I brought my 13-year old daughter with me last Wednesday to Democracy NC’s voting rights rally so she could balance way too many episodes of “Millionaire Matchmaker” and “Dawson’s Creek” with a dose of real life. She got it in spades, too, when a man arriving for the counter-protest mounted by AFP was rude to us on the way in, launching into a “you people need to take a test before you are allowed to vote” tirade when he saw our signs opposing voter photo ID. This led to a good discussion with my child over the various forms of suppressing the vote used throughout history, including tests, but it also underscored, all too vividly, how irresponsible media coverage and irresponsible rightwing politicians have used this issue to fan the flames of fear and polarize America even more. I’m not sure who “you people” is exactly — the guy looked like very other guy I went to high school with and we could have been siblings — but it is a sad commentary on the state of political debate in our country today.
Something happened at the rally, though, to put it all into perspective and to underscore the importance of Bob Hall’s call to action on protecting voter rights — “If you’re old enough to vote, you’re old enough to fight.” As with all profound moments, it arrived unexpectedly. We were gathering together under a couple of trees on the General Assembly lawn, distributing signs and flags, when I noticed a large group of what I thought were Asian tourists snapping photographs of our crowd. I just figured they had stumbled on our group and, because of how racially-diversified we were, with people of all ages present, thought it an interesting memory to take home with them. But then a small woman with the group came to up to me and put her arm around me and said, “We wanted to be here to support you in your fight for democracy.” I was heartened — and baffled — until Melissa Price of NCVCE arrived to explain that the group was actually a State Department-sanctioned delegation of democracy activists from South Korea touring America to see, among other things, democracy in action. All of the people in the delegation worked for various non-profits in their country devoted to democracy and good government. Some had gone to jail for their work, one man for three years.
It’s hard to complain about the heat and a few rude counter-protesters when you think about people going to jail because they are advocating for rights we take for granted. Rights that some of us, in fact, take so much for granted that they are perfectly willing to strip their fellow countrymen of those rights. Fighting for the right of ALL citizens to vote, without interference and harassment from the other side — be it in your face or in the chambers of the legislature or at the polling place — is noble and necessary work. Here’s to our counterparts across the waters (shown below). We’ll keep on fighting if you will.
— Katy Munger
A delegation of democracy and good government activists from South Korea, shown with their host for the day, Melissa Price Kromm of North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections.
Well said Katy.