[While we breathe a collective sigh of relief that a "red wave"
did not manifest, the fight for civil rights and inclusion is far from
over.]
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RACE IS ALWAYS ON THE BALLOT  
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Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
November 15, 2022
Waging Nonviolence
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_ While we breathe a collective sigh of relief that a "red wave" did
not manifest, the fight for civil rights and inclusion is far from
over. _

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What most of America doesn’t understand is that there has not been
an election where race and white supremacy has not been on the ballot.
The issue of voting rights, who can and cannot vote, health care,
crime, Supreme Court nominees, a women’s choice, guns or taxes all
boil down to who keeps and who is able to take away.

From the inception of the nation — with a Constitution framed by
slaveholders in which three-fifths of Black people were counted to
protect the rights and political power of white elites — white
supremacy has been embedded in the political discourse, whether overt
or covert, and race is always on the ballot. Politicians have actively
pursued the “Southern strategy” in national elections by playing
upon race for the southern voter, which is morphed into criminal
hordes for the northern voter. And, I would be remiss if I did not
mention the fears of the surge of darker peoples on the southern
border.

We have listened, historically, to slogans of a “war on drugs,”
“tough on crime,” “affirmative action,” “reverse
discrimination,” “welfare queens,” and “Willie Horton” as
some of the sounds that ring, and have been used to racialize
elections, at different times in American history. The issue is when
will a majority of white people awaken to the fact that they have been
used in the game of preserving white supremacy for the benefit of
white elites. As Lyndon Johnson once reflected to a young staffer at
that time, Bill Moyers: “If you can convince the lowest white man
he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re
picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and
he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

Race has certainly been on every ballot in the country, and these
midterm elections were not exempt.

There is a collective sigh of relief that a “red wave” did not
fully manifest itself, and that Democratic control of the Senate will
remain, while the Congress will likely fall under the control of the
Republicans, but not by a wide margin. The media and political pundits
predict the end of Trump and herald the rise of a Trump replacement on
the right: Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida. There will be a run-off
election in the state of Georgia between Rev. Raphael Warnock and
Herschel Walker. And, some will argue that the system worked, even
down to the racist history of run-off elections in Georgia and its
precursor, the County Unit System.

The County Unit System that preceded run-off elections had the same
racially odorous effect. After slavery and during Reconstruction
one-man-one-vote was militarily enforced. This meant that in many
places the Black vote outnumbered the white vote. So, as whites rolled
back the reforms of Reconstruction and regained control of state
legislatures, County Unit Systems and other methods were employed to
ensure white victories in elections. After the U.S. Supreme Court
rendered the County Unit System unconstitutional in 1963, Georgia
legislators feared that the end of that system would jeopardize white
political power.

Georgia State Rep. Denmark Groover, seeking to maintain white
advantage in elections, drafted a bill to change the primary and
general election systems from a plurality to a run-off system. The
bill, passed in 1964, codified that if a candidate (targeting Black
people and their allies) finished first or second but without 50
percent of the vote plus one, the race would be subjected to a run-off
election, where the white vote could coalesce around the white
candidate and guarantee the election of the white candidate. Though
the current scenario in Georgia is between Black candidates, the use
of skin color is an ideological distraction because what remains on
the ballot is the white supremacy of old, represented by Herschel
Walker, or the thrust of Reconstruction inclusiveness represented by
Rev. Raphael Warnock.

Those who think this criticism is too harsh and pointed need only to
look around at the closeness of many of the midterm races. The
question must be asked, how come so many of the election deniers,
emboldened racists (hiding behind freedom of speech), and MAGA-maniacs
got so many votes, coming so close to victory, and in some races were
victorious?

Race was on the ballot. The country has never confessed that the
ideological issues that led to the Civil War, and re-emerged after the
dismantling of Reconstruction have never been dealt with. Today, what
has been on the ballot are still the issues of white supremacy and
whether the politics of inclusion and compassion can be defeated once
and for all. We seem to have almost dodged a bullet this time. There
are some flesh wounds, and yet we will have to fight for civil rights
and inclusion again on another day, and in another election.

_Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler is the pastor emeritus at Plymouth United
Church of Christ, in Washington, D.C., and founder and director of
Faith Strategies, which engages in political ministry and partners
with FOR-USA. He is co-chair of the Black Homeownership Strike Task
Force to combat the racial wealth gap in Washington, D.C, and has
served as co-chair of the D.C. Poor People’s Campaign._

_Waging Nonviolence is a nonprofit media organization dedicated to
providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements
around the world. With a commitment to accuracy, transparency and
editorial independence, we examine today’s most crucial issues by
shining a light on those who are organizing for just and peaceful
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that draws on both history and the latest research, Waging
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readers to realize the powerful agency they possess.    _

_Waging Nonviolence is only able to produce unique, in-depth movement
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* Racial Justice
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* elections
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* democracy
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* Georgia
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* Civil Rights
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* inclusion
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