birch paper

what prejudice looks like

Much has already been made about yesterday’s hearing on the bills that would disenfranchise young people from voting.  Still, I don’t want to move on before sharing this observation.

First, note how the bills’ sponsor, Republican Rep. Gregory Sorg, described college students in his testimony.  They are:

“transient inmates … with a dearth of experience and a plethora of the easy self-confidence that only ignorance and inexperience can produce.”

Compare that to House Speaker Bill O’Brien’s view on the same group of people:

“They are kids voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience,” he said.

In a way, I am glad that neither of these older men had the wisdom they both imply older, experienced men should have.  If they had, they would have kept their true feelings to themselves.  But at least this way we don’t have to pretend that this effort has anything to do with “voter fraud” or some of the other flimsy rationales thrown out in support of suppressing the youth vote.

It’s obvious this has partisan politics at its root - young people allegedly vote more liberally.  Therefore, reduce the number of liberal voters.  Election advantage: Republicans.

But take a look again at those two statements from O’Brien and Sorg. The upshot is that the votes young people cast are of lesser value than their own because young people of voting age, in their eyes, are ignorant, inexperienced, and guided only by feelings.

That is what prejudice looks like.

No one would tolerate such an open admission from public servants had it been made about women, for example.  Or people of color. 

25 February 2011 ·

• Tags
• Bill O'Brien
• voting rights
• Gregory Sorg