Black voter registration effort launched at ‘Black Panther’ screenings

[Inisfallen]

No assumptions here. There is however the stated purpose of registering Black voters. It is targeting a race.

It’s targeting the people who go to this movie. The vast majority of those people will be white, given the demographics of the US, and the people who go see comic book movies.

But even if that were not true, I really don’t have any objection to a voter registration effort that targets a particular group. I’ve seen voter registration drives at Catholic churches, for example, and Catholics are by and large white and Hispanic in this country. African-Americans tend to be Protestant.

Big deal.

 

[niceatheist]

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.

My chief problem here is the very word is “informed” is loaded. What “informed” might constitute for, say, a white conservative voter could be quite different than say, an African-American liberal voter, and different again from a Libertarian voter. The whole concept of “informed” looks to be rather subjective. There are people on this forum that pretty much view anyone who votes Democrat to be, at best, uninformed, if not an outright enabler of evil, so that brings up the other problem, who would judge who is “informed”?

 

[Theo520]

My chief problem here is the very word is “informed” is loaded. What “informed” might constitute for, say, a white conservative voter could be quite different than say, an African-American liberal voter, and different again from a Libertarian voter. The whole concept of “informed” looks to be rather subjective. There are people on this forum that pretty much view anyone who votes Democrat to be, at best, uninformed, if not an outright enabler of evil, so that brings up the other problem, who would judge who is “informed”?

I realize it’s subjective, but that’s how people are. I wasn’t saying it was right, or justified.

 

[Inisfallen]

And the motivation here is to favor one race.

It’s not “favoring” one race, since nobody is getting any special benefit. All they’re getting is the ability to vote, which is equally available to you.

 

[niceatheist]

exnihilo:

And the motivation here is to favor one race.

It’s not “favoring” one race, since nobody is getting any special benefit. All they’re getting is the ability to vote, which is equally available to you.

I think in some peoples’ eyes, minority voters voting probably represents a special interest getting a leg up.

 

[Arkansan]

Seriously, voter registration – encouraging people to get involved and have their voices heard through their votes – is a very, very good thing whether it’s at a grocery store, a movie theater, or the city and county building.

What possible good could come from registering people who don’t care enough to get registered on their own?

 

[Inisfallen]

What possible good could come from registering people who don’t care enough to get registered on their own?

Every voter wasn’t registered, until they were. It doesn’t matter how they got registered.

Unless you’re saying that there should be some sort of hurdle to be overcome to vote. Like, say, a poll tax.

 

[niceatheist]

Gertabelle:

Seriously, voter registration – encouraging people to get involved and have their voices heard through their votes – is a very, very good thing whether it’s at a grocery store, a movie theater, or the city and county building.

What possible good could come from registering people who don’t care enough to get registered on their own?

They get a say, as is their right. Why would you want to prevent them? And really, what business is it of yours?

 

[Arkansan]

Unless you’re saying that there should be some sort of hurdle to be overcome to vote. Like, say, a poll tax.

Yes. Why on Earth shouldn’t there be hurdles to overcome to vote?

Arkansan:

Gertabelle:

Seriously, voter registration – encouraging people to get involved and have their voices heard through their votes – is a very, very good thing whether it’s at a grocery store, a movie theater, or the city and county building.

What possible good could come from registering people who don’t care enough to get registered on their own?

They get a say, as is their right. Why would you want to prevent them? And really, what business is it of yours?

They don’t have a right to have others go out of their way to get them registered. It’s my (and everyone’s) concern since they are likely to vote irresponsibly, and thereby negatively impact the common good.

 

[Inisfallen]

They don’t have a right to have others go out of their way to get them registered. It’s my (and everyone’s) concern since they are likely to vote irresponsibly, and thereby negatively impact the common good.

One, nobody is saying that moviegoers, black or otherwise, have some special right to have someone go out of their way to get them registered.

However, anyone has a right to go out and help people register.

As to being “likely to vote irresponsibly,” I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. Who is likely to vote irresponsibly? Comic book fans? Movie-goers? African-Americans?

 

[Arkansan]

Who is likely to vote irresponsibly?

People who haven’t bothered to go to the trouble of registering.

 

[Inisfallen]

Like I said, everyone is unregistered until they are.

At a comic book movie, you’re going to get a lot of 18 year olds who just became eligible. This may be the first time the opportunity presents itself. Hey, maybe they were going down to the courthouse next week, right? But here’s somebody with the forms.

I think any and all voter registration drives are an excellent thing.

 

[niceatheist]

They don’t have a right to have others go out of their way to get them registered.

Of course they have that right.

It’s my (and everyone’s) concern since they are likely to vote irresponsibly, and thereby negatively impact the common good.

And? What if they do? It’s a right that all citizens possess, whether they use it the way you want or not. And anyone has the right to encourage any citizen to register to vote. It’s just too bad for you if those new voters may vote the way you don’t like.

 

[Arkansan]

Hey, maybe they were going down to the courthouse next week, right?

Then the people doing the registration drives aren’t having any effect on them. By definition, registration drives effect only people who won’t go to the trouble of registering on their own.

I think any and all voter registration drives are an excellent thing.

Again, why?

And? What if they do? It’s a right that all citizens possess, whether they use it the way you want or not. And anyone has the right to encourage any citizen to register to vote. It’s just too bad for you if those new voters may vote the way you don’t like.

The fact that you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

 

[Inisfallen]

They don’t have a right to have others go out of their way to get them registered. It’s my (and everyone’s) concern since they are likely to vote irresponsibly, and thereby negatively impact the common good.

Look, we’d all like to restrict voting to those who will vote the same way we do.

But that’s not how it works. Every adult citizen has the right to vote. That’s all, end of story, there is no more.

It doesn’t matter where they filled out the form.

 

[niceatheist]

niceatheist:

And? What if they do? It’s a right that all citizens possess, whether they use it the way you want or not. And anyone has the right to encourage any citizen to register to vote. It’s just too bad for you if those new voters may vote the way you don’t like.

The fact that you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

And that’s for each registered voter to decide in the voting booth.

There is nothing with registration drives. They’ve been done for many years. There’s nothing wrong with minorities registering to vote. There’s nothing with minorities voting. There’s nothing wrong with them voting the way you or I do not approve of or think appropriate. Perhaps, rather than trying to discourage minorities from voting, you should put some effort into convincing them that your political views are the right views for them.

You know, that whole democracy thing.

 

[Gertabelle]

Gertabelle:

Seriously, voter registration – encouraging people to get involved and have their voices heard through their votes – is a very, very good thing whether it’s at a grocery store, a movie theater, or the city and county building.

What possible good could come from registering people who don’t care enough to get registered on their own?

This is probably completely disrespectful of me, but I just can’t help laughing at the absurdity of your comments about this.

The first time I registered to vote was when I was walking to lunch in between classes my freshman year of college. A group of young men and women were walking around with clipboards offering us the opportunity to register right then and there.

I thought they were doing me a favor. Guess I should have punched the young man in the nose and gotten my friends to beat the cr** out of him and his cronies.

How dare they make registering to vote easy and convenient! The nerve of some people!

…

…

 

[Arkansan]

Arkansan:

They don’t have a right to have others go out of their way to get them registered. It’s my (and everyone’s) concern since they are likely to vote irresponsibly, and thereby negatively impact the common good.

Look, we’d all like to restrict voting to those who will vote the same way we do.

But that’s not how it works. Every adult citizen has the right to vote. That’s all, end of story, there is no more.

It doesn’t matter where they filled out the form.

You’ve not made any argument for why registration drives are a good thing.

Everyone has a right in this country to speak their mind, that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to encourage people to speak about things they don’t understand. Likewise with voting.

One difference between voting and speech though, is that people can ignore speech by people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

Arkansan:

niceatheist:

And? What if they do? It’s a right that all citizens possess, whether they use it the way you want or not. And anyone has the right to encourage any citizen to register to vote. It’s just too bad for you if those new voters may vote the way you don’t like.

The fact that you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

And that’s for each registered voter to decide in the voting booth.

There is nothing with registration drives. They’ve been done for many years. There’s nothing wrong with minorities registering to vote. There’s nothing with minorities voting. There’s nothing wrong with them voting the way you or I do not approve of or think appropriate. Perhaps, rather than trying to discourage minorities from voting, you should put some effort into convincing them that your political views are the right views for them.

You know, that whole democracy thing.

You have failed to make any argument for why this set up is a good thing.

 

[dixieagle]

How dare they make registering to vote easy and convenient! The nerve of some people!

I think you have reached the heart of the matter here. Some folks would just prefer that it be difficult for people who may not vote the same way they would to register.

Voter registration efforts are held at all sorts of places, all the time, and this is no different. There is nothing whatsoever racist about it; if the folks doing the registering start turning away white folks - who will make up a considerable portion of the audience for this movie - then we’ll talk.

 

[niceatheist]

You have failed to make any argument for why this set up is a good thing.

The point is I do not have to. These people are American citizens, and they have a right to cast their vote, and other American citizens have a right to try to convince them to register to vote. There’s no “good idea” to be justified. It is a basic freedom enjoyed in America and other liberal democracies, and no one has to justify how they vote to you, me, or anyone else. That’s the beauty of it, your opinion on whether those people should vote or not is utterly irrelevant. If they choose to do it, even for motives you don’t approve of or for candidates you don’t approve of the, that’s their right their exercising, and good for them.