In 2008, a Senator by the name of Barack Obama had just defeated Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary for president, becoming the first Black candidate of a major political party. Due to his father’s background, his own upbringing, and an American public that had been steeped in Islamophobia in the seven years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, right-wing pundits brought then-Senator Obama’s faith and place of birth into question.
This rhetoric came to a head at a town hall in October 2008 for Senator John McCain, Senator Obama’s opponent. At that event, a woman stood up to ask Senator McCain a question and proclaimed, “I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, um, he’s an Arab.”
Senator McCain quickly took the microphone away from the woman and corrected her. “No ma’am,” McCain said. “He’s a decent, family man and citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.” (He could have gone further to say that there was nothing wrong with being Arab, but I digress.) It was a moment of clarity that we still look back on.
Fast forward to last Friday in Atlanta. At a campaign rally for Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Harris pointed out that former President Trump would be voting for Florida’s abortion ban this November. From the crowd, a Harris supporter shouted “Felons can’t vote!” The room erupted in the chant, and Harris laughed along as well.
Here is the thing: Felons can vote in Florida—Trump’s home state—and they can in many other places, too. That’s because organizers, mostly Black community organizers in Florida in 2018, put their blood, sweat, and tears into re-enfranchising the voting rights for those with felonies in Florida. This work has taken place around our country for decades; felony disenfranchisement has been a problem that targets Black Americans, and by extension, poor and working class Americans.
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump walks off the stage during a break in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Due to the work of largely Black community organizers, we now have 23 states that restore voting rights to those with felonies who have served their time.
“Felons can’t vote” is false and destructive and Harris should correct this moving forward, not just to make the facts clear, but to also stop people from using this harmful rhetoric. It might be aimed at Donald Trump, but it hurts the Black community disproportionately. The scarlet letter of felon will never hurt Trump the way it has disrupted the lives of millions of Black men and women. And folks who think this is cute have no consciousness about history and the impact this will have on returning citizens whose name isn’t Trump.
This is what I wish my colleagues on the Left would understand: This is not about Donald Trump. For some voters, his convictions will be a consideration when it’s time to vote, and that’s fair. What is not fair, however, is using the “He’s a felon” line with reckless abandon—without taking into consideration the unintended consequences.
It is incumbent on Democrats and the Harris campaign to lead Democratic voters away from rhetoric that is rooted in and upholds white supremacy.
It’s no secret that the legal system sees those with darker skin as somehow more criminal. According to the NAACP, Black people are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white people. Felony disenfranchisement has always been a tool for lawmakers to target Black people after someone has served their time. It’s not just voting, either; in many places, those with felonies have trouble gaining employment, attaining housing, even getting a student loan.
These things are still hurting Americans. And while playing into anti-felon rhetoric might feel good from now until November, that rhetoric relies on a white supremacist mindset. We must be mindful not to embolden and strengthen it, because Donald Trump will be just fine if white supremacy is strengthened, but our communities will not.
So my message to Vice President Harris and Democrats as a whole is: Take the microphone back and stop allowing the vilification of those with felonies.
Nina Turner is a former Ohio state senator, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School, and the founder of We Are Somebody.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
