With all of the pain of watching Gillum and Abrams lose, we have had one major victory. The people of Florida voted to allow ex-felons to vote. To get some idea of the significance of this, the SPLC says that 1.4 million Floridians, up to 40% of the states black men, would be re-enfranchised by this law.
Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have had laws on the books to prevent felons from voting since the 1890's. Gee, is that when voter disenfranchisement started!
And after that, the Southern states began to arrest black men in droves based on Vagrancy Laws. Standing on a street corner could get you arrested in some states. And there went your right to vote.
Know your history.
Felons' Voting Rights can be a tough sell. We have to convince people that once someone has done their time, all of their rights should be restored. A lot of people don't feel sympathetic toward felons. And a lot of black men are felons. What I point out is that the reason why there are so many black felons is because they have poor representation, and no one helps them plea bargain to a misdemeanor. It's not necessarily because we commit more crimes. It's just that when white people commit crimes, there are systems in place to help them get off. (George Zimmerman comes to mind.) There are lenient police officers, lenient juries, lenient judges. Take for example, shoplifting. It's a felony in some states. LOTS of people shoplift. Some get caught. Some of those who are caught get prosecuted, but some are simply allowed to pay for what they were going to take. And then there's Michael Brown.
It's important to point out to white folks that lots of white folks commit crimes but don't get caught, or if caught don't get prosecuted, or if prosecuted, don't get felony sentences. If one was to take a poll of how many people have shoplifted, or driven drunk - also a felony in some states - one would find that lots of white folks have done this. Especially driving drunk. Some white people don't even consider it a crime. (I'm thinking about Brett Kavanaugh.)
I'm starting to get mad. I will stop now.
As I said - we had a victory in Florida, and ex-felons can vote. Seize the victories.
= new reply since forum marked as read