Society of Exclusion

America used to be the place where people came to be included in the greatest country in the world. Where if you worked hard, you would be absorbed into the great melting pot. You could find success and happiness. Now, we know history tells us we weren’t so inclusive all the time. We can start with slavery, and work our way through discrimination against Irish and Italian immigrants. Interning Japanese American citizens during World War II. Blocking Jews from entering the country during World War II as they tried to escape certain death at the hands of the Nazis. We have made strides since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. But some would argue we still have a long way to go.

This year we will mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11 when everything changed. We were invaded. We were suddenly at war. American soldiers were dying and being maimed. Then big banks victimized us with bad loans that led to the great recession. An attack on our personal finances, our mortgages, our jobs, our retirement. Then we elected a black, liberal Democratic president. Mass shootings. White police officers shooting unarmed black men. Black Lives Matter. Terror attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, and Brussels. These were seismic shifts. What was happening? Who is to blame? We became afraid and angry.

All this was rising to a boil when we hit the presidential election season. Millions of people are voting in primaries for a candidate who wants to build a wall to keep “Mexican rapists and criminals” out. Stop all Muslims from coming into the country. Punish women who have abortions when we make them illegal again. Speaking of voting, the rules have changed in many states thanks to the Supreme Court in Shelby v. Holder in 2013. The ruling changed the Voting Rights Act passed back in the 1960s. Under a section of the law, mostly southern states with a history of discrimination against African American voters, had to get pre-clearance approval from the U-S Justice Department to make any changes in voting requirements. The Supreme Court ruled that wasn’t needed any longer. Many of those states, and others, have since enacted stricter voting rules requiring, proof of citizenship, photo IDs, and less early voting. These rules are suppose to prevent voter fraud. Many see it them as a thinly disguised way to prevent poor minorities from voting.

Just this week Virginia Governor Democrat Terry McAuliffe issued an Executive Order that will allow 200,000 felons to vote again after they have served their sentences. These are mostly poor African Americans. Former Kentucky Democratic Governor Steven Beshear did the same thing. It was later reversed by his successor, Republican Matt Bevin. Some would see this as the Democratic Party trying to get more African Americans eligible to vote since they usually vote for Democrats. Maybe we should address the bigger problem that only about 50 percent of eligible voters bother to vote. Maybe those felons will show more civic responsibility.

And now, we have the bathroom problem. Since the Supreme Court upheld the right to same sex marriage, the discrimination against the LGBT community has ramped up. North Carolina and Mississippi have passed laws basically allowing businesses to discriminate against those of a different sexual orientation based on religious beliefs. Those laws include provisions that say transgender people have to use the public restroom that matches their biological sex. I’m waiting to see how exactly they are going to enforce this. Will there be TSA agents at every public restroom patting you down, and asking to see proof you have what you were born with. I hope we have the option of being searched behind the curtain like we do at the airport. And what happens if they discover things are not like they used to be? Are you arrested? Are you directed to the other restroom? Or do you just have to hold it until you get home?

We keep trying to find ways to keep people out. Keep them out of the country. Out of the voting booth, and even out of the bathroom. All the polls show people don’t like the direction the country is headed. Things have to change. Things will only change when reasonable people put their differences aside and work for solutions and common ground. People want to feel included in the process. It’s hard to feel wanted in a society of exclusion.