Carlos Camargo, Ph.D.’s Post

Turnout is often the major factor in elections. Firing up your base can be a challenge, but engaging them and fighting for their causes is important. Never see an election as a sure thing, either a win or a loss. Sometimes events and other factors may bring about upsets or a change in voting patterns. #voting #votingmatters #voterturnout #elections #elections2024 #votingrights #governance #localgovernment #stategovernment #federalgovernment

Are we really listening to what MLK had to say?: #MartinLutherKingJr #MLK #CivilRights #DrKing In 2020, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday falls in a national election year, one that reminds us of the importance of voting rights, citizenship and political activism to the health of our democracy. King imagined America as a "beloved community" capable of defeating what he characterized as the triple threats of racism, militarism and materialism. The passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, alongside the 1954 Brown Supreme Court decision, represents the crown jewels of the civil rights movement's heroic period. Yet King quickly realized that policy transformations alone, including the right to vote, would be insufficient in realizing his goal of institutionalizing radical black citizenship toward the creation of the "beloved community." King argued that justice was what love looked like in public. 2020 also marks the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act, legislation that proved transformative for black citizenship, at least until the 2013 Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court decision that has helped enable the increase of voter suppression nationally. The most powerful way Americans can honor King now is through the pursuit of new national voting rights legislation that ends voter suppression and ID laws, allows prisoners to vote and automatically registers every 18-year-old citizen to vote. Contemporary voting rights protection in America represents a failure of imagination and a threat to democracy. Grassroots movements, such as Moral Mondays in North Carolina, have worked to show how state legislatures have utilized the post-Shelby landscape to ensure anti-democratic majorities at the expense of genuine democracy and active voter participation. Proposed legislation, such as the the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, seeks to restore the power of voting rights enforcement and other protections by establishing new rules that cover all states and allow for federal intervention in places with histories of active suppression over the previous 25 years. Additionally, the VRAA bill would offer increased protection for indigenous voting populations such as Native Americans and Native Alaskan populations. Democrats in the House of Representatives successfully passed the VRAA (H.R.4.) in December, although the bill has virtually no chance of approval in a Republican-dominated Senate where elected officials pay lip service to King's dreams even as they actively thwart their tangible political manifestations. Voting rights for black Americans, for King, represented an important step toward reimagining a nation free of racial violence, segregation, poverty and hate. Civil rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama in 1965 galvanized support for voting rights legislation, which… #CivilRights #DrKing #MartinLutherKingJr #MLK

XENOPHOBIC CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND THE LONG ROOTS OF JANUARY SIXTH - PDF: https://lnkd.in/gyQwJmHh Racist Regress Can Be a Reality Despite the powerful continuities in white supremacy, it is also crucial to highlight historical discontinuities—and especially those that disrupt the dominant race progress narrative. One might justifiably assert that there are expressions of white nationalism that are worse now than during the civil rights movement. Recent presidential politics offer examples. Most conspicuously, neither the Citizens’ Council nor the John Birch Society, as despicable as they were, ever attempted to overturn a presidential election by assaulting the U.S. Capitol.428 Goldwater ran for president in 1964, and he lost by a landslide.429 Trump, on the other hand, was indisputably elected president in 2016 and garnered a whopping seventy-four million votes in his 2020 loss to Biden, the second largest vote total in presidential history after Biden.430 One way to understand this historical discontinuity is that a twenty-first century white nationalist is able to profit politically and to ramp up white electoral anger in ways that those decades ago could never do. This is racist regress. Recent developments in the other federal branches sadly challenge the notion of inevitable racial progress. During the civil rights movement, activists won voting rights legislation despite the widespread xenophobic attacks on the voting rights struggle. Although Congress, for example, passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 despite Strom Thurmond’s filibuster, today the filibuster has proven to be an unmovable barrier in the march for federal voting rights legislation.431 Moreover, the Roberts Court is far from the Warren Court in the area of voting rights. In fact, in 2013, the Roberts Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder invalidated the Voting Rights Act’s coverage formula, the very same one the Warren Court upheld in South Carolina v. Katzenbach.432 The Roberts Court’s attack on voting rights continued in 2021. In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Court upheld two Arizona voting laws purportedly enacted to prevent voter fraud, but that have a disparate racial impact on voting opportunity.433 The Roberts Court ignored that state lawmakers relied on a false, conspiracy theory centered on “illegal alien” voting to propel the legislation forward.434 Contemporary voting rights activists cannot expect to receive justice through Congress or the Court in the ways they did a half century ago. Finally, recent developments in technology suggest that ending the spread of xenophobic conspiracy theories, and more broadly, white nationalism will not be easy.

Today, on the anniversary of the harrowing day when peaceful protesters faced brutal violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, we are reminded of the long and ongoing struggle for voting rights in America. This pivotal moment in our history underscores the sacrifices made for the democratic ideals we hold dear. Tonight, President Biden will address the nation in his State of the Union, expected to highlight the fragile state of our democracy—a theme that resonates deeply with the enduring legacy of Selma. The battle for voting rights, which was hard-fought on that bridge nearly 60 years ago, remains in peril today. Recent legislation in states like Texas, through SB 1, poses a significant threat to the progress achieved over decades. These laws disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color, undermining the very foundation of an inclusive, multicultural democracy. Elsie Cooke-Holmes said it best in today's important story by Brandon Tensley at Capital B, Biden, "Bloody Sunday, and the Ongoing Fight for Black Votes." https://lnkd.in/eVtfsb9y "We have employed litigation and legislative strategies to safeguard voting rights at the state level," Elsie Cooke-Holmes, the international president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., a co-plaintiff in the legal challenges to restrictive voting legislation in Texas and Georgia, told Capital B. "Yet the true remedy lies in federal intervention." I was honored to convene a press conference after the conclusion of the federal trial challenging Texas SB 1, a case emblematic of the broader struggle to protect voting rights in our nation. This trial and the ongoing efforts across the United States are critical to ensuring that the sacrifices made by those who marched in Selma were not in vain. Meka Simmons emphasized forcefully that the battle for rights, state by state, mirrors the endless and reactive nature of a proverbial game of whack-a-mole. As we listen to President Biden's address tonight, let us reflect on the importance of voting rights not just as a policy issue but as the cornerstone of our democracy. We must stand united in the face of attempts to erode the right to vote, continuing the fight for federal legislation like the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Let this anniversary serve as a reminder of the price paid for democracy and the urgent need to protect it. Our commitment to a just and equitable society demands nothing less. #StateOfTheUnion #VotingRights #Selma #Democracy #InclusiveDemocracy https://lnkd.in/eVtfsb9y

Five. The number of times the filibuster was used to block passage of the Freedom to Vote Act. By blocking the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the filibuster continues its long history as an institutional tool used to oppress Black and brown Americans. Learn more in this new piece by Gréta Bedekovics.

RACISM In social science, racism is understood as a system of beliefs, practices, and social relations that produce and reproduce a racial hierarchy, granting power, privilege, and advantages to some racial groups while systematically disadvantaging others. It's more than just individual prejudice or discrimination based on race; racism in social science is often viewed as a structural or institutional phenomenon that is embedded in societal norms, policies, and practices. Racism is not a natural or inborn trait; it is a learned behaviour that is shaped by social, cultural, and environmental factors. People are not born racist, but they can become racist through the influence of the society in which they are raised. There is no genetic predisposition to racism. Human genetics do not determine whether someone will be racist. Racism is a social construct, meaning it is created and perpetuated by society, not by biology. The idea that different racial groups have inherent qualities that make them superior or inferior to others is a concept that humans have developed over time. Racism from a social science perspective: STRUCTURAL RACISM: This refers to the ways in which societies are structured in ways that disadvantage certain racial groups. It includes policies, practices, and cultural norms that perpetuate inequality, even if individuals within those societies may not consciously hold racist beliefs. For example, housing policies that lead to segregated neighbourhoods or school funding systems that disadvantage predominantly minority schools are forms of structural racism. INSTITUTIONAL RACISM: This is racism that occurs within institutions like the criminal justice system, education system, or healthcare system. It can be seen in practices and policies that systematically result in different outcomes for different racial groups. For instance, racial disparities in sentencing in the criminal justice system are an example of institutional racism. CULTURAL RACISM: This refers to the ways in which the dominant culture in a society perpetuates stereotypes and norms that marginalize or demean certain racial groups. Media representations that portray certain racial groups in a negative light or cultural norms that valorize certain racial characteristics over others are examples of cultural racism. INTERPERSONAL RACISM: While social science often focuses on larger systems and structures, interpersonal racism is still an important concept. This refers to the racist attitudes and behaviours that occur between individuals. It includes acts of discrimination, prejudice, and hostility directed at individuals based on their race. INTERNALIZED RACISM: This is when individuals from marginalized racial groups begin to believe and internalize the negative stereotypes and attitudes that are prevalent in the dominant culture. This can lead to self-hatred, low self-esteem, and a sense of inferiority among those who are targeted by racism.

In 2022, I watched on the Senate floor as the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act were defeated by the filibuster. Today, I published a new report looking at the racist and oppressive history of the filibuster as an institutional tool that's been wielded to prevent civil and voting rights advances since the 1890s - including to block anti-lynching legislation. Even today, the filibuster is being used by an overpowered minority of Senators to block voting rights protections that millions of Black and brown Americans need in order to ensure they can easily access the ballot box. At another critical moment in voting rights history, when dozens of states are targeting the voting rights of historically disenfranchised communities - the filibuster once again stands in the way of progress. Read more 👇

We can't stay on the sidelines, we all have a role to play in ensuring an equitable future for all. Join The Future - Today & Tomorrow in our Campaign to Support Voting Rights Champion Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib's Re-election Michigan's 12th Congressional Districts! In a resounding response to efforts aimed at demonizing and undermining voters of Color from the democratic process in the United States, The Future - Today & Tomorrow, an African American founded Super Pac, is proud to continues our resolute support of a champion for voting rights, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for re-election to Michigan's 12th Congressional District. Congresswoman Tlaib's unwavering dedication to expanding and protecting voting rights, particularly for communities of color and marginalized groups, positions her as a vital defender of our democracy against the backdrop of restrictive voting legislation and efforts to disqualify voters of Color from the commitment of one person, one vote proposed by MAGA Republicans. Your donation today can make a substantial impact on our campaign activities. By supporting our efforts in support of Congresswoman Tlaib, you are investing in a future where the voices of Minority and Disadvantaged voters are amplified, diversity is celebrated, and every voice is heard in Congress. About The Future - Today & Tomorrow The Future - Today & Tomorrow is a Super PAC dedicated to the advancement and protection of civil liberties across the United States. We strive for a future where democracy is unassailable, and every citizen's right to vote is sacrosanct. Our mission is to ensure that technology serves to enhance, not inhibit, the democratic process, fostering a society where everyone has the freedom to choose their leaders without fear or interference. For more information about The Future - Today & Tomorrow, please visit www.futurepac.today.

The landmark John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement has been stuck in the U.S. House of Representatives since last fall. We need your help to get it moving again. After ten long years of attacks on voting rights, from the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder to the voter suppression bills that swept over our country since the 2020 election, this legislation is a ray of light beaming out from a dark landscape. This bill would undo the damage done by the Supreme Court and create a Voting Rights Act for the 21st century. It would restore preclearance in states that are discriminating on the basis of race and create preclearance for certain practices that are frequently discriminatory. It would also bolster Section 2 of the original Voting Rights Act, which allows lawsuits to ensure voters of color have the opportunity for fair representation. I n short, this bill would right a lot of wrongs in our democracy. The original Voting Rights Act is one of the most important laws ever passed in American history and a critical protection against discrimination in our democracy. With the Supreme Court dismantling it piece by piece, we need the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to restore our right to vote. The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice has called the current assault on voting rights "staggering". According to their accounting, " At least 19 states passed 33 laws in 2021 making it harder to vote. Many of these laws target voters of color, exacerbating persistent racial disparities in access. Turnout for nonwhite voters is now substantially lower than that for white voters — and has been for at least 25 years. Despite record voter turnout in 2020, only 58 percent of nonwhite voters participated, compared to 71 percent of white voters." Congress has the power to solve the voting rights crisis. It's up to us to make sure they do their jobs.

The landmark John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement has been stuck in the U.S. House of Representatives this fall. We need your help to get it moving again. After ten long years of attacks on voting rights, from the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder to the voter suppression bills that swept over our country since the 2020 election, this legislation is a ray of light beaming out from a dark landscape. This bill would undo the damage done by the Supreme Court and create a Voting Rights Act for the 21st century. It would restore pre-clearance in states that are discriminating on the basis of race and create pre-clearance for certain practices that are frequently discriminatory. It would also bolster Section 2 of the original Voting Rights Act, which allows lawsuits to ensure voters of color have the opportunity for fair representation. In short, this bill would right a lot of wrongs in our democracy. The original Voting Rights Act is one of the most important laws ever passed in American history and a critical protection against discrimination in our democracy. With the Supreme Court dismantling it piece by piece, we need the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to restore our right to vote. The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice has called the current assault on voting rights "staggering". According to their accounting, "At least 19 states passed 33 laws in 2021 making it harder to vote. Many of these laws target voters of color, exacerbating persistent racial disparities in access. Turnout for nonwhite voters is now substantially lower than that for white voters — and has been for at least 25 years. Despite record voter turnout in 2020, only 58 percent of nonwhite voters participated, compared to 71 percent of white voters." Congress has the power to solve the voting rights crisis. It's up to us to make sure they do their jobs.