ID Please….

How have we made a racial debate over something so benign as Voter ID? Nearly everything we do requires an ID. Is this just an excuse to allow voter irregularities and tampering? There is no objection to showing your ID to buy alcohol. No objection to showing your ID to cash a check, no objection to showing your ID to board an airplane, no objection to showing your ID to take your child out of school early or even to purchase certain medications…. But somehow, when there is a law asking you to show your ID to participate in one of the greatest privileges of every citizen of America, we call it racism, we call it suppression, and we call it a tactic… I call it your reasonable service and a sensible, a practical, a NEEDFUL request.

Instead of joining in with the multitude of voices who choose to complain when the sun is shining because it’s too hot and they complain when the clouds are hovering because of the overcast, I challenge you to take self-introspection and consider the situation as a rationale person. You don’t let repair men into your house without proper identification. There is no guarantee that the identification is authentic, there is no guarantee that you will not still be duped or deceived, but the identification provides an additional layer of validation and helps to weed out at least some of the bad seed.

No election is fool proof. No process is perfect. In a nation that has removed border enforcement; a nation where activist judges are ruling that some states must issue identification to those who have violated the nation’s laws to gain access to the country; a nation that has a jaded history when it comes to voter fraud… why would anyone be against reducing the possibility of more fraud. Why wouldn’t every citizen want to ensure the integrity of the process and do whatever can be done to ensure that only American citizens with a legal right to vote are casting one vote per person in an election?

IDs are so common place that there is no weight to the argument that poor people cannot afford an ID. Some states have even offered free IDs for the poor. The truth is, the poor have IDs and the poor use them during the course of the daily lives all of the time. That is not the true objection. The objection is more deeply rooted in opposing laws that seek to ensure that elections are not only fair but void of the type of irregularities that seat the unelected and turn away the one that is not in agreement with the progressive movement of the radical minority. It’s not about race, it’s about doing what is right. It’s not about disenfranchisement, it’s about integrity. It’s not about suppression, it’s about ensuring one vote per legal citizen.

And it’s about time to stop politicizing and scaring the uneducated and the poor into believing their votes will not count. Those who demagogue this issue understand that knowledge is power. They prefer to keep the voters ignorant, dependent, and under control.

God forbid a voice rises up with an opposing view. That person is called racist and if they are black the vitriol is even greater. The black voice of opposition is called an ‘Uncle Tom’, ‘House Nigga’, ‘Oreo’, ‘Aunt Jemima’ and the list of derogatory names go on and on. Sure the names are insulting but when you know who you are, the names do not define you. And this I know…. I am a Spirit-filled, Blood bought, Born-again, Forgiven Child of God. I choose the empowerment of knowledge. Running with the herd has never been my thing, so no need in changing course now.

The question is do you like where you are, do you like what you see, do you like the divisive tone in the country? Are you pleased with the elected officials in office? Most people are not. If you are one of them, the challenge is – are you willing to educate yourself, listen to an opposing opinion, run the risk of separating from the pack... and if you want a change, you have to make a change. If you keep doing what you are doing, it is sure, that you will keep getting the results that you are getting!

Remember, every illegally counted ballot negates or nullifies one legal ballot.  Fraud is not only illegal, it is the one sure way your vote will be cancelled or suppressed.

ID Please…