Carson Supports Voter Suppression
by Contributing Writer(s) 09/17/2015Educate, Organize, Mobilize — Last week I wrote that Ben Carson, Black Republican candidate for President, along with other Black Republicans, is systematically playing the race card for the Republican Party (GOP). (See link No. 1 below). Ben Carson, a medical doctor, continues in the long line of Black Republicans that are aiding and abetting voter suppression and attempting to kill and bury the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
This week, while addressing the attack on voting rights by Ben Carson and other Black Republicans, I’ll include other activities that they are involved in that gives cover to anti-Black initiatives that are promoted by the Republican Party.
Many of the details that help to explain the ways “Carson and the gang” are undermining Black voting rights and other legitimate aspirations of the Black community, are included in an in-depth article written by Frank Rich and published in the February 23, 2015 issue of New York Magazine. (See link No. 2 below). My concern is that many voters will look at the amazing accomplishments of Ben Carson (they are amazing) and fail to fully understand the detrimental impact that the Republican policies that he’s promoting will have on Black people.
In his article, Frank Rich opines that much of why the Republicans support Carson is because of the cover he provides them for accusations of being anti-Black or supporting anti-Black policies. Carson’s story is quite remarkable. He was born in poverty and overcame seemingly insurmountable racial, social, economic and educational barriers and became one of the greatest surgeons in the world. A movie about his life was made. The movie was entitled Gifted Hands and starred Cuba Gooding, Jr. One of Carson’s books entitled One Nation also served to endear him with his conservative Republican allies.
Many readers know that Ben Carson has regularly said that he loathes Obamacare. Carson claims that Obamacare is “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.” I wonder if Carson has forgotten 100 years of Jim Crow and lynching. Of course Carson “hating” on Obamacare further enables the Republican’s ongoing commitment to kill Obamacare while warding off the accusations of being racist and anti-Black. This is a prime example of Carson playing the “race card.”
Dr. Carson is loved by the conservative Republicans because of his willingness to undermine social movements that are widely support by Black communities like Black Lives Matter. Again, he plays the “race card” and because he’s Black, his fellow Republicans are better able to deflect charges of racism when they promote his positions. Most of Carson’s political beliefs are right-wing conservative in nature but not necessarily unique to Black people. All of this endears him to his Republican allies.
Rich wrote “In an era when the GOP is trying to counter its pending demographic crisis by limiting ballot-box access to blacks and Hispanics, his ascent could not be more opportunely timed. Carson not only gives cover to the GOP’s campaign for restrictive new voting laws but actively supports it. The results of the 2014 midterms left the Republicans with a total of 31 governorships, a near record for the modern era, and in control of a record 68 of the states’ 98 partisan legislative chambers. The epidemic of new state voting laws in recent years is already being compounded. The longer the GOP can keep Carson in the game, the more he can do for the cause. What he gets out of this transaction is a riddle, though his susceptibility to flattery and celebrity surely cannot be underestimated.”
Alan Keyes and Herman Cain, past Black Republican presidential candidates, didn’t possess the impeccable credentials of Dr. Ben Carson. However, like Keyes and Cain, Carson is this presidential cycle’s Godsend for white Republican voters who believe the mere fact of his candidacy will take race off the table and show that their all white party is color-blind.
Carson has been very explicit in his support for the GOP’s voter suppression strategy, by which the party hopes to help counter its continuing deficit of Hispanic, Black, and young voters in 2016. Carson’s wholehearted embrace of these new voting laws can be found in his manifesto entitled One Vote: Make your Voice Heard.
As I asked last week, why would Black voters support candidates that are hard at work trying to destroy Martin Luther King’s dream and greatest accomplishment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965? If voters are timely and properly educated, they’ll not fall for the Carson/GOP’s deceptions.
As we report, www.thethirdreconstruction.com is a blog. Our mission is to help build a non-racial, multi-ethnic network of organizations and individuals committed to political, economic, and social justice. Please register on our site and contribute to the development and teaching of the knowledge that is essential to empowering our communities.
Greater Diversity News sponsors www.TheThirdReconstruction.com and covers news that is vital to unrepresented and underserved communities. We need your financial support to help us remain viable.
Peter Grear, Esq. writes for Greater Diversity News and www.thethirdreconstruction.com with a primary focus on political, social and economic justice. To support our efforts, to unite our politics and economics, please “Like” and follow us at www.facebook.com/ThirdReconstruction. Please “Share” our articles and post your ideas and comments on Facebook or at our websites www.GreaterDiversity.com andwww.thethirdreconstruction.com. Comments can also be sent to [email protected]. Finally, please ask all of your Facebook “Friends” to like and follow our pages.
Links:
https://greaterdiversity.com/ben-carson-playing-the-race-card/
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/02/ben-carson-2016.html# •
No Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNo Comments Yet!
You can be the one to start a conversation.Only registered users can comment.