Yo… Is This Oppressive?: TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to today’s podcast, my name is Jaylen Johnson, and we’re here to discuss… Yo, Is This Oppressive?

 What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “Voter Suppression?”

• Perhaps you think of limited polling locations in certain neighborhoods
• Maybe you think of voter registration restrictions and strict ID laws
• If you know a thing or two about congressional maps and gerrymandering, you might think about how legislators redraw district lines in favor of their political party

While those are all very real issues affecting a variety of populations across the United States, we’re going to discuss a different focus, a topic that I don’t hear about too much surround the issue of voter suppression.

Before we get started, let’s ask ourselves two important questions.

First,

• Do all U.S. citizens, 18 years of age and older, deserve the right to vote?

Second,

• Are there instances in which the right to vote can justifiably be striped away from a U.S citizen, 18 years of age and older?

Some of us might have to think about that question for a second… “What about those that experience severe mental illness?  Or those that are domestic threats??”

Others might not have to think it over at all “Voting is a birth right regardless of the situation!”

Maybe you’re somewhere in-between, or unsure.

Wherever your thoughts and opinions are, this decision has already been made for millions of Americans. Today, where going to dive deep into the subject of Felony Disenfranchisement, or in other words, voting laws that deprive convicted felons from participating in elections.

Let break down the facts.

• As of 2020, 5.2 million Americans were prohibited from voting due to laws that disenfranchise citizens convicted of felony offenses.
• Of this 5.2 million, 75% of disenfranchised voters (that’s about 2.2 million) have already completed their sentence and live in their communities, either under probation or parole supervision. This means that only 25% of those that cannot vote are actually IN prison

(Chung, 2021)

I’ll add that felony disenfranchisement does vary by state, and over the past few years there have been state governments that have or are attempting to restore voting right to its felons on conditional terms.

So, what do we think about this?

It this fair?

Do certain crimes deem a person incompetent or unworthy of voting?

Can felons be trusted to make good decisions at the polls?

I, for one, wonder how these laws and policies even came about. This whole topic brings up memories from high school American History classes, where we learned about the Jim Crow era and legislators trying to block Black Americans newly won right to vote by enforcing poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers that were nearly impossible to meet.

And that brings my mind to another question: are there certain populations being disproportionately effected by these laws?

We often hear that Black and Hispanic people face harsher sentences than white people for the same offenses, so could felony charges that strip away voting rights be affecting these populations at a higher rate?

Well, a quick Google search answered this question for me. It turns out that communities of color ARE disproportionately being affected. Black Americans of voting age are nearly FOUR TIMES more likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population. (Chung, 2021)

That brings us even more food for thought…

On top of being a debate on the systemic injustice of American voter suppression, is there reason to be concerned about systemic injustice against Black and brown people, specifically?

I’ll let you all answer that for yourselves, but lets get back to the basics.

When a person receives a felony conviction as a result of a crime, we all know that it comes with multiple consequences that ultimately follow a person for years, even after they have served their time in prison; but is the long-term consequence losing ones right to vote in election oppressive?

What is oppression? Let’s look at a few definitions.

• The Webster dictionary defines oppressions as “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power”
• The Cambridge dictionary defines it as “a situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom”
• Or my favorite version, found in the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, states the oppression, is “the social act of placing severe restrictions on an individual, group, or institution. Typically, a government or political organization in power places restrictions formally or covertly on oppressed groups so they may be exploited and less able to compete with other social groups. The oppressed individual or group is devalued, exploited, and deprived of privileges by the individual or group who has more power.

After reviewing the meaning of oppression, lets take a moment to evaluate…

Do we think our government is overstepping their authority by prohibiting a specific population, in this case referring to convicted felons, from voting?

Well, according to the definition, that would mean that the government devalues felons and is using their power to treat felons unjustly, restricting them from having freedoms, all while exploiting this population in doing so.

I was surprised to see the term “exploiting” in one of the definitions of oppression.

This would mean that in saying felons are being oppressed when it comes to voting rights, we also suggesting that they are being taken advantage in a way that benefits our government.

But what could our government benefit from in keeping 5.2 million Americans prohibited from voting?

That’s a heavy question that I’m sure we all have opinions on.

My first thought is, perhaps politicians make assumptions about what political party the majority of felons identify with.

Maybe certain political party’s make the assumption that felons have lower education rates, so would prefer they don’t have an input that could effect their wins.

Or maybe certain political party’s assume that felons are more likely to be poor and vote for more aid and assistance programs.

Maybe there are political parties that assume felons will vote against politicians that support the privatization of prisons after their potential negative personal experiences.

I don’t know what politicians assume, but I do know that 5.2 million votes are A LOT of votes. It’s enough to change the entire course of not only local elections, but national and presidential election results as well. And I also know that, well; exploitation in the name of political gain is nothing new to American.

So, let take it all the way back to our original questions.

• Do all U.S. citizens 18 years of age and older deserve the right to vote?
• Are there instances in which the right to vote can justifiably be striped away from a U.S citizen, 18 years of age and older?

After bouncing all of these thoughts and ideas around, do you find yourself answering these questions differently?

Personally, I believe that once a felon has served their sentence, they should be eligible to vote. I think that felony disenfranchisement is a violation of a person’s inherent right, as well as an example of systemic injustice disproportionately affecting Black people.

I even lean towards giving those still IN prison serving time the right to vote. I mean, laws, policies, and government leaders are still actively affecting their lives too, so why shouldn’t they be voting?

I’m not here to say my opinion is the right opinion, but regardless of your opinion on this matter, it’s necessary that we all stand for what we believe to be just. When we see certain systems or practices that are confusing or don’t sit right with us, it is important to have conversations that explore and educate said issue, even if there is no resolution.

That being said, what do YOU conclude? Is felony disenfranchisement, or in other words, voting laws that deprive convicted felons from participating in elections, a form of systemic injustice that is oppressive?

Feel free to answer this question and share your opinions in the comments.

Thank you for listening.

 

References

Chung, J. (2021, July 28). Voting Rights in the Era of Mass Incarceration: A Primer. The Sentencing Project. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/felony-disenfranchisement-a-primer/