If the definition of oppression is about being unjustly subjected to unfair treatment or control, then what we are collectively witnessing across the country with regards to treatment of people of color by Republican state and federal legislators is oppression. It feels like Republican legislators aren’t listening to us and weirdly, they are working hard to ensure that we can’t get rid of them. They want to continue to impose their anti-public health, anti-environment, anti-science, and anti-social safety net agenda upon the majority of Americans. The events of this past week highlight the depth of their depravity.
While offering thoughts and prayers to hurting victims of gun violence, weather related events, or COVID-19 is the right thing to do, it is not nearly enough. Thoughts and prayers do not address the root of the problems nor do they provide reasonable solutions. At the center of my frustration are Republican Senators Ted Cruise, Mitch McConnel, and Rand Paul as well as a handful of Republican governors. Their cruelty and tone-deafness are an affront to my ears and have dire consequences for many. Their collective behavior is even more deplorable because they are not ignorant of the facts nor the suffering, but they continue to act counter to the best interest of Americans in spite of this knowledge. Their desire to hold onto power at the expense of screwing the majority of Americans in the process is mind boggling. They show by their words and actions that they will say anything and do anything to maintain the hegemony of wealthy white people and corporations.
At this very moment, these men and those in their party are acting to limit access to voting and to block any attempts at gun control. They want to continue to help the rich get richer while stepping on the necks of poor people and people of color. They stand between every reasonable public health measure like wearing masks, background checks for gun purchases, keeping automatic weapons off our streets, reasonable immigration policies, environmental protections, economic safety nets, and affordable healthcare. It is no surprise that not a single one of them voted for the American Recovery Act. And yet, their priority is to control the body of every American woman, protect the 2nd Amendment, appoint judges, and to give unneeded tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations.
I often ask myself why Republicans are so against voter access, reasonable gun laws, public health measures, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, and protecting the environment and I repeatedly come up with the same reason. They want to maintain white supremacy and white majorities. They want to keep white people in the U.S. at the top of the economic and power food chain even if a handful of white people are also hurt in the process. And the best way to do maintain power is to block all legislation limits white people’s access to guns while killing a person of color who looks like he might have one. They want white folks armed because they may need them to forcefully maintain power one day. January 6th was just the beginning. It is also evident that they want to reduce the life expectancy of people of color by keeping them poor and limiting their access to healthcare and education while allowing greedy corporations to use poor areas as dumping grounds, poisoning poor people’s air and water. Knowing that people of color are more likely to die from COVID-19 because of the core morbidities caused by years of poverty and neglect, they refuse to impose mask mandates.
I am not surprised that white people are getting vaccinated faster than people of color. That too, is by design. And the fact that a black female lawmaker was arrested and dragged away in handcuffs in Georgia this week for simply knocking on the door of the Governor’s office and then charged with two felonies says everything we need to know about the criminal justice system.
As forty-three states work to legislate voter suppression laws designed specifically to limit voting among youth, poor, and people of color, I am glad that civil rights organizations are suing. I am also glad that community organizers are seeking to boycott corporations who do not publicly support free and fair election access. But we as voters need to be prepared to do our part as well.
The time to end oppression is now and the way forward is at the ballot box. We must be determined to vote no matter what obstacles Republicans place in front of us. This may mean making the necessary preparations ahead of time to secure the proper ID, to wait in a long line, bringing our own food and water bottles, saving to take off work or better yet, joining with other employees to implore employers to give time off to vote if necessary. We must ensure that our families and friends are registered and ready to vote in local, state and federal elections. This is how we will end the oppression of the majority by this hateful minority of Republicans over time.
If we want a better America where access to opportunity, health, safety, and justice is truly for all, then we must elect public officials who have our collective best interest in mind. The time of voting for the familiar name is over. We can’t allow the continued cruelty of men like Ted Cruise, Mitch McConnell, and Rand Paul and Republican governors to oppress us any longer.