The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Let our people vote free and fair.
I’m a firm believer in the power of spiritual leadership. And in its responsibility to demand righteousness and civil right protections for the oppressed. I’ve served at First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix for over 40 years. I know the community longs for equality. Sadly, the nation’s troubled past with systemic racism, through voter suppression, has spilled over more blatantly than ever into this election.
The right to vote has been hotly contested since our nation’s founding. Through great struggle and as a crowning achievement of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into legislation, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. This fundamental right, the cornerstone of our democracy, must be continually defended. After the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, many states began to disproportionately strip people of color of their ability to shape their government, regretfully including Arizona.
What began as a fear has become a reality. We’ve witnessed an alarming rise in voter suppression, with strategic plans underway to suppress voters of color and, at worst, steal the vote during this election.
The uphill climb is steep, as many factors already stand in the way of communities of color:
- Making voter registration more difficult and barring returning citizens from voting.
- Misinformation through robo-calls.
- Purging of votes, with between 16-17 million U.S. voters having their voter’s registration canceled between 2016 and 2018.
- Moving or decreasing polling stations.
- Intimidating actions that create a hostile environment for voters.
For decades, Black, Latino and Native American voters remained disenfranchised by discriminatory practices. Although many of the practices that stemmed from the state’s territorial era have ceased to exist, new ones have taken their place. This discrimination must be quashed and we must call for an end to any and all legislation that produces racial discrimination at the polls.
Nothing diminishes the rule of law and our democracy more than systematic disenfranchisement. Mass purges of voter rolls; voter ID laws; cuts to early voting; limited voting sites. All these tactics paved the way to intimidation tactics and long lines today. They’re a direct threat to the inclusion of our most vulnerable citizens, particularly Black voters, who’ve been disenfranchised time and time again.
But we’re not powerless — even those of us in states where voter suppression is deeply rooted can work together to protect every voter and every vote.
My faith compels me to act. Denying the right to vote is an assault on our dignity. It also assaults our core belief in Imago Dei, that every person is made in the image of God. It’s my calling to step in when my community has their basic, God-given right to vote stripped away. That’s what inspired me to get involved with Lawyers and Collars and volunteer on Election Day.
I, along with other “election protection chaplains,” will be at the polls to provide moral and legal support. We believe the words of Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
As both a Christian and an African American, I have an obligation and moral responsibility to ensure that policies bring us closer to achieving our vision where all people experience compassion, equality and justice. It’s an imperative that we all do our part to keep democracy alive in America — let’s vote, protect our vote and reclaim our rights.
