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Trump voters motivated by racism may be violating the Constitution.

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This is not an Onion article, it is from NBC.com's opinion page.

Quote

Trump voters motivated by racism may be violating the Constitution. Can they be stopped?

Republicans and Democrats alike have been unwilling to reprimand voters or to hold them accountable. But racist voting isn't an accident.

Jan. 17, 2020, 2:30 AM MST

By Noah Berlatsky

If the Trump era has taught us anything, it's that large numbers of white people in the United States are motivated at least in part by racism in the voting booth. Donald Trump ran an openly racist campaign for president, calling Mexicans rapists and criminals, regularly retweeting white supremacists and at least initially balking at repudiating former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Trump made it clear in his campaign that "Make America Great Again" meant that America was greater when white people's power was more sweeping and more secure. White voters approved of that message by a whopping 58 percent to 37 percent.

Some politicians deny the evidence, no doubt because they don't want to alienate white voters, including prejudiced ones. Other commentators try to parse whether Trump's racism will be a winning strategy in 2020. Terry Smith, a visiting professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, offers a different response in his new book, "Whitelash: Unmasking White Grievance at the Ballot Box." Rather than excuse racist voters or try to figure out how to live with their choices, he argues that racist voting is not just immoral, but illegal. The government, Smith says, has the ability, and the responsibility, to address it.

This sounds radical. But Smith argues that it's in line with the Constitution and with years of court rulings. For example, Smith points out that racist appeals in union elections are illegal and that an election in which one side uses racist appeals can be invalidated by the National Labor Relations Board. Similarly, in the 2016 case Peña v. Rodriguez, the Supreme Court ruled that when a juror expresses overt bigotry, the jury's verdict should be invalidated.

"When voters go to the booth, they're not expressing a mere personal preference," Smith told me. According to Smith, voters who pull the levers to harm black people are violating the Constitution. If the Constitution means that overt racist appeals undermine the legality of union elections, it stands to reason that they undermine the legality of other elections, as well.

So how can you tell when voters are acting out of prejudice? Again, Smith says, employment discrimination law provides a useful analogy. In discrimination cases, courts look for pretexts. If someone gives a reason for a hiring decision that is obviously false or makes little sense in context, the court has good reason to believe that prejudice or bias may have influenced the hiring decision.

Trump's unprecedented, compulsive, easily documented lying during the 2016 campaign made him an irrational choice. It's reasonable to conclude that voters were willing to swallow the falsehoods because they liked what they heard: overt racist appeals and incessant lies about rising crime rates. Research has since suggested that plenty of Trump voters were indeed strongly motivated by racist resentment and anti-immigrant animus.

The usual remedy for racial discrimination is censure or fines — as Trump was subjected to when the Justice Department found that his housing developments were discriminating against black tenants in the 1970s. It's more difficult to censure voters who have violated their constitutional duties. Nullifying elections would be essentially impossible. But Smith argues that there are other options.

"I think we can dismantle some of the features of the electoral system that encourage racialized decision-making," he says. "For instance, you only get a partisan gerrymander by moving people in and out of districts on the basis of their race." Ending this practice at the state and federal levels would be a big step toward reducing the power of racism at the ballot box, as would ending the use of Voter IDs intended to disenfranchise black voters.

Even more ambitiously, Smith suggests expanding the Voting Rights Act to address the racist patterns of voting in Senate elections in the South. Because the majority of white voters in the South vote Republican, and because they outnumber black voters, there isn't a single Democratic senator from the Deep South other than Doug Jones in Alabama, who may well lose his seat in 2020. Smith argues that we could remedy these disparate, racially motivated outcomes by creating Senate districts. Presumably, that would make it at least possible for black voters to elect a senator who would support their interests.

This is clearly a very controversial proposal, and its constitutionality has been debated in the past. But given obvious disparities in representation in the South, it seems worth considering again.

Over the last decade, an increasingly conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act and upheld racist gerrymandering. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are stacking both the Supreme Court and the federal courts more broadly with conservative judges. The prospect for an aggressive legislative response to racist voting seems slim.

Still, Smith points out, in the long term, "these remedies are a lot more practical than a lot of people might think." Republicans won't always control the presidency and the Senate, and judges don't live forever. Democrats could also expand the number of seats on lower courts or even on the Supreme Court — another controversial proposal known as court-packing. If Democrats decide that responding to racist voting is a vital priority, they could, in time, take steps to do something about it.

It's difficult to address injustice, however, if you're unwilling to say injustice exists. Politicians and pundits, Republican and Democratic alike, have been unwilling to reprimand voters or hold them accountable. But voters are not well-intentioned innocents who are helplessly manipulated by malevolent leaders. They make important decisions as constitutional actors, for which they have moral responsibility. Racist voting isn't an accident. It's a choice that may violate the principles of our Constitution and our legal system. We should say so, and then we should find ways to reduce the harm it causes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-voters-motivated-racism-may-be-violating-constitution-can-they-ncna1110356

I'm not sure where to start with this...  :unsure:

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95% of black voters went to the ballot for Obama and only 4% for McCain.

93% of black voters went to the ballot for Obama and only 6% for Romney.

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17 minutes ago, Baker Boy said:

95% of black voters went to the ballot for Obama and only 4% for McCain.

93% of black voters went to the ballot for Obama and only 6% for Romney.

That's different.  That's "celebrating diversity"!!!!! 

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The idea that voting for racist reasons may be illegal is absurd. The idea that a subsect of Trump voters vote for him because of his obvious bigotry is pretty well established. 

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We've basically reached the point where calling someone a racist has no meaning. We can no longer debate ideas or policy, if you disagree with a liberal, it's only because you are racist.

Well done liberals, well done.

If you pull the lever for a Democrat on any level, understand that this stance is what you support.

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9 minutes ago, MDC said:

The idea that voting for racist reasons may be illegal is absurd. The idea that a subsect of Trump voters vote for him because of his obvious bigotry is pretty well established. 

Link

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11 minutes ago, MDC said:

The idea that voting for racist reasons may be illegal is absurd. The idea that a subsect of Trump voters vote for him because of his obvious bigotry is pretty well established. 

As established as the bigoted blacks voting 93% for Obama ?

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11 minutes ago, MDC said:

The idea that voting for racist reasons may be illegal is absurd. The idea that a subsect of Trump voters vote for him because of his obvious bigotry is pretty well established. 


That's like saying "not hiring someone because they are black" or "not hiring someone because they are white" is illegal.  😅

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You gotta be a cuck if you keep voting for them. 

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13 minutes ago, drobeski said:

As established as the bigoted blacks voting 93% for Obama ?

 Yeah that's perfectly OK if black people do it white people do it this is what we get.

So stupid

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Give the normals the south and southwest. Let the freaks have the rest.  We’ll split defense and social security and other infrastructure things like that and energy and food. And the n-words and the chinks can stay. But we don’t want the Irish! 

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25 minutes ago, Reality said:

We've basically reached the point where calling someone a racist has no meaning. We can no longer debate ideas or policy, if you disagree with a liberal, it's only because you are racist.

Well done liberals, well done.

If you pull the lever for a Democrat on any level, understand that this stance is what you support.

First sentence in the article is pretty funny...I think you could argue the Trump prez has taught us many more valid things..good and bad.  Reality's response here is not much different, both over the top blowhards.  Well done Reality, well done.

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29 minutes ago, Baker Boy said:

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Take your pick of any recent jobs report. President Trump's obvious bigotry made the blacks and the rapists...erm I mean mexicans go out and get jobs. I mean, that's just cruel. He's a monster. 

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4 minutes ago, Herbivore said:

First sentence in the article is pretty funny...I think you could argue the Trump prez has taught us many more valid things..good and bad.  Reality's response here is not much different, both over the top blowhards.  Well done Reality, well done.

Pointing out the obvious, I know that bothers folks like you..

:dunno:

It's ok though, the truth won't physically harm you. 

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Trump's not racist so the left continues to chase shadows. A lot of words to describe something pretty obvious.

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Today's left is lost. They have created some alternate reality and simply believe it because of all the hate that exists in their souls. They will never give up until big government can direct them in how to think.

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31 minutes ago, Reality said:

Pointing out the obvious, I know that bothers folks like you..

:dunno:

It's ok though, the truth won't physically harm you. 

thank you for your dumb opinion

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14 minutes ago, lickin_starfish said:

It is well established, and irrefutable the Democrats are the racist party.

The left calls Trump racist because he DOESN'T favor one race over another. Pure projection. 

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12 minutes ago, Herbivore said:

thank you for your dumb opinion

Pointing out the obvious isn't an opinion. Keep your head buried in the sand though, that's exactly how your overlords on left want you.

Useful idiot.

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12 minutes ago, TimmySmith said:

The left calls Trump racist because he DOESN'T favor one race over another. Pure projection. 

and because if you are opposed to open borders you are automatically racist!

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8 minutes ago, Reality said:

Pointing out the obvious isn't an opinion. Keep your head buried in the sand though, that's exactly how your overlords on left want you.

Useful idiot.

overlords..😂

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"If the Trump era has taught us anything, it's that large numbers of white people in the United States are motivated at least in part by racism in the voting booth"

 

I stopped reading after this.  Large numbers?  What percentage?  Complete conjecture.

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Just now, Drizzay said:

"If the Trump era has taught us anything, it's that large numbers of white people in the United States are motivated at least in part by racism in the voting booth"

 

I stopped reading after this.  Large numbers?  What percentage?  Complete conjecture.

 That's what's completely stupid. Republicans turned out in the same numbers in the last election. The biggest difference or swing in voter's? Black voters didn't show up for Hillary like they did for Obama. But white people are the racist ones. Oh ok.

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Trump flipped counties in swing states that Obama won. That's the difference. So all those racists in those counties voted for Obama, twice, then they out in their Klan robes and cot s for Trump. They just so happened to be places Hillary didn't bother to campaign in and Trump did. And oh yeah, he flipped Florida, another state Obama won twice. It's a joke.  Don't let them get away with it when they spout that crap. 

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41 minutes ago, Drizzay said:

"If the Trump era has taught us anything, it's that large numbers of white people in the United States are motivated at least in part by racism in the voting booth"

 

I stopped reading after this.  Large numbers?  What percentage?  Complete conjecture.

White people are the only ones who are stupid enough to not be motivated by race in the voting booth.

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2 hours ago, Drizzay said:

"If the Trump era has taught us anything, it's that large numbers of white people in the United States are motivated at least in part by racism in the voting booth"

 

I stopped reading after this.  Large numbers?  What percentage?  Complete conjecture.

You could have read more for humor at least.  Really though this is the right thought for this article. 

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The Democratic Party is in deep trouble, at least nationally. It’s now the feminine party, with chicks, cucks and queers calling the shots. And everyone knows chicks hate each other. They ran off the actual men.  It’s never going to work. 

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8 hours ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

The Democratic Party is in deep trouble, at least nationally. It’s now the feminine party, with chicks, cucks and queers calling the shots. And everyone knows chicks hate each other. They ran off the actual men.  It’s never going to work. 

There’s nothing feminine about leftist women, only leftist men.

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20 hours ago, MDC said:

The idea that voting for racist reasons may be illegal is absurd. The idea that a subsect of Trump voters vote for him because of his obvious bigotry is pretty well established. 

So you think many Trump voters would have voted for Hillary over say Tim Scott or Condoleezza Rice?

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Before I was a supporter of the great Orange Satan, I was a supporter of the great Black Satan.

Believe me, race wasn't on my mind in voting for either. In 2008, McCain's foreign policy was abysmal and the War in Iraq was my #1 issue, plus I really hate/hated the Bush GOP although I recognized McCain's differences, I was in no mood to vote GOP. Romney/Ryan was more insider corporate Bushtardation.... fock those guys. That was an easy vote for the scary black man.

Meanwhile, Trump's trade policy was mana from heaven. Stand in the weed-infested parking lot of a closed auto plant and rail against NAFTA and Hillary Clinton and you'll win huge numbers of votes where I'm from.

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5 hours ago, Baker Boy said:

Definition of a racist: A conservative winning an argument with a liberal.
-Thomas Sowell

 White liberals are the most racist people out there.

-Ben Carson

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1 minute ago, sderk said:

 White liberals are the most racist people out there.

-Ben Carson

Easily.  Nobody hates white people more than the white liberal. It's crazy. 

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23 minutes ago, cyclone24 said:

Easily.  Nobody hates white people more than the white liberal. It's crazy. 

More importantly, while they may not "hate" blacks per se, they think that blacks are incapable of taking care of themselves.  The soft bigotry of low expectations.  :(

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