Part 3

Not that any of the things needed are likely to happen in our lifetime, but We the People need to try bit by bit, layer by layer, vote by vote. In 1849-50 no one could see the end of slavery ever coming, but abolitionists still fought for it. Slaves escaped and created new lives despite such ignominies as The Fugitive Slave Act passed by Congress on September 18, 1850–part of the Com-promise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying, escaped slaves. SCOTUS held that the federal Fugitive Slave Act (1793) precluded a Pennsylvania state law prohibiting blacks from being taken out of Pennsylvania’s free state into slavery.

The ignominious Dred Scott v. Sandford decision: U.S. Supreme Court March 6, 1857, ruled (7–2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory, i.e., where slavery was prohibited, was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional.

That dreadful miscarriage of justice likely caused many slaves to give up all hope, the slave owners to rejoice, and the abolitionists to dig in not to let such a bitter law persist. In 1898, a Utah state law was passed that banned marriage between men and women of opposite races. Brigham Young—leader of the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints and appointed territorial governor of Utah in 1851, publicly taught on at least three occasions [1847, 1852, and 1865] that the punishment for black-white interracial marriage was dead, and that killing a black-white interracial couple and their children as part of a blood atonement would be a blessing to them.

In 1857, hardly a single American could have foreseen the enactment in 1964 of the Civil Rights Act. Congress passed Public Law 88-352, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbids discrimination based on sex and race–in hiring, promoting, and firing. Although results were imperfect, and the acts were swiftly tested in court, they were ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court in various decisions beginning in 1964. Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, disenfranchised Americans have used it to challenge discrimination and harassment based upon race, national origin, religion, and gender, and the work continues.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the LDS Church began to focus its attention on the issue of same-sex marriages. It officially endorsed a federal amendment to the United States Constitution as well as Utah Constitutional Amendment 3 banning any marriages not between one man and one woman. Members who did not support the church’s position could be subject to church discipline, depending on circumstances and local leadership judgment.

In the late 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church has responded to gay rights movements by reiterating its condemnation of homosexuality while acknowledging the existence of gay people. In January, 1976, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Paul VI published Persona Humana, which codified the teaching against all extra-marital sex, including gay sex. That materially influenced political decisions in Catholic countries throughout the world.

Similarly, among Protestants such as Adventism and the Southern Baptist Convention [largest of the Baptist denominations and the single largest Protestant group in the U.S.], believe that the Bible says practicing homosexuality is a sin, stating clearly that its members “affirm God’s plan for marriage and sexual intimacy–one man, and one woman, for life. Homosexuality is not a valid alternative lifestyle.

All these large religions have significant influence on the politics of the regions wherein they dominate.

In the second week of February, 2021, the GOP majority submitted a bill that would re-strict voting by black people in Georgia by:

• Restriction of early voting on Sundays. The bill would block officials from offering early voting on Sundays, a day traditionally used by Black churches to mobilize voters as part of a “souls to the polls” effort.
• Place new limits on the use of mail-in ballot drop boxes.
• Restrict who can handle an absentee ballot.
• Require voters to provide their driver’s license number or a copy of other identification with their application for a mail-in ballot.
• Require voters to provide driver’s license information on the mail-in ballot itself or the last four digits of their social security number if they do not have an acceptable I.D.
• The bill proposed by the GOP—heavily influenced by strongly conservative Protestant religions and political caucuses—gives voters less time to request and return mail-in ballots by moving up the deadline to return an application and limiting requests to start 78 days ahead of an election instead of the current 180.
• Requires election officials to reject ballots mistakenly cast in the wrong precinct.

The measure is one of the most brazen efforts to make it harder to vote in America in re-cent years. It follows on the heels of a strong pro-democrat vote by black people in the heavily contested 2020 presidential election.

Steps necessary to achieve a fair and equal political, housing, voting, working, and electoral process on behalf of the people of the country of all races, creeds, place of origin, gender, and ide-ology, include—at the minimum:

• Term limitations for all elective offices local, state, federal, school, etc. No term for any office to be longer than six years or two terms. You say that the elected officials will never vote against their own personal interests. Then vote different ones in. Do it the next election. Eventually, the corrupt politicians will get the message and move on to other areas to practice their corruption.
• Independent boards representing the makeup of the area involved to determine the shape and location of voting districts. The neighborhood groups should include all races, religions, ideologies, and political organizations, and rank and file police officers. No famous or politically ambitious black leaders, white supremacists, or power-hungry cops sought to use the neighborhood organization for rank advancement to be in charge or as spokespersons. Power is taken away from the dominant political force in government to gerrymander. Make every endeavor to deny your town, county, state, and federal governments the probability of establishing such unhealthy dominance.
• Studiously avoid allowing anti-democratic organizations to progress over the rest, whether populist, nativist, BLMS, antifas, KKK, anti-science, pro-one religion over other socialists, or any of a host of isms already present or those waiting in the wings. If necessary, become politically active. Stand up; speak up; and maybe even run for office yourself.
• Improve education throughout the country at all levels to include in-depth courses in civics, how the American government works and how it actually works, and how it should be changed to work appropriately. Children are quite capable of understanding and discerning the truth, and adults can make time. If there’s time for golf or watching football, there is time to know about the serious matters facing America and work for a fix. Even working adults should have access to such information free of charge. General elevation of the degree, breadth, and depth of education–is the tide that raises all boats.

The United States is capable of making righteous and appropriate changes. Let’s get started: you and I should go first.