Maybe she voted earlier that day and was just along for the ride, but at some point it was just 6-year-old me and her sitting in that parked car. After a moment or two, I ask her, "Mawmaw, what's Dad doing in there anyway?" And without missing a beat, she tells me, "He's voting for Michael Dukakis... him and about four other people!" [Note: I'm not making a general endorsement of Dukakis, though if it was, it would be just a wee bit late!].
My grandmother had the keen insight that I wouldn't understand momentum or exit poll estimates. But I would understand that 4 or 5 people voting for someone wasn't very much! I understood the implication that this guy my dad was voting for was going to lose and lose badly; it wasn't going to be Dukakis' night.
One of the many reasons Dukakis lost that election was how he was painted as "soft on crime," particularly via the infamous "Willie Horton" ad. This ad and other law-and-order rhetoric were part of a much-longer history of white race-baiting and fear-mongering, which successfully equated black men as dangerous criminals in the minds of many Americans.
I've written elsewhere on how this cultural and institutional racism perpetuates itself through mass incarceration in our country. This sin requires a great effort for repentance, not primarily by feeling sorry for what happened but by changing policies and laws that perpetuate institutionalized racial animosities long after their creators have left the scene.
California's Proposition 47 will end certain non-violent crimes being categorized as felonies and use the savings for preventative services. It is one significant stride towards breaking up that ugly racial system that continues to this day. We have a responsibility to vote our values, whether we wind up in the majority or not. So go out and strike a blow against racialized mass incarceration this Tuesday. I guarantee there will be more than 4 or 5 with us this time!
In hope,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director
PS: For a review and summary of last Saturday's Justice Not Jails event on Prop. 47, click here.