The Responsibility of Privilege
The people who marched at Selma didn’t have the privilege of waiting for a candidate who “inspired” them.
If you’re like me and in the under 40 crowd, you might have noticed an interesting phenomenon on your social media feed. Every few days I seem to find a different acquaintance who, having previously decided to sit this election out, is now asking their peers “can I really bring myself to vote for Joe Biden?” In my circle, these people range from anti-Biden progressives to more centrist Republicans and those who have open contempt for the two party system. Of course, there’s no mystery as to the reason for such a shift. In just the last month we’ve seen a presidential debate turn into a national embarrassment, a white house brought to its knees by the same virus that is once again ravaging the nation, and the attempted kidnapping of a United States Governor by a far-right militia. Even in a dumpster fire of a year like 2020, it’s not hard to see why such chaos would cause many to reexamine their positions. But, for all the soul searching I see, there remains an understandable hesitancy, especially from those on the younger side, to cast a ballot for a candidate who they feel doesn’t truly represent them. It’s moments like this that I’m surprised I don’t hear more marginalized and less privileged groups shouting “welcome to our world!” As a Palestinian-American, virtually every national election gives me the unenviable task of choosing between two candidates who are all too happy to wash their hands of my people and the issues that galvanize us. Seriously, can you think of any major candidate who has ever been accused of pandering to the Arab vote? But rather than discuss the politics of my own group, a subject which never ceases to be divisive, let’s talk about some individuals who, even in our increasingly divided times, most Americans still regard as heroes.
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A History Lesson
In March of 1965, roughly 25,000 people marched over 50 miles from Selma Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery. They were tear-gassed, beaten by officers in riot gear, and attacked by police dogs. Thousands were arrested. Several died. Students are often taught that this predominantly African-American group was simply marching for the realization of the right to vote which had been granted to them almost 100 years prior by the 15th amendment. They had to face the hard reality that rights guaranteed by a piece of paper do not always translate to rights in practice. These marches largely lead to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; an act that a conservative majority in the Supreme court has taken it upon themselves to dismantle.
One thing which is rarely discussed are some of the elections that these people were ostensibly marching for the right to vote in. Among the most consequential was the Alabama gubernatorial election of 1966. Voters were presented with two choices: On one side was Democrat Lurleen Wallace, the wife of George Wallace, perhaps the most famous segregationist in our country’s history. Lurleen was essentially running as a proxy for her husband because Alabama did not allow consecutive terms at the time. Her opponent was Republican James D. Martin who…brace yourself…was ALSO an ardent segregationist. Martin had even condemned the Selma marches themselves and called Dr. Martin Luther King “a rabble rouser…whose actions have repeatedly resulted in violence, injury, and death.” Just let that sink in for a moment. Those who marched were rewarded with a choice between continuing the reign of George Wallace, the man who famously said, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!” and supporting a man who victim-blamed these same non-violent protesters for being brutalized by police and the KKK.
The senate race between John Sparkman and John Grenier was also an exercise in terrible options. Both men were outspoken segregationists and opposed to civil rights. Republican John Grenier is notable for previously campaigning for Barry Goldwater and implementing the “Southern Strategy,” in which Republicans utilized racist arguments to appeal to white Democrats frustrated over the dismantling of Jim Crow laws. Both candidates didn’t simply hold racist views in the abstract. They had both voted and taken other actions to actively stymie any form of progress for people of color. Every time I hear a person of my generation say that a candidate doesn’t “inspire” them, I can’t imagine what they might do if asked to choose between people who hold them in such contempt.
My Palestinian mother doesn’t have to imagine. She’s had the honor of hearing Joe Biden, a man she’s committed to voting for, brag that he won’t be “letting Palestinians off the hook.” Many LGBT individuals also don’t need the benefit of imagination after decades of voting in elections in which the only options were people who opposed their right to marry, to serve openly in the military, or sometimes to simply be in the presence of children. But let’s get back to the Selma marchers.
How should we view these civil rights heroes? Here we have thousands of people who fought and died for the right to choose between candidates who did not represent them and certainly did not care about them. Did they know this would be the case? Of course they did, unless one believes that Dr. King, John Lewis, and so many others in the movement were hopelessly naive and ill-informed. Wallace, Martin, Sparkman, and Grenier were all fixtures in Alabama politics with records of doing everything in their power to disenfranchise people of color. The Selma marchers put their lives on the line with no illusions that winning this one battle would solve the numerous inequalities they faced. They had been fighting for generations and were well aware that this was a bridge which would be built one brick at a time. Perhaps more importantly, they understood that their votes were not for a person but rather for a direction; for the hope that one day the US would live up to the promises its founders made when they claimed that “all men are created equal.” Simply put, they didn’t have the privilege of waiting for ideal candidates.
The P-word
Many of my friends get upset when I suggest that sitting out of an election is a form of privilege. But given the state of our country, I don’t think any of us should allow ourselves the luxury of taking offense rather than taking action. Privilege comes in many forms and it’s time we started viewing it as a responsibility — a tool that comes with an obligation to be used in service of those who are not afforded it. People my age were born too late to participate in the civil rights movement so we’d be forgiven for thinking that this struggle is a thing of the past. Yet we should remember that people of color are once again fighting for the very same rights that thousands marched for in Selma. In 2013, the Supreme court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights act that required states to receive pre-clearance before enacting laws that would make it more difficult for people of color to vote. Since this decision we have seen voter suppression efforts run rampant in many states. Perhaps none was more egregious than the 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial election in which Republican Brian Kemp, the then secretary of state, refused to recuse himself from overseeing the very election he was running in. He proceeded to close polling places in predominantly African American neighborhoods and purged millions of people of color from the voting rolls. Kemp’s opponent Stacy Abrams didn’t mince words when she said that this kind of suppression was the new Jim Crow.
For all those who are looking for something to inspire them, I suggest that you need look no further than this very same issue which has been at the heart of so much conflict since our nation’s founding. The supreme court was able to gut the voting rights act even with a fairly balanced slate of justices. Since then, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnel have managed to pack the court with two new judges and they are on the verge of stealing a third seat. What other protections do you think that this new court might feel emboldened to strip away with such a majority? What other groups, beyond people of color, will find themselves suddenly without the rights that so many take for granted? Given that the COVID pandemic and police brutality disproportionately affect minority communities, so many of the disenfranchised are once again fighting for not only their rights but for their very lives.
As a young Palestinian-American, born in the US and light-skinned enough to pass as white, my life has been infinitely more privileged than so many others who have tried to carve out a life for themselves in the United States. Regardless of our political affiliation, those of us who have grown up in more equal times should recognize that we have the opportunity to not only be on the right side of history but to use our privilege for the good of others. If that isn’t reason enough to vote then I’ll give one more: Many people of color have had their votes suppressed by “use it or lose it” laws that purge people from the voting rolls if they’ve missed a few elections. As we watch while democratic norms are destroyed and new wars are waged against women’s, LGBTQ, and immigrant’s rights, we would all do well to think of these laws. Because if we don’t use our privilege, we may well lose it.
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