The impending presidential election has amplified concerns about racial discrimination, providing a stark contrast between how progressive we believe our society has become versus how inclusive we truly are. Recent news of racism at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and voter ID laws in the south has reopened the conversation about the role race plays in our society, a debate which will likely continue for many years going forward.
At the RNC, CNN camerawoman Patricia Carroll was the target of two attendees, who threw a bag of peanuts at her and said, "This is what we feed animals."
Carroll commented on the ordeal, saying "This is Florida, and I'm from the Deep South...You come to places like this, you can count the black people on your hand. They see us doing things they don't think I should do."
"People were living in euphoria for a while," she added. "People think we've gone further than we have."
Carroll made sure to reinforce that the incident was not a political one, but rather a pervasive social issue that could have very well occurred at a Democratic convention as well.
While Carroll was careful to distance her racially charged experience from politics, a new voter ID law in Texas is intimately tied to the election process. The law, which would require voters to bring photo identification with them to place their ballots, has been under fire for the notion that it would directly exclude a disproportionate amount of African American and Hispanic voters from casting their vote, a group that proved instrumental in Obama's election in 2008.
The law, which was signed by Governor Rick Perry last year, failed to be approved by the Justice Department, who expressed concern about its negative impact on minority voting rights. Texas followed up this decision by suing the department. On Thursday, a three-judge panel in the federal court effectively blocked the law. One such Judge, David S. Tatel stated that Texas's argument that the law did not target minorities was "unpersuasive, invalid, or both."
According to the Washington Post, Texas is covered by what is called the Section 5 of Voting Rights Act, which requires federal oversight for any changes to voting requirements in states that have had "a history of discrimination."
Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott argues that voting requirements are needed to prevent voter fraud and further legitimize the election process.
"Today's decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana-and were upheld by the Supreme Court," said Abbott.