DEAR CRABBY: Jim Crow Returns?

DEAR CRABBY: Do you think it is legitimate to compare Republican sponsored voter ID legislation to voting restrictions put in place in the South in the wake of the civil war?  -Jim Crow

DEAR MR. CROW: In a word … yes.  You don’t have to be swayed by the comparison, but it is a legitimate one.  Republicans who sponsor such bills say they are meant to prevent voter fraud.  It is completely possible; however, that the real motivation is that Republicans believe these laws will help them in the next election. There is every reason to believe that the folks who do not have picture ID’s and/or will have the most trouble getting them are Democratic voters.  Further, there is every reason to believe that a disproportionate number of these folks are minorities.  If these reasonable suspicions are more than suspicions, then the Republican Party is passing legislation that they know will disenfranchise minorities.  That is why politicians in the South collected poll taxes and enacted literacy requirements.  If you are offended by this line of thinking, then you will need to give us a reason.  You will need to prove that these laws aren’t just about keeping some Democrats, many of them minorities, away from the polls.  It isn’t enough to dismiss the accusations as offensive.  Enough evidence has been presented that you now need to give a substantive response.