Commentary: Will our elected officials meet this historic moment with integrity?
Americans believe in self-governance — a government of, by and for the people.
Our nation has been moving toward that ideal of freedom and participatory governance for almost 250 years. We, the people, have amended our Constitution repeatedly — expanding the vote to include those who were formerly enslaved, people of every race, women, and 18-year-olds. The Constitution has also been expanded to prohibit poll taxes to ensure that people could participate regardless of their economic means and to provide direct election of U.S. senators.
Congress has been part of this path toward a more democratic government. From the Indian Citizenship Act, the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — and five bills strengthening the latter, all signed by Republican presidents — Congress has moved our country forward.
The arc of our history has been clear: America has steadily moved toward a more inclusive government, a stronger and more representative government-by-the-people.
However, the United States of America is facing one of the most challenging times in our history. Just a year ago, armed insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol, bringing the Confederate flag, a contemporary symbol of racism, into the heart of the people’s government. Since then, Republican legislators in 49 states have filed bills to restrict voting access — and the head of a special-interest “dark money” group has taken credit for writing those bills. Last year, 19 states enacted anti-voter laws — and there are more than 150 anti-voter bills pending in state legislatures now. In other words, the insurrection is not over.
In the past year, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed bills to help protect and strengthen our democracy. Although the U.S. Senate tried to advance major voting rights legislation multiple times last year, all Senate Republicans (with one exception) have used an antiquated rule to block even allowing a public debate about protecting our cherished freedom to vote. Democrats have the power to change that obstructionist rule, but so far, they have not been able to do so.
The rule Senate Republicans have been using, the filibuster, has an undeniably racist past. During the Jim Crow era, it was used repeatedly to block civil rights bills. And since the 2020 election, it’s been used repeatedly to block legislation that would set national standards for voting and repair the damage caused by the state-level anti-voter bills. Contrary to what some senators have asserted, the filibuster does not encourage moderation and collaboration. It does precisely the opposite, as illustrated by the obstructionism of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ala.
The most important voting rights bill in a generation is currently waiting on the floor of the Senate, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act (a combination of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act). There will soon be debate on the bill. But its final fate may depend on whether the Senate’s Democratic majority allows the Republican minority to use that racist procedural rule to block it.
It is shocking that any United States senator would value the preservation of the filibuster over protecting democratic self-government from those who would destroy it. It is unconscionable that any Democratic senator would refuse to change the Senate rules in order to protect Black and Brown voters from systematic disenfranchisement.
Unless Congress immediately acts, we’re likely to see more states try to silence the voices of voters, especially Black and Brown voters. Texas’ new anti-voter law rolled back local voting initiatives that were mostly used by voters of color. Florida’s new anti-voter law is the subject of lawsuits arguing that it disproportionately impacts the ability of Black and Latino voters to exercise their freedom to vote. Georgia’s new law also targeted Black voters — and Gov. Brian Kemp held his photo op, signing it into law, in front of a painting of a slave plantation.
Unless Senate Democrats are willing to get rid of the filibuster to protect the hard-won freedom to vote, those state-level anti-voter laws will stand. At this point, President Joe Biden, Sen. Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester have all publicly stated their support for reforming that antiquated, outmoded Senate rule, but Sen. Chris Coons has not. With so much at stake, it is hard to understand his reticence.
Which way will our country go — backwards toward Jim Crow or forwards toward a society that allows all of us to flourish and have our voices heard?
Will the U.S. Senate put our nation’s history of more inclusive government on hold, out of reverence for a parliamentary rule with a racist past?
Will the U.S. Senate move our country forward and ensure that all voters can be heard at the ballot box, no matter our color, background or ZIP code?
Will Sen. Coons join President Biden, Sen. Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester in opposing the Jim Crow filibuster?
This is a historical moment. May all our elected representatives have the integrity to meet it.
Claire Snyder-Hall is the executive director of Common Cause Delaware.
