by Dr. John E. Warren
African Americans in particular and people of color in general have a history of Supreme Court decisions against their interests. When the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision was handed down in 1896, the Court said ‘separate but equal’ was the rule. We survived the ‘Jim Crow’ era that followed. When the Court said in the Dred Scott decision that “A Black man has no rights that a White man is bound to respect, we survived the indignity of being called everything except ‘Mister.’ As Maya Angelo said: “And still we rise.” We have experienced the works of racist, White Justices before. Today, we are better educated and equipped than we have ever been with full knowledge of options and alternatives. The only question is: Do we have the collective will to fight back?
Consider that while the Supreme Court has acted and has an embedded conservative majority for years to come. The Constitution does give us a way out of all the decisions handed down against our interests.
Years ago when the Court ruled against flag burning, the Congress passed a law which said while such activity was offensive to many, there existed a First Amendment right under Freedom of Speech to burn the flag if one decided to do so. Today, just as the president is proposing legislation to overcome Student Loan Forgiveness, and the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the Congress can legislate the reversal of these Supreme Court decisions.
The problem is that ‘we the people’ must change out those Right-leaning Conservative members of Congress for people who support our points of view and will vote to make the desired legislative changes. We must run candidates in each of the 435 congressional districts that will commit to and support our goals and we must finance them as well as register to vote in such extreme numbers that we overcome the opposition.
We must remember that there are more people in America that share our views among young Whites and people of color than the conservative element that appears interested in returning Donald Trump to the Presidency.
Let us not forget that all the Republicans now running against Trump appear to be afraid to speak out against him. Let us not forget that the very basis of the overwhelming support for Trump is racism. The racism is based in a fear that America is changing to Whites becoming a minority rather than the majority they have always been. While this idea might be too much for some of us to think about, let’s focus on the fact that if we register to vote, then we have a ticket in the American lottery of Democracy.
We must then use that vote for people who support our cause, no matter what their race. We cannot engage in reverse racism, but rather winning for all of us who have a shared interest in the challenges before us. If the vote was important enough to try and keep it from us through ‘voter suppression,’ then it’s important enough for us to fight for.
Let us remember that our fight is for the collective and not just for each of us individually.
The ‘struggle’ really does continue. Will you be a part of it?
