Recently,
Alabama’s Shelby County challenged the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme
Court, asserting that the law is out dated because, in the words of Shelby
County lawyer Bert Rain, “the problem which the Voting Rights Act addressed is
solved.” Shelby County also claimed that the law is unfair because it singles
out states with histories of racial discrimination.
On the Colbert Report this Wednesday, Stephen
Colbert addressed the case, declaring that he was unaware of when racism became
obsolete but that he was happy “We overcame it!” In response to Rain’s comment
he said, “Racism is solved!,” upon which black and white balloons rained from
the set’s celling in celebration.
This Supreme
Court case is a perfect example of the master narrative claim that we are
living in a post racial society. It not only belittles the importance of the
Voting Rights Act, but it denies the voting obstacles that blacks, particularly
in “states with histories of racial discrimination,” still face today.
Colbert cleverly
articulates the absurdity of Shelby County’s claims, comparing the Voting Rights
Act to a restraining order:
“These states are saying, ‘Yes I used to beat
my girlfriend, but I haven’t since the restraining order so we don’t need it
anymore.”
The fact that
Shelby County even brought the case to the Supreme Court points to the
existence of racism and racist institutions today. Why contest the
constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act unless you plan on violating it?
This is a literal attack on the rights of African Americans in Alabama,
throughout the South, and throughout the entirety of America. This case is also
a symbolic attack on African Americans. It says to them:
“Your struggle
in this country is no longer relevant. Your rights are not important to us, and
we have no intention of protecting them.”
This message is
echoed in the attempts of states, all over the country, to dismantle the laws
that protect African Americans and other minorities. From the fight against
affirmative action in schools and businesses to the inequality of the Justice
system, states are giving blacks the middle finger. Though it is indisputable
that some racial progress has been made, our society is far from post racial. It
is exactly theses efforts to claim that racism is obsolete, such as the Shelby
County case, that prove its prevalence in today’s society.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/424438/march-06-2013/voting-rights-act
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/424438/march-06-2013/voting-rights-act
I 100% agree with you. I mean we have a KKK rally in Memphis to protest the renaming of a park named after a former slave trader. When you have people not voting for a President because he is black and just as much so voting for him because he is black, you cannot be in a post-racial society. Colbert usually does a good job talking about these racial issues as well always saying that he is colorblind or does not see race. He is clearly saying this to point out how ludicrous that statement actually is. The idea about repealing the Voting Rights Act would be about as equal to saying we do not need to work on integrating schools. It makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree our society is far from post racial. Just because some progress has been made doesnt mean that the problem has been solved especially since Section 5 has been used as recently as this year to strike down discriminatory voting laws. It does have to be recognized that while section 5 is useful it does it apply to every state and is in this way unfair.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that we have a long way to go and far from being "post-racial." Like you said, the fact that this was even brought to the Supreme Court menas that we are still living in a highly racist society. Additionally, we currently have many issues with inequality in our society that go beyond race. What about gay rights? I am very glad that we have made these strides towards racial equality and civil rights but we clearly still have very long way to go! What imbecile would think that we are in a post-racist society if we want to repeal a civil rights act?!
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