The Great Disenfranchisement in Pictures

What little that has been gained in the Supreme Court, the right of gays to marry their partners, is far out-shadowed by what has been lost, the now quick erosion of the right to vote for blacks and Hispanics throughout much of the country.

Texas has already begun an effort to disenfranchise millions of citizens through gerrymandering and voter restrictions.

Forcing voters to jump through a myriad of ever shrinking hoops to make it to the ballot box is a time honored tradition of Jim Crow in the Southern US. Question 20 of this Louisiana test reads: "Spell backwards, forwards." Whites who took the test always got this question correct. Blacks, even college graduates, never answered correctly because there is no correct answer. Such ambiguous questions made the literacy test an effective disenfranchisement tool.

Requiring specific identification papers is another hoop in the disenfranchisement arsenal. But is also allows an opportunity for poll watchers to intimidate voters, "This looks like a fake ID to me."

The Voting Rights Act worked which is specifically why it is so despised by Republican lawmakers in the old Confederacy.

In Texas and Arizona they are terrified of spics gaining control. Now that the Supreme Court has effectively declared the 15th Amendment unconstitutional, the Deep South as well as states like Ohio and Pennsylvania that have long sought to manipulate election results only to be thwarted by voters can rewrite the laws to force the results they want.

I suggest gays not celebrate their victory yet, it may be short lived. As Jim Crow is reinstated the anti-sodomy laws can't be far behind.