Paper Bag Princess

 

 

 

Voter suppression today

Leonardo suggests the unfairness in race relations when he introduces the idea that, "The experience of people of color is akin to walking down the street having your money taken from your pocket." (Leonardo, 2004)

Though we can literally see this happen with the poll tax, any voter suppression is likely to disproportionately affect African Americans. Blatant attempts such as we have seen take more than money from someone's pocket. By denying citizens a vote, their political capitol is being stolen and it still happens today. Watch the video to find out how voter I.D. laws are preventing some people from voting.

1965 Alabama Literacy Test

Before you start keep in mind that I only included 35 questions.  The original test has 68.  You could also be given as little as 10 minutes to complete it.

Click here to see if you are literate enough to vote.

I don't want to take a test.  I do however want to see an example of a crazy confusing test that could not have possibly been designed for anyone to pass.

Pay to play

In the South, two big obstacles to voting up until the passage of the Voting rights act were poll taxes and tests.  Poll taxes were a fee everyone had to pay in order to vote.  

Though the fee was applied to everyone, according to Brooker (2012), it would have been around $25-$50 in today's money.  That would have been enough to make voting too expensive for poor whites and many blacks.  Even if you were an African American who could easily afford the money, in many places you had the extra obstacle of...

...a literacy test.

Segragation isn't just for schools

Throughout this whirlwind semester we have been focused on ableism, disability, and exclusion.  It's gotten me thinking how we will only have these kids for a brief time and then eventually they go out into the world.

I feel I have a realistic attitude towards race.  I agree with Reid and Knight when they say, "What serves to perpetuate oppression, then, are widespread conceptions and attitudes about race, class, gender, and disability and the attendant ideologies that shape these systems of (dis)advantage". (Reid & Knight, 2006)

As part of my research over this summer I read up on voter suppression.  It makes sense that this pattern of segregation that starts in school continues outside the classroom.  Since one of the best ways to oppress a people is to take away their voice, I thought it would be a good idea to look at how African Americans have been denied the vote in the past.

Though we are working hard to promote inclusion, discrimination is still prevalent.  We will also take a look at how voter suppression manifests itself today.

Mary Cowhey has this to say about voting, "...thousands of people fought for the right to vote for years and...many died in that struggle because the vote is powerful and because exercising it en masse does threaten the status quo." (Cowhey, 2006)

With that, I invite you to travel back in time and see how that right was sometimes based on your ability to pay...

Out for a walk

In an attempt to see what messages we are exposed to day in and day out I took a walk with my kids.  Below is the path we took.  For about 1/2 the walk we stayed in the park until we got to Dyckman St.

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Scroll down to see what we saw, or rather what we pass by on a regular basis without a second thought.

Taped all about the window are prices to various locals.  The character of the neighborhood is reflected with signs for Mexico, Panama, San Juan and Bogota.  The big attention grabber though and the ones my kids look at is Mickey Mouse.

The smaller photos on the shelves behind the window are also of European looking women.

 

                     

The images that we pass don't give any hint that the
neighborhood is 72% Hispanic.  That includes Hispanics that are white, brown and black.  There is another 6% that are non-Hispanic African American yet the majority of ads contain non ethnic people.

                   Though I know anyone can use them, I have always associated hair extensions with African American hair.

I don't know what is more depressing.  That we are all constantly bombarded with these messages of physical perfection or that I'm actually looking forward to some of these stores opening.


To be sure, these messages are not calling for anyone's destruction, but does that make them any more proper?  They may not be illegal, but are they immoral?  Every day kids pass by all these images and see even more on television.  Intolerance is not being actively advertised, but by constantly showing children images that do not match their story, it's certainly not being combated?  Getting a doll that matches a child's ethnicity is a start, but is it good enough?  What can we do to better recognize these almost invisible sources of influence and how can we protect ourselves from being mislead?

These are big questions that have been asked over and over again.  I can't hope to answer them.  I can however still enjoy the time honored inner city tradition of playing at an open fire hydrant, society hasn't stopped that yet.  Though I can't recall the last time I saw an open hydrant in the Village, or the Upper East Side, or Battery Park City...uh oh.

Zip code 10034

When you are done absorbing the racial breakdown of the neighborhood click here.

Population: 38,908

Media income: $41,171

Foreign born: 20,473

Below poverty level: 25.8%

Race                 %

Hispanic         72.2

White             17.8

Black               6.3

Asian               2.1

Other               1.6