One Man's Opinion: Re-Writing the Rules, Re-Writing Our History

Checks and Balances – re-defined

In what will likely be a watershed moment of this decade, in April 2009 the Supreme Court opined that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 did not have absolute constitutionality. In other words – it’s up for debate.

Here’s the background: Section 5 of the VRA of 1965 mandates that certain states, counties, and municipalities have to get pre-clearance from the federal government before taking specific actions – like re-drawing district lines (called gerrymandering) or making changes to voting regulations. Section 5 was designed to prevent emergence of new laws akin to Jim Crow. The states where Section 5 binds 100% of the counties include AZ, TX, LA, MS, AL, MS, GA, SC, and VA – for obvious reasons. In addition, there are several counties in FL, NC, CA, SD, and NH that must adhere to this rule. Some sections of the VRA were written into law with an expiration date, and have had to be renewed many times since 1965. The last renewal came in 2006 when GW Bush extended the Act for another 25 years.

Recently, a case challenging Section 5 was brought by the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District. They argued that Section 5 was not applicable in their case for several reasons. Among them were “Obama was elected President, so mission accomplished for the VRA” and “the Northwest Austin MUD has never been sued and/or found guilty of voter suppression.”

The outcome was an 8-1 decision by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reversed the lower-court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of Section 5. Justice Clarence Thomas, in a lone dissent, argued that Section 5 is no longer constitutional. In other words, as far as Justice Thomas is concerned, the US doesn’t need Section 5 anymore. So now the precedent is set. Counties can now begin gerrymandering in their districts and adjusting voting regulations without the oversight of the federal government or the checks and balances of Section 5. If challenged, they’ll just sue the government and leverage this precedent to make it happen. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to predict where this goes.

History is a Great Teacher (or, at least it used to be)

Another issue is a recent debate taken up by the Texas Board of Education (in Austin, TX). Each year, the board meets to review curricula and standards for classroom instruction across Texas. This process often includes independent, outside experts hired by the board to make recommendations.

This year, recommendations were made for the history curriculum to re-move or significantly de-emphasize references to many pivotal figures who have represented “liberal” ideas. The two most note-worthy names in question are Thurgood Marshall and Cesar Chavez. The experts argue that “promoting” the works of these advocates of social justice somehow gets in the way of the conservative agenda to promote American exceptionalism. Moreover, they want to promote Christianity as an overall force for righteousness in America’s history. In contrast, the experts suggested more emphasis on Sam Houston – a key figure in Texas history who, by the way, was also a slave-owner and documented opponent of abolitionism. Righteous.

Although teachers ultimately have the last word on what gets included in their day-to-day lesson plans, they are strongly encouraged to stick to the curriculum script. Publishers of textbooks, on the other hand, have even less latitude. The Texas market is very big, and publishers will adopt most editing suggestions from state education boards almost verbatim to ensure their business and reduce the costs of multiple textbook versions.

Can you see what is happening here? Can you see how things are beginning to slowly align? What was once old is new again. A famous quote that comes to mind is, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. “ Another way to say it is “Those allowed to re-write our history are empowered to write our future.”

My simple call to action is this: Stay informed, hold our elected leaders accountable, ask tough questions, take it personal, and get involved.

If you think we've crossed into a post-racial society simply because of the 2008 election, you're sadly mistaken. The same catalyst that has awakened the possibilities in the minds of US minorities has awakened the fears of the entitled and privileged. Just take a look at the following examples.

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