Is Disenfranchisement of Marginalized Communities of Color the Rule, Even if Never Spoken Out Loud?
While making a business call, I reached the so-called self adulated gatekeeper, the customer service representative (operator). After posing my question in my proudly Midwestern dialect, they might have picked up something in my voice that convinced them they are speaking to an African American. They shot back in a rather loud and somewhat rude response of “What are you saying!” My reflex was to hang up the phone, but my better angels prevailed. I immediately ask to speak to their supervisor. This account is the story for so many ethnic minorities who face quick clandestine pokes at their intelligence. Psychologists and Sociologists call these pokes microaggressions.
The greatest hoax is to make one feel as though they cannot get ahead, prosper, be autonomous, ever believe that they have no voice, even that they cannot think for themselves. This deception is what calls into question the baseline of America’s soul. Is disenfranchisement of marginalized communities of color the rule, even if never spoken out loud?
Voting further extrapolates this hoax. Voting has been the great stumbling block for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC.) From the days of Jim Crow to the present, making these communities unsure of themselves was accomplished by a pattern of paternalism. There are attempts to make them feel that no matter how far they have excelled or what they have achieved, and even in the face of the many advancements, BIPOC can’t understand for themselves what to or for whom to vote. The easy answer in the “A. B.” quiz is to pick “C.” and not vote at all. Many who are contrary to equity are banking on the last option.
“As whites came to dominate state legislatures once again, legislation was used to strictly circumscribe the right of African Americans to vote. Poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, whites-only primaries, and other measures disproportionately disqualified African Americans from voting. The result was that by the early 20th century nearly all African Americans were disfranchised.” https://www.britannica.com/event/Voting-Rights-Act#ref809346
Subsequently, those same tactics find their way into today’s society through the hoax mentioned above. In one case a provocative operation entitled “Project 1599” was taken against African Americans. Burkman, Wohl, and J.M. Burkman & Associates launched a fraudulent robocall scheme before the 2020 election.
“Hi, this is Tamika Taylor from Project 1599, the civil rights organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl. Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts? The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines. Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote by mail.” FCC seeks $5M fine for robocalls telling Black people that voting helps “the man” by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica’s senior IT reporter – 8/25/2021, 6:46 PM.
This plot met the scales of justice from the NY State Attorney General Office investigation revealed that these robocalls specifically targeted African Americans. As a result, the FCC seeks to fine the calls.
“Burkman emailed to congratulate Wohl, stating that ‘I love these robo calls…getting angry black call backs… win or lose… the black robo was a great [Jacob Wohl] idea.” FCC seeks $5M fine for robocalls telling Black people that voting helps “the man” by Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica’s senior IT reporter – 8/25/2021, 6:46 PM
Call recipients did not fall into the trap of the hoax’s intent to keep them enslaved to the chicaneries of the past by raising their concerns and developing their collective voice. These voices led to a court-ordered call back to each phone that was called and the fine.
Remember, “You are the hope that you’ve been waiting for.”
By Kevin Robinson Executive Director of Accord1, Founder, Editor/Publisher of Three-Fifths Magazine
accord1 