Supreme Court voter ID ruling steeped in history of willful negligence

When I read on my cell phone this morning that the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling supported the state of Indiana's law that requires voters to present either a driver's license or passport in order to vote, I got a cold chill down my spine.

On the surface, it seems like a pretty reasonable ruling: folks need to prove who they are when they go to vote to avoid potential voter fraud. The reality is that what is reasonable for many white collar and blue collar voters is not so reasonable for those invisible Americans who have not earned that amorphous  moniker of "middle class".

These invisible souls are our country's poorest citizens who do not travel internationally (and thus, do no have passports) and who often cannot afford to own cars, the insurance on them or the gas in them (and thus, are far less likely to have a driver's license).

The fact that this quietly pernicious law may become federal law one day if Democrats capitulate is one matter of concern. The other is how this may impact next month's Indiana Democratic primary (and elections beyond this season) is quite another, given that the poor tend to be disproportionately Black and Democratic.

All this aside, the shudder of dread I felt when reading about this ruling came not from what may yet come, but what has already been inflicted on generations of marginalized Americans before and after the 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

In today's Washington Post article on this subject, reporter Robert Barnes quotes Justice Stevens as follows:

Stevens noted that it is "fair" to infer that "partisan considerations may have played a significant role" in Indiana's decision to pass the law.

"But if a nondiscriminatory law is supported by valid neutral justifications, those justifications should not be disregarded simply because partisan interests may have provided one motivation for the votes of individual legislators," he wrote.

"Valid neutral justifications".

As a genealogist, family historian, student of history and scion of enslaved Americans, an image immediately came to mind: that of letter my great aunt Mary showed me that was addressed to my great-great grandfather, Abraham Miller of Louisivlle, Kentucky, who was denied his Civil War veteran's pension despite having served honorably, and having attained the rank of sergeant, because he could not produce his birth certificate.

Clearly, to ensure that the U.S. treasury's funds were not depleted due to mass fraud by undeserving individuals claiming to have served in the Civil War, this measure was a "valid neutral justification".

The problem? My ancestor was the property of his White uncle, Dr. Warrick Miller, from whom he inherited his surname, a quarter of his DNA, and the grave disadvantage of being born Black in America.

Sgt. Miller was denied his due as one of over 200,000 Black soldiers who served in the Civil War because while he was given the "privilege" to serve his country, no such privilege was conferred to him as a veteran when seeking the promised remuneration he so desperately needed as an infirmed husband and father of nine.

He could not produce a birth certificate because he was born into slavery, and official birth certificates were not issued to human chattel in Kentucky or elsewhere in antebellum America. The policy requiring birth certificates for veterans' pensions was a much higher standard than what was required to give one's life to save the union. This was not by accident; it was by design. And there's nothing neutral about that. His government willfully neglected him because he was Black, less-than, other, powerless. Veteran or not, he did not count (anymore). He was disposable like the lives and rights of today's poor.

My ancestor died a miserable death and in poverty right before the outbreak of World War I, exacerbated by the "valid neutral justifications" of the government for which he fought.

Indeed, there are "partisan" motivations, as Justice Stevens so graciously concedes, and then there are the long shadows of evil that have cast darkness on the systemic injustices these so-called "neutral" laws & policies will not soon address, let alone cure.

So-called neutrality cannot continue to be the presumptive default for laws and public policy in a nation with such persistent inequality; such measures must be reparatory, equitable and most of all, humane.

Comments

[Robert in California]

As a fellow African American genealogist, I know the feeling of disgust when finding records as you did. It is truly an insult to fight for so-called freedom and have it denied in pension and in fact.

[Ross Cairn]

No doubt that it's an unconstitutional and shitty piece of legislation. It's the equivalent of a poll tax. In essence, if someone wants to vote in the backwards state of Indiana now, they have to pay a fee to the state to acquire and maintain a driver license or pay a federal fee to get a passport. It's patently unconstitutional.

[roman thomas]

Just read your comment. Did you know that not only is your comment ridiculous, to say it's unwarranted to ask for ID. Just go to your local city hall and get one. But it's wrong. Did you know there is more whites than blacks that live below the poverty line in Indiana. And since uneducated whites are more inclined to vote for Clinton than Obama by a wide margin, that throws a wrench in your theory.

[claire]

i'm ignorant of the voting laws in other states, but in the states that i've voted in (michigan and california) ID (birth certificate and/or state-issued ID) is required to REGISTER to vote.

if this is true of other states, then i don't see the problem with requiring people to show ID before voting, since they've already proven that they possess IDs when registering.

is this not the case in other states?

[rawdawgbuffalo]

they been talking about this for 3 yrs and it still aint over

[Ron Howell]

The story of your ancestor being denied his pension is extremely meaningful and compelling, and deserves fuller attention on its own. Lest the nation succeeds in casting a shadow over that period (and maybe even all that sprung from it.)

Ron Howell
(http://www.brooklynron.com)