NAACP Leaders Arrested During Peaceful Protest On Voting Rights

“With the fate of our national moral character at stake, we must hold our leaders responsible....,” NAACP President, Cornell William Brooks said.

American authorities’ contempt for those who challenge them is slowly becoming increasingly obvious. There have been instances in recent history when police in full riot gears have used unnecessarily violent means to break up what could’ve been otherwise peaceful protests. In those cases, mass arrests of protesters who were simply exercising their rights as citizens to express their opinions.

Cornell Williams was protesting what he thought was an infringement on human rights in democratic governance, and he took his protests to those who could do something about it. Sadly he was arrested instead. There have been ongoing debates as to whether allowing States to determine voting laws themselves is a good idea.

As at August 16th, States now require government provided photo ID in order to vote. Critics claim this is a systematic attempt to dissuade minorities from voting, as getting the photo ID require documents they may find difficult to obtain. This new law doesn’t only affect Black minorities; it also affects low incomes households and young people.

In a statement released by the NAACP Brooks said, “with the fate of our national moral character at stake, we must hold our elected leaders responsible to act to uphold the constitutional rights guaranteed for all citizens to vote and participate in our democracy.”

The more extreme critics of this new trend claim the law is a way to manipulate the numbers in favor of the Republicans. By rooting out the minorities, young people, and low-income households who often vote for Democrats, they can control the ballots cast in their favor.

Whatever the case, no one in the judicial arm of the government seems interested in solving the problem, despite massive protests. Are we a really democratic country when voted officials easily ignore the wants and needs of citizens in favor of personal desires? It is clear that not only is our rights to elect whom we want being threatened, our rights to speak up and fight for our needs are also being trampled upon, and this trend of indifference to the plights citizens shown by political office holders cannot continue.

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