Trump DOJ Targets Black Votes. Escalated Voting Attack Echoes Jim Crow.
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖The Trump Department of Justice is collecting state voter data to create a national roll, which critics argue is a tool for voter disenfranchisement, not eligibility verification.
- ❖Voting rules are state-controlled, making a federal voter roll an overreach and a potential mechanism to exploit disparate state regulations.
- ❖Advanced data synthesis, combined with racial profiling, could allow for targeted purging of Black voters at the precinct level.
- ❖Historical precedents, such as the 1876 election and Jim Crow 'ballot security' efforts, illustrate how similar tactics have been used to suppress Black votes.
- ❖Cybersecurity risks exist in the vote counting process, particularly with centralized systems and reliance on private tech companies like Amazon and Starlink.
- ❖Corporations, colleges, and nonprofits are preemptively canceling DEI programs and events due to political pressure, impacting Black vendors, speakers, and educational diversity.
- ❖This institutional self-censorship is seen as a 'defunding of Black America,' with direct economic consequences for Black businesses and professionals.
- ❖Black organizations possess significant institutional and economic power that must be collectively wielded to fight against these systemic attacks, rather than remaining risk-averse.
Insights
1Trump DOJ's National Voter Roll Threatens Disenfranchisement
The Trump Department of Justice is compiling a national voter roll by obtaining unrestricted voting data from eight Republican-led states, with lawsuits against 23 non-compliant states. Critics, like Michael Harriot, argue this effort is not for determining eligibility but to disqualify voters, particularly Black voters, by leveraging sensitive information without outlined criteria. This federal overreach bypasses state control over voting rules, which vary significantly.
Eight Republican-led states, including Texas, provided data; 23 states sued for non-compliance. Harriot states, 'the federal government does not control who votes... That's determined by the state.'
2Data Synthesis and Racial Targeting for Voter Purges
The administration's strategy involves coalescing vast amounts of data (IRS, Homeland Security, tech company data) to identify and target specific voter demographics. Harriot explains that voter districts are small enough for companies with sufficient data to identify individual voters and disqualify them. Given that Black voters disproportionately vote Democrat, this data can be used to racially profile and purge voters, exploiting issues like name spelling variations or registrar errors.
Harriot mentions 'coalescing everyone's data,' including IRS data given to Homeland Security (). He notes, 'if you live the only black person on your block and there's only one Democratic vote on your block... it's easy for companies with enough data to determine whose vote and to disqualify certain people' (). Host Roland Martin cites past illegal removals in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia (). Harriot adds, 'if you have an apostrophe in your name, if you have an accent over your name... they can disqualify you' ().
3Historical Precedent: Jim Crow and the 1876 Compromise
The current voter suppression tactics are framed as a modern iteration of historical efforts to disenfranchise Black people. Michael Harriot draws a direct parallel to the 1876 election, where a single county (Lawrence County, SC) was targeted with violence against Black voters, leading to an overturned election and the 'Great Compromise of 1877' that ushered in 100 years of Jim Crow. He also notes that Jim Crow-era efforts to prevent Black voting were often framed as 'ballot security' or 'voter integrity.'
Harriot details the 1876 election in Lawrence County, SC, where 'they attacked and just basically lined up black men and killed them' (). He states, 'Alabama called it their voter their ballot security effort' in 1955-1960 Selma ().
4Corporate and Institutional Self-Censorship on DEI Initiatives
Beyond voting rights, there's a widespread trend of corporations, colleges, and nonprofits canceling DEI programs, Black History Month events, and even scholarships for minority students. This is often a preemptive capitulation to political pressure from figures like FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who explicitly threatened to block mergers for companies with DEI programs, or state governors targeting university funding.
Host Roland Martin discusses corporations canceling MLK, Black History Month, and other heritage programs (). Harriot mentions AT&T eliminating DEI after promising the Trump administration, followed by a merger approval (). Martin cites FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatening to block acquisitions for companies with DEI (). Harriot recounts an HBCU canceling his speaking engagement due to DEI concerns (). Martin details a University of Texas alumni association denying a $100,000 endowment for Hispanic pharmacy scholars due to its diversity focus ().
5Economic Impact: 'Defunding Black America'
The cancellation of DEI programs and events has tangible economic consequences, impacting Black vendors, caterers, audiovisual companies, PR firms, and nonprofits. This systemic defunding extends to scholarships and opportunities for Black students, creating a deliberate attempt to shut down avenues for Black and non-white advancement.
Martin explains the impact on 'vendors, you're impacting caterers, audiovisual companies, PR companies' (). He recounts a major donor pulling out of Susan Taylor's National Cares mentoring gala, causing a 'huge blow' to fundraising (). He links this to 'a deliberate attempt to defund black America' ().
Bottom Line
The federal government's internet security for all its agencies is handled by two private companies: Amazon Worldwide Services and Starlink (Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos).
This centralization of critical infrastructure under private control, especially by figures aligned with a particular political ideology, introduces significant cybersecurity risks and potential for manipulation in areas like vote counting, beyond individual precinct machines.
Investigate and advocate for decentralized, publicly controlled, and auditable election technology and infrastructure to mitigate risks associated with private sector influence and potential partisan exploitation.
Black institutional leadership (e.g., D9 fraternities/sororities, Prince Hall Masons, Black MBAs) is often 'risk-averse' regarding political engagement, fearing loss of 501c3 status, despite white organizations engaging politically without repercussions.
This risk aversion prevents powerful Black organizations from leveraging their collective economic and political influence to fight systemic attacks, leaving Black communities vulnerable. This perceived limitation is often a 'lie' or misinterpretation of 501c3 rules.
Educate Black institutional leaders on the true scope of 501c3 political engagement rules (e.g., supporting public policy without endorsing candidates). Develop coordinated strategies for collective economic action (e.g., divesting from non-supportive corporations and investing in Black-owned banks/businesses) to wield power effectively.
Opportunities
Develop and promote secure, auditable hand-marked paper ballot systems for state and local elections.
Create a business or non-profit focused on advocating for and implementing hand-marked paper ballot systems nationwide, emphasizing their security and recountability as the 'best voter security.' This could involve lobbying, technology development for ballot design/counting, and public education.
Establish a coordinated Black-owned media and information network for substantive reporting.
Create or significantly expand a network of Black-owned media outlets focused on in-depth reporting and analysis (not just commentary) to provide critical information to the Black community. This would require substantial investment and subscriber support to counter the 'dearth of real substantive information.'
Form a Black economic collective for strategic divestment and investment.
Organize Black fraternities, sororities, and other institutions to collectively pull their money from corporations that capitulate to anti-DEI pressures and strategically invest those funds into Black-owned banks and businesses, or competitors of non-supportive companies. This would leverage the 'institutional power' and 'economic power' of the Black community.
Lessons
- Vote early and in advance via absentee ballot, delivering it directly to your registration office for maximum security.
- Never go to the voting booth alone; always take someone with you to double voter turnout.
- Ensure voter registration forms are available at all community gatherings, church events, and parties to facilitate new registrations.
- Actively support Black-owned media outlets, like Contraband Camp, by subscribing and contributing to ensure access to substantive, in-depth reporting.
- Black institutional leaders (e.g., D9 organizations) must leverage their collective economic power by strategically divesting from corporations that abandon DEI and investing in Black-owned businesses and banks.
Countering Voter Suppression and Defunding of Black America
**Secure Your Vote**: Prioritize early voting via absentee ballot, delivered directly to the registration office. Advocate for hand-marked paper ballots in your state.
**Amplify Black Voter Turnout**: Organize and participate in 'buddy voting' initiatives, ensuring no one votes alone. Host voter registration drives at all community events, regardless of size.
**Support Independent Black Media**: Financially support Black-owned news and analysis platforms to ensure access to critical, unfiltered information and reporting.
**Mobilize Economic Power**: Black institutional organizations (e.g., fraternities, sororities, professional groups) must collectively assess corporate support for DEI. Strategically divest funds from companies that capitulate to anti-DEI pressures and redirect investments to Black-owned financial institutions and businesses.
**Challenge Institutional Self-Censorship**: Educate Black organizational leadership on the true scope of 501c3 political engagement rules, encouraging advocacy for public policy and against discriminatory practices without fear of losing tax-exempt status.
Quotes
"This is not an effort to determine who is and who isn't eligible to vote. It's an effort to disqualify voters. It's an effort to help his campaign through his position in the federal government and to help Republicans gain more power."
"If you lived in a black precinct, you waited longer to vote, three times longer to vote in a black precinct than in any other precinct in America."
"They always use that voter integrity, that ballot integrity, ballot security when they're about to disenfranchise black people. And we can't let it happen again because we stand to lose another hundred years of Jim Crow."
"If you do not get rid of these programs, I am not approving any acquisitions, any mergers, any deals."
"Capitulating does not help you escape the tentacles of this authoritarian administration... They are shooting at us, so we might as well fight anyway."
"We have the infrastructure and we have the power... if y'all keep capitulating because just as they have to capitulate to Trump for the sake of profit, they can have we can force them to do that to us too."
Q&A
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