President Biden and other Democrats have referred to Republican-sponsored voting reforms in Georgia, Texas and elsewhere as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Republicans, the not-very-subtle implication is, are engaged in white supremacist “voter suppression” attempting to restore the repressive practices of a bygone era.
While these claims have been reported (and sometimes repeated and amplified) by mainstream media, most analyses have missed a critical step. In order to evaluate the claims of Jim Crow 2.0, it’s essential to understand Jim Crow 1.0. How was the black vote suppressed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Only with such an understanding can one render a sensible judgment about today’s voting reforms and proposed remedies such as H.R. 1.
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