MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 - DISCRIMINATION

 MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 - DISCRIMINATION

In the Declaration of Independence, the writer (Thomas Jefferson) said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

For 246 years, these words have been held sacred.  But, these words have not always been followed. 

 “ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL”

At the time of the Declaration of Independence, only male property owners could vote.  Black people could not vote, women could not vote, non-citizens could not vote (and black women couldn’t vote - two strikes against them).

Then came the Civil War and in the aftermath of the Civil War, Black males could vote (that also has had its controversy with such hindrances as “poll taxes” (pay to vote), literacy tests (can this person read and write?).

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, we have this statement: “Proponents of tests to prove an applicant’s ability to read and understand English claimed that the exams ensured an educated and informed electorate. In practice, they were used to disqualify immigrants and the poor, who had less education. In the South, they were used to prevent African Americans from registering to vote. The Voting Rights Act ended literacy tests in the South in 1965 and the rest of the country in 1970.”

Women received the right to vote in 1920.  

*****

BUT

After the 2020 elections, the Brennan Center observed (in 2021):

“Between Janu­ary 1 and Decem­ber 7, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restrict­ing access to voting. More than 440 bills with provi­sions that restrict voting access have been intro­duced in 49 states in the 2021 legis­lat­ive sessions. These numbers are extraordin­ary: state legis­latures enacted far more restrict­ive voting laws in 2021 than in any year since the Bren­nan Center began track­ing voting legis­la­tion in 2011. More than a third of all restrict­ive voting laws enacted since then were passed this year. And in a new trend this year, legis­lat­ors intro­duced bills to allow partisan actors  to inter­fere with elec­tion processes or even reject elec­tion results entirely.”

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-december-2021 )

Note, this was in the year of the “Big Lie” where one presidential candidate claimed he had won, and thus the interest in voting - and in voting, restrictions ensued. 

Today’s topic is discrimination.  As a country, the United States has fought internal battles on slavery, black voters, Japanese-Americans in World War II, and Hispanics on the southern border.

*****

In an article entitled Intolerance Weighs Heavily on the Mental Health of the LGBTQ+ Community, the first comment is: “Fifty years ago, homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Today, persistent stigma is still a challenge for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Discrimination Still Harms LGBTQ+ Mental Health | Everyday Health

It seems that with the reversal of Roe v Wade, LGBTQ+ people are expecting the progress they have made to also be reversed.  

From the Washington Post:

“The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning a constitutional right to abortion sent fear through the LGBTQ community Friday, after the release of the decision set out potential targets: Supreme Court cases legalizing same-sex intimacy and marriage.

“Justice Clarence Thomas, agreeing with the majority that states could ban abortion, called on the Supreme Court to reexamine cases allowing both LGBTQ rights as well as the right to contraception.

“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” Thomas said in his concurring opinion.

“We must ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”

“The 2015 Obergefell decision guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marriage; the 2003 Lawrence decision overturned a Texas law which made gay sex criminal. The 1965 Griswold decision allowed married couples to use contraceptives.

A case from 1967 in Virginia was Loving v Virginia which challenged Virginia’s law banning interracial marriages.   While that case is not under re-examination, it shows how recently such issues existed.

Back to the beginning, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Can a black man marry a white wife?  (or visa versa?) Can a man marry a man?  Can a woman marry a woman?  Can a male and female married couple remain married when one of the partners changes gender? Can a man marry multiple wives? (As happens in some cultures).

“The times they are a’changing” (Bob Dylan)

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen 

August 1, 2022