The Issue Of Color In America
What a rainbow of a week it’s been in the colorblind United States. Reds, blues, yellows, greens and purples streaked the skies Wednesday, following the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and kicked back Proposition 8 back to California courts. Homosexual men and women were left in tears (as was Jesus, according to New Testament-touting troglodyte Mike Huckabee) as it seemed equality was no longer a lofty, holed ideal but a palpable reality that included them in its rich stitching.
And yet, as it so often goes in the American struggle for civil rights, the gains we make in one arena are tempered by our willful failure in another. 24 hours before a chorus of cheers reverberated about the imposing columns before the Supreme Court’s halls, a sobering silence cloaked its patrons as they received word that some of the most successful civil rights legislation the United States has ever seen, the Voting Rights Act, had effectively been gutted in yet another 5-4 split decision.
In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts stated that the United States has “changed”, and that old formulas for determining which states require preclearance before revising voting laws, procedures or locales are out-of-date, unfair and place an undue, singular burden on certain states whose histories have evolved since 1965 (pay no mind to the fact that typically, a burden becomes “undue” when the costs of a requirement outweigh its benefits, which in this case would be ensuring that the Fifteenth Amendment is adhered to at the local, state and federal level, and that minorities are not prevented from voting based on their race; apparently the pursuit of equality is secondary to the bureaucratic hassles imposed on states with a history of opposing it).
Like clockwork, within hours of both rulings, the people began to act. New Jersey constituents moved to override Chris Christie’s veto of gay marriage legislation last fall. John Roberts’ openly gay cousin announced that he would be getting married as Michele Bachmann blubbered for the miserable fate of America’s poor, poor children in loving homosexual households. Acting on the court’s ignoble submission, Texas immediately enacted a voter ID law that had previously “provided more evidence of discriminatory intent than [the court had] space, or need, to address”. It would appear that Justice Roberts has mistaken marked change for impatient waiting.
So yes, the Supreme Court has changed a few things on paper, and those who stand to gain–and lose–the most have responded accordingly and promptly. Culturally, though, that change is a bit more difficult to discern. It’s true that increased pop culture inclusion, decades of dynamic activism around the nation, and an intelligible drift from religion-tinted takes on social issues have all contributed greatly to the success of the American LGBT movement. And yet, as the supposedly undaunted United States takes a meek, calculated step toward marriage equality, we are blind to the success of a bold and necessary initiative toward more basic equality–and our own history. And with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act, we only stand to undermine one and repeat the other.
