that they likely do not have a valid drivers license. Here, people who have every right to be in the United States are either denied the necessary means to earn a living or are criminalized for attempting to do so.

You can watch a short piece on this here.

It’s hard for me grasp all of this, because I’ve really only lived in places where there were substantial numbers of allies for New Americans and significant legal challenge to bigoted laws. When something like this came up in government, there was a fight. I’m sure there’s one starting here, but I’m waiting to hear about it. I want a fight. I hope it comes soon.

Georgia on my mind,

-kevnin’