Imperiled Freedom on the November Ballot

By Mildred Robertson

As we approach the midterm election on November 8, 2022, many Americans are not sure they will vote, some question whether their vote will count, and others are oblivious to the need to participate in the democratic process. But Americans need to mobilize to the polls because this election marks the possible demise of a nation governed for and by the people. Literally, democracy is at stake.

The battle for America to be a truly representative republic has encompassed this nation’s entire existence. We have always purported that we are a nation governed by the people for their collective benefit. However, America has taken two steps forward and one step back as it relates to universal voting rights. At this nation’s founding, white, landed men were the only ones granted the right to vote. The Founders left the decision about who among us would have the right to vote to the states, some of which even limited voting to landed Christian men. It was during the early part of the 19^th century when the right to vote was extended to all male American citizens.  

It was 1869 when African American men, most of whom were freedmen residing in the South, gained the right to vote. The 15^th Amendment prohibited the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".  But following the Civil War, the South instituted draconian voting restrictions to discourage minorities from exercising their right to vote. Efforts to deny minorities access to the polls have persisted in various iterations since that time. While black and white women along with other minorities subsequently gained the right to vote over time, many states have worked diligently to limit voting access to communities of color.  The challenge to voting rights served as an impetus to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

In response to that Movement, the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The Act restored crucial protections against racial voter discrimination that included tactics such as intimidation, violence, poll taxes, and literacy, and other outlandish tests designed to discourage minority voting. While the Voting Rights Act was a critical bulwark against voter discrimination, over the years states across the nation have chipped away at the safeguards enshrined in that legislation. Many states continue to legislate voting rights practices similar to the post-Civil War era.

The late John Lewis took up the fight in his life-long battle to enfranchise all Americans; a fight which he championed until his death. His legacy legislation, The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Bill of 2021 (H.R. 4) is proposed legislation that would restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, certain portions of which were struck down by two Supreme Court decisions; Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 and Abbott v. Perez in 2018.

According to congressional Democrats, Shelby County v. Holder gave states more leeway to pass even more restrictive voting laws, and the 2018 Abbott v. Perez decision opined that state legislators were entitled to a presumption of good faith when they drew maps that were clearly gerrymandered. Further in 2019 in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee Justice Samuel Alito laid out five “guideposts” to assess whether election laws were discriminatory under Section 2.  Voting rights advocates and election attorneys believe these “guideposts” would undercut future challenges to discriminatory voting laws.

Today, attacks on voting rights by states like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina have resulted in significant state and federal court challenges against alleged inadequate voting access for minority voters. In fall 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court will decide two crucial voting rights cases that have the potential to upend our country’s current election landscape, one out of Alabama and the other out of North Carolina. Both could drastically limit the ability to attack suppressive voting laws, overturn discriminatory maps and advocate for voters in court.  A packed right-leaning Supreme Court may be inclined to enter decisions that further erode voting rights. Therefore, the only safeguard against restrictions on our freedom to vote is to elect legislators who will support legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

So it is a conundrum. Roadblocks to fair and free access to the ballot box exist throughout the nation. To safeguard the voting rights of Blacks and other minorities, it is necessary for those communities to vote en masse.  If minorities do not show up at the polls on November 8, 2022, we may well lose the opportunity to elect individuals who will support Voting Rights legislation.

Polls indicate that turnout for nonwhite voters is substantially lower than that of white voters. Even with a record voter turnout in 2020, only 58 percent of nonwhite voters participated compared to 71 percent of white voters. The failure of Blacks and other minorities to show up at the Polls on November 8, will have serious ramifications for us all. We must elect legislators who will represent our best interest rather than their own partisan self-interests. We must elect legislators who will enact fair voting rights laws like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

 Make plans to vote in the mid-term elections.  Literally, democracy is at stake. Your freedom is on the ballot.

 Vote November 8, 2022. (For information about early and absentee voting, contact your local Board of Elections.)

Republicans Oppose Funding of Low-Income Schools

By Mildred Robertson

America struggles to maintain its preeminence on the world stage.  Fueled by an educational system that purports to provide universal education to all of its citizens, it is stymied by the fact that many Americans are not ready for the challenge. This is due in part to the countless number of minority and low-income individuals who do not receive the same quality of education as their white and high-income counterparts. North Carolina is among the states that have struggled with this issue and has recently taken front and center stage as the N.C. Supreme Court faces off with the state legislature about its failure to budget court-ordered funding to bring equity to North Carolina classrooms.

In the 1994 landmark Leandro v. State of North Carolina case, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled both in 1997 and 2004 to affirm the fundamental right of every child to have access to a sound, basic education. It is the court’s position that the state has a constitutional obligation to ensure all children have access to well-trained teachers and principals and equitable access to sufficient resources. North Carolina, the court said, has not met its constitutional requirement to ensure that the state does not fall short of this obligation. 

The case has been heard on all three levels of North Carolina’s judicial system and is before the Supreme Court for the fourth time.  The issue is whether statewide violations of a student’s right to access a sound basic education exist and whether the courts can compel the state to transfer $785 million to state agencies to remedy any violation they may find. 

The Republican General Assembly has refused to legislate the necessary funding to implement the plan. Now the issue is whether the trial court judge has the right to order the Leandro Plan to be funded. If the Supreme Court finds the trial court judge didn’t have the authority to order the funding and implementation of the Leandro Plan, then the case is dead. 

While there are many nuances to this lawsuit, the basic issue is that many North Carolina students continue to suffer under an underfunded educational system that provides disparate education to citizens of the state based on race and income. The political machinations by the Republican legislature to continue to underfund low-wealth school boards and deny a sound basic education to minorities is the issue. 

It is not due to a lack of revenue that the legislature has failed to finance the implementation of the Leandro Plan. According to the U.S. News & World Report, the state has a $6.2 billion budget surplus. Revenue projections for the current fiscal year exceed previous projections by 15%. That’s an increase of $4.2 billion dollars.  So for what reason could the legislature balk at implementing the necessary funding? Surely it would have to be more than the mechanics of how the judiciary compelled them to meet their constitutional obligation to provide all North Carolinians with adequate funding for a sound basic education. If that were the case, they would fix the process and fund the plan. Instead, the Republican General Assembly argues that this decision represents a power grab by a Democratic court.  More honestly, however, they just don’t want to implement the plan.  It is a plan they have fought for close to thirty years. 

North Carolina citizens get the short end of the stick while the courts and the legislature go round-and-round regarding whether the courts can mandate necessary funding. Meanwhile, another class of North Carolina public school children return to school this fall to a substandard education system that is under-resourced and anything but sound.

 

DOJ Targets Trump: Without Fear or Favor

 By Mildred Robertson

The rule of law. That is the foundation of the American experiment. And today U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland reinforced that concept when he acknowledged that the Department of Justice had executed a search warrant on the property of the President of the United States at his Mar-A-Lago home in Florida.

Garland’s announcement should quiet the pundits and politicians who lamented the speed with which the DOJ has addressed this ex-president’s numerous misdeeds. It appears that the wheels of justice were quietly grinding behind the scene as the DOJ planned the search and seizure of classified documents Trump allegedly spirited off to Mar-A-Lago when he departed the White House.  This action comes after months of negotiations with Trump’s legal staff to retrieve the documents.

The DOJ questioned Trump staffers who were involved with the removal of documents to Mar-a-Lago or who were familiar with how documents were stored at his West Palm Beach residence in the spring of 2022. On June 8, 2022, DOJ and FBI officials arrived at the estate with a grand jury subpoena, where they found White House documents marked “top secret,” according to CNN. The Wall Street Journal reported that later that month the Trump Organization received and complied with a subpoena for surveillance footage from Mar-a-Logo. On August 5, 2022, a sealed search warrant for the former president’s home was issued by US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, and on August 8, 2022, plain-clothed FBI agents descended upon the residence where they executed a nine-hour search of the property that resulted in the confiscation of 15 boxes of White House documents.

Politicians and Trump supporters immediately raised an outcry, demanding that the DOJ comment on their search and seizure of boxes stored at Mar-a-Lago after Donald Trump announced the search and referred to it as a witch hunt. His protestations stirred his followers into a frenzy that included death threats toward various entities involved in the execution of the search. In fact, an armed suspect attempted to breach the FBI building in Cincinnati and was later killed in a stand-off with police. It is believed the individual was present at the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

In response to the outcry from Trump supporters, today the DOJ filed a motion to unseal the Trump Mar-a-Lago warrant and property receipt. Garland noted that he personally approved the decision to seek the search warrant and that, while the department did not comment on the search the day it occurred, Trump, himself confirmed the execution of the warrant. His decision to disclose details of the warrant was based upon the ex-president’s confirmation, and public interest in the search. Trump and his team have until Friday at 3 p.m. eastern time to oppose the release of the warrant and property receipt.

Trump is not new to judicial peril. The twice impeached ex-president is subject to a litany of state and federal offenses that would have landed the majority of American citizens in court, if not in jail. The outcry from his supporters is that the DOJ and other law enforcement are on a witch-hunt to destroy Trump, though evidence of his numerous misdeeds has been captured on newsreels and tweets as they occurred in real-time.

Trump’s penchant to break norms, a trait that endeared him to his followers, stretched the limits of presidential power to the breaking point. This erstwhile ex-president regularly skirted the edge of legality, and many times burst right through to fly in the face of the Constitution itself. He declared that he could “shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue” and get away with it. He then went on to govern as if that were a fact. And for the most part, he was given wide berth to do so. 

The citizens of this nation have agreed upon societal rules that govern how we interact with one another and determine the penalty for those who break them.  Our aspiration is that we all will be judged against that standard without regard to our status or wealth, color, or creed.  In the words of Merrick Garland, the DOJ is pursuing justice in this case “without fear or favor.” While we many times fall far short of this aspiration, it appears that Garland and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are striving to meet that goal as they pursue possible wrong-doing by the former U.S. President, Donald J. Trump.

ODE TO INSANITY

By: Mildred Robertson
 
Crazy, this world is so crazy
Crazy, this world is so crazy
 
Buffalo and Uvalde got the best of me
Shots fired, blood streaming, death is all I see
Shooting babies, stopping ages, slain indiscriminately
I can’t believe it but it looks like no one cares but me.
 
When they told me, bodies slaughtered and I turned around
Grandma dead, babies gone, then I hit the ground.
Seems the good guys with the guns were not that good at all,
They took their weapons and they held them safely in the hall.
 
Legislators, bad debaters sent up thoughts and prayers
They just talking, but not walking, they don’t even care
Their words say life, but seem the epitome of death
Now I see If this gets fixed, I fixed it for myself
 
Crazy, this world is so crazy
Crazy, this world is so crazy
 
Babies ten, life upended, right-wing’s choice to be offended.
Not her choice to procreate, But they don’t care, they legislate
Protect heartbeats is what they say, But not when snuffed in school hallways.
 
Family waits for mom at home, but this beloved just won’t come
She’s bleeding out on the doctor’s table, He’s got the tools, but he’s disabled
See politicians sent thoughts and prayers, they just talking…they don’t care
 
Crazy, this world is so crazy
Crazy, this world is so crazy
 
Created July 2022

Flawed Leaders Turn American Dream into a Nightmare

 By: Mildred Robertson

The streets of America run blood-red from the senseless slaughters occurring daily in the U.S. due to rampant, unchecked gun violence. Yet Congress continues to avoid its responsibility to institute sensible gun laws to ensure that citizens enjoy the promise of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness our constitution espouses.

What exactly do those words mean? The Founders seemed to believe that by a matter of birth, each of us is endowed with certain rights from the Creator; rights that the government is called to protect. We each are entitled to freedom under the law, as long as OUR freedom does not deny that same freedom to someone else. As the current U.S. Supreme Court looks backward to legislate on pressing issues of the day, they seem to have overlooked that simple fact.

 A religious scholar back in 1853 defined liberty as follows:

“True liberty consists in the security of persons and property, so that every man, while he respects the persons of others, and suffers them to enjoy in quietness the fruits of their industry, is certain that he himself will be permitted to enjoy the same blessings at the hands of his fellow-citizens… [T]o live in a state, where the laws are equal for all, where they are sure to be executed with moderation and fairness, is to be free. But that is a wretched servitude, call it by what name you will, — democracy or aristocracy, a republic or despotism – where the laws are partial, uncertain, fluctuating, and feebly and irregularly administered.” 

 

--Commentaries on the Laws of the Ancient Hebrews; E.C. Wines, 1853 edition, p. 364; published by George Putnam and Company.

Using that Rubicon, America is sorely off track regarding the protection of freedom for all its citizens. Today America suffers from “wretched servitude” to guns, racism, partisanship, religious intolerance, the thirst for power, and frankly, ignorance that denies many of us the liberty promised by our founding document. We are plagued by the rule of the few over the desires of the many. Our laws have become so convoluted as to somehow allow minority rule to overtake the entire system. This upside-down world has resulted in an erosion of individual freedom for people of color, women, and the average citizen. Today, we are not free to worship, shop, go to school, attend a concert or a club, or simply celebrate the 4^th of July without fear of being gun down by a Second Amendment advocate who is unhinged, hate-filled, or just wants to go down in infamy.   

Today our Democracy is a mirage…a dream. Whereas the Founders attempted to fashion a nation where each of us could expect to be treated with “moderation and fairness,” we find that Americans currently enjoy neither. Our laws are in fact, “partial, uncertain, fluctuating and feebly and irregularly administered.” From our local government to the highest court in the land, our freedoms are under attack. Whereas these entities were designed to ensure our freedom, they are slowly, methodically taking them away. We have not yet lost the idyllic promise of America, but we must awaken from the nightmare in order to stop the demise of freedom.

We have never fully realized the promise of equality, justice, and freedom the Constitution exemplified though we made some meaningful strides toward that dream.   Yet, in just one administration we almost lost it all. We must rise up and reclaim our promise. We must strive again to reach the potential the Founders held out for us. We must lay aside partisan bickering, and racial and class strife and seek a path where we all can prosper.

The majority of Americans want reasonable gun laws. Most of us support a woman’s right to choose. Collectively we want a police force that protects and serves, not one that kills and terrorizes. We want freedom of religion, but we do not want religion to rule our government. Most folks believe in the right to live alternative lifestyles, even if we don’t personally want to live that way. Your average American doesn’t believe that a civilian should have access to weapons of war. If we all stand together and say that, we could have the dream rather than the nightmare. However, in order for that to happen “most folks” are going to have to vote. We know that, historically, most folks don’t.

I implore each of you who have had sleepless nights over the senseless murders that plague our nation; who agonize over the 10-year-old rape victim forced to carry her rapist’s child; who is fuming over Supreme Court decisions or state gerrymandering, who is outraged by police brutality, JUST VOTE!

You personally cannot address these issues. But together, we can shout loud enough to wake America from its nightmare.

Your vote is your voice.

 Use It!

SCOTUS Turns America Into Real-Life Gilead

 By Mildred Robertson

We all knew it was coming from the day Mitch McConnell stole the first Supreme Court seat from Barack Obama. He and his cohorts relentlessly worked to pack as many ultra-conservative justices on the court as passive Democrats would allow. These well-groomed sycophants said just the right things to make the likes of Susan Collins and Joe Manchin publicly confirm that these nominees would honor prior Supreme Court decisions such as Roe v. Wade.

We all knew better. But, that didn’t make it any easier when it actually happened.

So as I approach the close of June 24, 2022, I do so with fewer rights than I had when I went to bed last night. Because today, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a ruling that had governed most of my life. They ended a ruling that said I had autonomy over my own body. It dragged me back to a time when my life could be regulated based on a menstrual cycle or the lack thereof. That is the reality of young women all over America today. The Court has stepped into their bedrooms; their doctor’s offices, their minister’s study, their mother’s kitchen, and removed their ability to make life-changing choices based upon decisions they arrive upon with the counsel of one, all, or none of those mentioned.

You see, pro-choice advocates seem to think young women take lightly the decision to end a pregnancy. But it is, in fact, an agonizing decision for most. There are factors too numerous to mention here that can complicate bringing an unplanned pregnancy to fruition. Obvious factors include rape and incest, the youth or health of the mother, marriage or partner complications, finances…and a myriad of other factors. The timing of an unplanned pregnancy can halt a woman’s climb up the corporate ladder. It can happen at a time when a budding entrepreneur just got her feet under her or just when a woman has lost her job. It can be a decision that changes the entire trajectory of her life, and therefore, it should be no one’s decision but her own.

I know the agony of the choice. You see, my second child was conceived while I was on the pill. I had a bad case of the flu and could keep nothing on my stomach, including my birth control pills. When I found out I was pregnant, we weren’t particularly thrilled, since we already had a child in diapers. But after the initial shock, we were both okay with it…until the ultrasound. It turns out that I had been carrying twins, but one sack was empty. The doctors said that meant that there was a defect that could possibly be present in the remaining embryo as well. He said that we could do an amino synthesis, but that could cause injury to the embryo; carry to term, and take our chances or we could abort. My husband and I cried, prayed, and finally made the decision to take our chances. It was a horrible six months. But we were lucky. God granted us a healthy baby boy. I share that story with you to show how private and intimate the decisions related to abortion are. It almost feels like you are spying on my private life, right? This is a space that should be shared only by those on the “invited” list. There is no time when the government is invited.

You do not know what challenges a couple or a single mother must face when making the decision to terminate a pregnancy. You do not know her circumstances, resources, or her mental health, all factors which will impact her ability to love and care for a child.

The final outcome of government interference in this private decision is an increase in children forced upon a system that already cannot handle the load. Having women serve as human incubators to “increase the domestic supply” of babies is among the most absurd reasons I have heard to date. It sounds like a line from Margaret Atwood’s “A Handmaid’s Tale.” Unfortunately, that is the position of at least one seated Supreme Court Justice.

In my situation, I made the choice that worked for me. I am glad that it was MY decision and my consequences. If someone else in the same position made a decision that was different than mine it would be just as valid as my own.

I think that is the point. Whether another person should abort or carry to term is a decision that I have neither the right to make nor the wisdom to judge. That’s a lesson that the SCOTUS and legislators around the nation should learn. We should help them learn that lesson on November 8^th by creating a “Blue Wave” that will wash away any hint of Gilead and return us to an America where women are free.

True American Patriots Should “Stand Back and Stand By”

 By Mildred Robertson

“Stand Back and Stand By” are the infamous words of the 45^th President of the United States that launched the most hideous attack on this nation since the Civil War. His clarion call to the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys was issued during the September 29, 2020, presidential debate. His command resonated throughout our politics over the past two years, and on January 6, 2021, culminated in an insurrection death, and destruction.  

His inappropriate use of the presidential bully pulpit resulted in an uprising that left as many as seven people dead, and numerous injured, including approximately 150 Capitol and Metropolitan police officers and other responders. In addition, hundreds of government workers, including the vice president of the United States were traumatized by the mob as they hunted them in the halls of the U.S. Capitol building. The mob threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence and assassinate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others.  All this was based on the words of a twice impeached, morally corrupt, failed president who desperately sought to hold on to power in the waning hours of his presidency.

As we examine these infamous words, at first glance, they disgust and repel most loyal Americans. But in my view, these words can take on a life of their own, much as the derogatory “n-word” has done in the Black community. That contemptuous, evil word meant to offend has been co-opted by Blacks who have decided to own this insult, stripping it of its power and violence and designing it to be used by Blacks alone.  

I posit that this is the path Democrats and liberals should take with the phrase “Stand back and Stand By.” I suggest that we strip this phrase of its venom, hatred, and its call to negative action. We should, I believe replace it in the American psyche as a call to all Americans who love democracy to take up the true arms given to us by the Founding Fathers. I do not speak of Second Amendment armaments, but the one most powerful weapon we hold as Americans…our voice at the polls…our VOTE.

There is a historical understanding of the power of the vote that hearkens back to our Founding. Our country was conceived on the concept that American citizens had the right to a say in how they would be governed. The fledgling nation took up arms to make that point. Throughout our history, the struggle remains as to who is an American…and how each citizen that dwells on our soil can be so defined.

While many have fought and died to gain or hold on to that privilege—that right; many have become disillusioned and disengaged believing that it is too difficult or too pointless to participate in American politics. Many have fallen prey to the propaganda offered by opponents of freedom. Many have become discouraged at the constant political bickering; the constant polarization and unrest in our nation. And frankly, many are consumed by the challenges of daily living such as the high cost of living, healthcare challenges, and instability in the world caused by war and other worldwide challenges.

Some question how the simple act of casting a vote can have a meaningful impact on their day-to-day lives. But it is that simple act that has the power to exponentially change our current situation. Everyone who checks out on their responsibility to vote checks out on their ability to change their own circumstance.

We do not need flagpoles whittled into a spear. We do not need men and women dressed in armor or carrying hand ties to capture and kill our opponents. We do not need gallows to hang our adversaries. We do not even need to march in the streets. We just need to vote!

That is how we conquer the horde. Those who love democracy…those who believe in the promise of America for all who come to our shores…those who desire “A more perfect union,” should Stand Back and Stand By to cast their vote on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-deaths.html

http://www.blackbottomarchives.com/blackpapersocialjustice/on-non-black-people-saying-nigga

https://80000hours.org/articles/is-voting-important/