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Black voter registration effort launched at ‘Black Panther’ screenings
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Gertabelle
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There also seems to be this assumption that Black Panther is the only movie showing at a given theater, and that the only people attending are black folks.
Sheesh.
People may have been motivated by the fact that more African-Americans will be attending this movie than – I don’t know – Peter Rabbit, but there will be people of plenty of races (and other demographic boxes) at the movies on any given day.
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JetteZ
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No, it’s not. Racism is defined by the belief that one race is superior to another.
Racism - prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior or the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
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niceatheist
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We could start with agreement that getting minorities to vote more frequently than they do would be a good thing, and that voter drives that target historically underrepresented groups isn’t some violation of the “white people”.Gertabelle:
And that’s why I said it would have to be developed
We need some common ground.
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niceatheist
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Frank Zappa used to do voter registrations at his shows, and it would be hard to imagine a more diverse group of people than Zappa fans. Zappa himself could best be pegged as Libertarian, though his views were more nuanced (and well thought out, in my view) than that, and what he believed, so far as voting goes, was that it was a citizen’s obligation, however they chose to vote.
But even if this is a drive targeted at African-American audiences, so what? There’s nothing racist about targeted voter drives, whether that be by race, ethnicity or poverty or however you choose to carve it up. No one is saying African -Americans are superior to other peoples, they’re just saying more African-Americans should vote.
But even if this is a drive targeted at African-American audiences, so what? There’s nothing racist about targeted voter drives, whether that be by race, ethnicity or poverty or however you choose to carve it up. No one is saying African -Americans are superior to other peoples, they’re just saying more African-Americans should vote.
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Rhubarb
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Maybe? Voting registration drives are used by both parties. If the local county republican office is doing the drive I wouldn’t expect them to force a democratic pitch. If the democrats want to up their rolls, they can do their own drive.
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Theo520
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I don’t see any objection increased participation by informed minorities.
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niceatheist
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Informed voters is nice, but that’s not a requirement of actually casting a ballot, so why insert that here?
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Theo520
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I thought I was being clear, why do you have an objection.
Are you a fan of voters acting upon fake news?
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exnihilo
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That article doesn’t support your claim. It supports a registration for all people who like Chick-fil-A. Plenty of Black folks like Chick-fil-A. It wasn’t a White person voter registration.
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exnihilo
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No assumptions here. There is however the stated purpose of registering Black voters. It is targeting a race.
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exnihilo
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So to be clear you’d support specifically targeting Whites to register? You’d not think a group who does that is racist? You’d support any such efforts?
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Gertabelle
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Well then, I guess I just don’t care if a group targets a particular race. Obviously it offends you. Guess you’re just out of luck then on this one.Gertabelle:
No assumptions here. There is however the stated purpose of registering Black voters. It is targeting a race.
Don’t worry, I promise you I will be offended by something else at another time that you find perfectly acceptable, or even good.
And we carry on – time to be salt and light in the world I’m actually living in.
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exnihilo
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I thoughts we were supposed to oppose racism. It seems we only oppose some racism.
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niceatheist
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I don’t think you’re being clear at all. You’re putting a qualifier on it, and the only reason I can think to do that is the hope that those who don’t agree with your views are less likely to show up at the polls.niceatheist:
I thought I was being clear, why do you have an objection.
Are you a fan of voters acting upon fake news?
People vote for a particular candidate for all manner of reasons; some good, some bad, some relatively neutral. But at least a person voting for a candidate, even if the reasons are bad or misinformed, is making their voice (no matter how dubious) heard in the most fundamental way anyone in a democracy can.
To me “informed” is just a weasel word for justifying some sort of voter suppression or discouragement.
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Gertabelle
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Well, dear, you and I do not agree on the definition of racism in this case. You see racism here, and I don’t.Gertabelle:
I thoughts we were supposed to oppose racism. It seems we only oppose some racism.
I read your posts and I disagree with your point of view on this matter. I am neither a bad person, nor a racist, nor lacking in basic intelligence. I attend mass on a regular basis, donate to my parish weekly, go to confession once or twice a month, and pray the LoTH daily. I assume from reading your posts over the years, that you can say the same and more.
But we disagree… and will likely continue to do so on this topic.
And so I’m moving on – need to continue with house-cleaning and real life activities. I’m neither going to the movies nor registering people to vote today, so I need to move on.
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niceatheist
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The problem here is that the term has co-opted by white nationalists and the like. The word never meant “any recognition of race or ethnicity is bad”, it meant poor treatment of someone based on race or ethnicity is bad. But white nationalists don’t want that, because part of the cause celebre is make white people the victims of some vast plot to bring them down. It’s really a slightly sanitized version of the same old racist goonery that drove the KKK, white supremacists and other such groups for decades. It’s “whitewashed” white supremacy.
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JetteZ
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It would greatly depend on the motivation behind the registration. Since, as of the latest statistics I could easily find, show that non-Hispanic whites make up 69.9% of registered voters it would be difficult to have a predominately “for whites” registration that wouldn’t be racist. Racism requires a belief in superiority; if you already have a demonstrable superiority in the ability to cast a ballot (as the voter registration clearly indicates that whites do) then for what reason would you want to increase the advantage that wasn’t for a belief in actual racial superiority?
However, it’s not impossible. If, for example, there was a voter registration at a screening of a Clueless or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off remake; I wouldn’t see it as an issue because although (I am guessing) the turnout for those movies would be predominately white the focus on registration would be on increasing political activism by a younger set of white Americans who, historically, do not vote as much as older white Americans.
However, it’s not impossible. If, for example, there was a voter registration at a screening of a Clueless or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off remake; I wouldn’t see it as an issue because although (I am guessing) the turnout for those movies would be predominately white the focus on registration would be on increasing political activism by a younger set of white Americans who, historically, do not vote as much as older white Americans.
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exnihilo
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It’s the old only Whites can be racist. That of course is itself racist.
And the motivation here is to favor one race. It is to target one race and register members of that race.
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Theo520
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I think people have likewise always disliked uninformed people voting, but I certainly don’t object. That’s just how democracies work. Again, my statement is accurate in describing how people feel, right or wrong in those feelings.
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