Democracy is on the ballot in the election this fall. And, of course, so is the future of African Americans. These two issues are intertwined.
First, let’s address democracy, which is under attack at the ballot box. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, a majority of Republican nominees on the ballot for House, Senate, and key statewide offices have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election. These candidates—291 in all—are running in every region of the country and nearly every state. Only two states, Rhode Island and North Dakota, do not have such people on the ballot.
The examined races are for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, Senate, and House. Each of these offices has some power in overseeing American elections, and many of these candidates have expressed intentions favorable toward alternative (Republican) slates of electors for President. Remember, the House of Representatives currently has many Republican election deniers; 139 of them voted against the electoral college count after the insurrectionist attack of January 6, 2021.
But there is also the authoritarianism undergirding the MAGA-Republicans. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two Harvard professors who had spent a couple of decades studying the decline of democracies in Europe and South America, were compelled to look at home in the United States. They responded to the question, “Are we living through the decline and fall of one of the world’s oldest and most successful democracies?”
Their answer appears in their book How Democracies Die. They note that democracies used to die at the hands of men with guns. During the cold war, coups d’etat accounted for nearly three out of every four democratic breakdowns. But since the Cold War, democracies have died at the hands of elected leaders who subverted the process that brought them into power. Levitsky and Ziblatt say:
“Like Chavez in Venezuela, elected leaders have subverted democratic institutions in Georgia, Hungary, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Ukraine. Democratic backsliding today begins at the ballot box.”
Levitsky and Ziblatt provide four key indicators of authoritarian behavior from their work and that of others. As you read this list, think of the actions of the Trump Administration and the MAGA-Republicans.
1- Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game
2.-Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents
3- Toleration or encouragement of violence
4- Readiness to curtail the civil liberties of opponents, including media
Parting words from Levitsky and Ziblatt:
“Many Americans are justifiably frightened by what is happening to our country. But protecting our democracy requires more than just fright or outrage. We must be humble and bold. We must learn from other countries to see the warning signs—and recognize the false alarms. We must be aware of the fateful missteps that have wrecked other democracies.”
African Americans are affected by these developments in two primary ways. One is, of course, obvious. If the American experiment in democracy fails, then African Americans will suffer disproportionately. And it is an incomplete experiment such that the United States had a nearly complete democracy only between the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the gutting of the Act by the Supreme Court in 2013.
But perhaps more importantly, like most other major events/issues in American life, race and racism play a significant part. Many in the media cite other issues, but White supremacy is the primary driving force behind the MAGA-Republican phenomenon. White supremacy has been a dominant factor since the founding of the country.
After Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, one influential secession-era White supremacist contended that Lincoln’s election was illegitimate, as “This Union was formed by White men for the protection and happiness of their race.”
Then as now, many of these White supremacists argued that white control that kept African Americans and other minorities in a state of submission could be the only legitimate form of rule.
White supremacists split the Union with secession and the Civil War. Now they appear hell-bent on destroying it. Some current expressions are “reclaiming our country,” “Replacement Theory,” and the supposed threat of the Democratic Party (and its multicultural constituents).
The primary solution before us right now is still the ballot box. African Americans, other minorities, and the non-rich should vote as if their lives depended upon it—because they do.
