Time to restore voting rights to felons, empower young people

The Respect My Vote! campaign is beyond a non-partisan campaign; it is post-partisan. It is not about Republican, Democrat, Independent or Green. This campaign is about democracy and humanity.

Young people between the ages of 18 and 29 who have not gone to college are not involved in the political process. When people are not involved in their government, it is not good for democracy. Moreover, if people who have completed a sentence from felony charges are still not voting because they continue to live with the stigma of the past, it is not good for humanity. 

We are living in a country where 67 percent of young people ages 18-29 who have not gone to college do not believe they can make a difference in their communities. These sentiments are evidence that we are doing something wrong. Respect My Vote! is about affirming the power that we all have, not just on Election Day, but after the election as well.  Voting is critical to ensuring that we can have our voices heard when policies are being made at the local, state and federal level.

Our campaign is designed to engage young people ages 18-29 who are not on college campuses. On Super Tuesday, 93 percent of non-college educated young adults ages 18-29 who were eligible to vote did not turn out to the polls. Our major goal is to register new voters who are traditionally disenfranchised and to make sure that they turn out at the polls on Election Day. We seek to educate young people about voting and how to choose candidates that best represent their concerns.  We also seek to learn from these young people about their political views and aspirations and how we can better provide platforms from which they can be heard.

Felony Disenfranchisement Laws Used to Hurt Blacks

An equally important group of people for us to reach is those who have been convicted of a felony and are currently disenfranchised. Our lead spokesperson, T.I., who has lost his right to vote due to a felony conviction, is an example of the extremes as this country continues to shut certain groups of people out of the political process. With T.I. as our spokesperson, we have been given the unique opportunity to first, expose the truth about voter disenfranchisement laws and, second, empower some of the most oppressed communities in our nation.

While felony disenfranchisement laws seem "race neutral" on the surface, they are essentially a much more sophisticated set of Jim Crow laws for the 21st century. Felony disenfranchisement laws were first introduced with the intention of disenfranchising black voters after the ratification of the 15th amendment. Other Jim Crow laws such as the poll tax, literacy tests and residency requirements soon followed. However, unlike other Jim Crow laws that were abolished throughout the 20th century, the percent of states with felony disenfranchisement laws grew from 35 percent in 1850 to 96 percent in 2002.

Coupled with racial biases in arrest and sentencing practices, Black Americans continue to be disproportionately affected by disenfranchisement laws. T.I. is one of 5.3 million people in the United States who is currently disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. Black men make up slightly over 1/5 of this population and are disenfranchised at a rate 7 times the national average.

The disproportionate number of disenfranchised minorities has affected entire communities. According to the Rhode Island Family Life Center, more than a 1/10th of all South Providence residents are disfranchised, and more than 40 percent of black men between the ages of 18 and 34 cannot vote due to a felony conviction. The people of South Providence, and other communities like it around the nation, have literally had their political voice stripped away. When communities have lost their ability to affect the policies which shape their lives, we are no longer living in a democratic nation.

It is critical to the success of this generation that we are able to empower people who have served their sentences and reverse the damaging affects of disenfranchisement laws on the communities they live in. Throughout history, citizenship in a democratic society has been strongly linked to the act of voting. Subsequently, we cannot continue to believe that those who have been convicted of a felony can successfully participate in society when we deny them the essential right of citizenship in the United States.

Whether it be young people who have not gone to college, and are subsequently disengaged, or people who have been convicted of felonies and have been disenfranchised, nothing is more important to the security and well being of this country than seeing people who have been left outside become engaged in the political process and be given the ability to advocate for themselves and their communities.