Opinion

The wrong side of democracy, history

Posted January 20, 2022 12:00 am

In her Jan. 14 column, Debra Saunders disparages Biden for equating Republicans defending new state laws restricting voting to George Wallace and Bull Connor.

Let's apply the Duck Test: if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

Republicans passed these laws immediately after Biden won due to record Black turnouts.

Wallace and Connor fought Black voting unabashedly. Republicans today fight Black voting insidiously, hidden among provisions of laws that purport to make voting fairer.

As an ex-Texan who still has his receipt from the state's last poll tax, it was obvious to all at the time that the reason for collecting it was not for the official rationale of providing the state with revenue, but to stop poor Blacks from voting.

And it should be obvious to all today that the real reason for the new laws is the same - to stop poor Blacks from voting.

So yes, the aims of Republicans defending the new laws are no different from those of Bull and his ilk, and both groups are on the wrong side of democracy, morality and history.

Darold Barnum

Oak Park

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