By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher
The Black Votes Matter project in the State of Georgia has demonstrated once again the connection between politics and the dollar. This project has approached corporate America in the person of Coca Cola, Delta, Home Depot, UPS and others, demanding that they take a position against the voter suppression laws enacted by the Georgia legislature. The idea is that corporate America funds elected officials, and those officials legislating against the public interest in terms of voting rights must not receive funding in terms of political contributions. We know that money is the life blood of politics; that withholding dollars from those legislating against voting rights represents a nuclear weapon that is capable of reversing voter suppression.
We know that 43 states now have more than 561 bills pending in their state legislatures to reverse and constrict voting rights. We know that the State of Texas is one such state and that corporate giants like AT&T, Pepsi and American Airlines, corporate giants in the state of Texas, are now speaking out against the state’s pending voter suppression laws. The reason Corporate America is speaking out is that many remember that companies do not want boycotts or public demand that we not spend money with them. Black Votes Matter has placed a dollar value on voter suppression. More and more state legislators will have to choose between dollars or suppressing voter rights.
It would appear that each of us now can play a part in the fight against voter suppression. We know that it is the Republican members in control of state legislatures that have introduced these 560 bills aimed at limiting the right to vote through a variety of proposals. We must look at the state in which we live, look at the members pushing voter suppression bills and then bring pressure on those corporations such as AT&T, Delta, Dell, Pepsi, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Home Depot and others that depend on our dollars. The nasty word, “boycott”, of corporations doing business in South Africa, ended South African apartheid and returned democracy to the people.
The politics of how we spend and who we spend our dollars with has now become as important as our right to vote. Each of us must examine what role we can play in making sure that those we spend with support our right to vote. So far. So good. Let’s keep up the pressure.
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