But what about our voting system? It represses minorities; it keeps folks oppressed politically; it keeps us from attaining our own goals.
Imagine our nation a real democracy and what that would do for African Americans. There would be ten to fifteen senators of African descent in the Senate if we had the real deal.
I am tired of folks talking about racism, calling out one specific group, and then not discussing the backward voting system that oppresses not just this group, but any (voting) minority.
I hear plenty about not being empowered, but an amazingly small band of folks pointing in the right direction where emancipation can be had.
Martin Luther King understood that there was more going on than the suppression of black folks. He knew that we live in a system where the haves do not mind at all when the not-haves fight among themselves. The more we divide ourselves into groups/minorities, the more the system oppresses these groups. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy at work. Let's push each other down; let's find the smallest things about other people what they are not doing right. That's a quick fix to establish nothing.
By reaching out to poor whites, MLK told the establishment that he got the big picture, because poor whites are a minority in this nation as well.
But look just one bit further than race and see how libertarians are a minority. Folks without healthcare are a minority. Bicyclists are a minority. And that is how we organize our nation: without addressing all our needs because all these voting minorities are not present at our tables.
A good article. But it is time to incorporate the racist voting system and not just point at people. No individual is involved with the prime suppression of the black vote in the USA. Those individuals that suppress the black vote can do so exactly because of the racist system that contains a mechanism that automatically gives a minority little chance to beat the majority. That racist nudge that you do see about voting is nothing compared with the internal mechanism of winner-take-all that mutes so many voters.
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I write about the voting system of the USA because it is amazingly backward. Very few people are willing to look or even discuss the system; let alone examine the spots where it can get changed today. It is amazing, when you teach folks that this is the best nation in the world, that they are willing to repeat that mantra even when they are kicked down plenty times because of the system. Believe this is the best nation and you will sit on your hands.
Here is one article:
https://medium.com/the-national-discussion/and-the-winner-is-the-losing-party-c683c1d739e5
