This was AFTER they massacred Black folks for voting during reconstruction. Black folks STILL voted. La.’s new law had a literacy test and property requirements…unless you were born before Jan 1, 1867 It was probably just a coincidence that the date excluded all ex-slaves
But what about all the illiterate poor whites? Well, if they were born before Jan 1 1867, their children & grandchildren were good. This where the term “grandfather clause” came from Georgia now is considering eliminating dropboxes but guess who can turn in absentee ballots?
And literacy tests weren’t necessarily about literacy, it was about keeping immigrants and Blacks from voting. But it was also a way for a poll worker to just disqualify a Black voters. But there are no more literacy tests, right?
They also stationed law enforcement officers at polls to intimidate Black voters with violence and the threat of arrest. They wouldn’t do that today, though.
It wasn’t always police officers. Sometimes it was regular regular white people acting as “poll watchers” intimidating and arresting and detaining black voters. Texas’ new voter law literally does the exact same thing
Sometimes, Black voters said: “Maybe if I vote absentee ballot, they won’t know I’m black.” But in places like Harris County, TX, upholders of Jim Crow just denied Black voters’ absentee ballot requests up until CF Richardson sued in 1938 It’s different now, though. Oh wait…
And of course, sometimes Jim Crow areas would just replace entire election boards with people who they knew would make every effort to toss Black voters. Jim Crow 2.0 though? It’s 2022! Will someone please tell the state of Georgia?
And just like Jim Crow, most of these “colorblind” voting laws were passed under the guise of “ballot security,” claiming they were protecting the integrity of elections.
There’s just one problem: the people writing these laws have filed lawsuits, held independent recounts, state sponsored recounts & used every measure to prove voter fraud is going. No one could find any fraud or security problems. Because there isn’t any. Well, there’s one.
The only logical reason for these new laws is that white people are VERY insecure. That’s why they’re resorting to these new laws. Usually (even when Obama won), more whites than Blacks trusted the vote count. But in 2020, for the first time, more whites distrusted the vote
And there is no doubt the laws will disproportionately affect nonwhite voters. The data proves it. History shows it. That’s their intent. But I actually wouldn’t call it “Jim Crow 2.0” A 2nd-generation version is usually an improvement. This is “Factory Refurbished Jim Crow.”
@michaelharriot @threadreaderapp please unroll
@michaelharriot Hello @threadreaderapp please unroll
@michaelharriot This is very well presented. Do you think that it is relevant that Delaware and New York have similar or even more restrictive voting laws? Perhaps worth noting.
@michaelharriot Who originated the term Jim Crow 2.0? Fairly certain it was not old white men. Think I heard it from Latosha Brown or Nina Turner. At any rate I think it was appropriated. Quite catch, and that is the point. Thanks for the deep dive.
@michaelharriot Could not have said it better, myself.