Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp at an Election Night event at the Classic Center on November 6, 2018 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Jul 16, 2020
First, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, when formerly serving of Secretary of State, did everything he could to keep hundreds of thousands of Black and Hispanic voters in Georgia from having their votes counted or even being able to vote at all.
In the months running up to his own race for governor, he conducted massive purges of the voting rolls, closed polling places in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and refused to certify the recent voter registrations of about 50,000 African Americans.
Now it appears he's decided that if he can't prevent Black and Hispanic people from voting he should just help them die.
Kemp, like the entire nation, learned on April 7, when the New York Times and the Washington Post both ran front page stories about it, that Black and Hispanic people were dying at disproportionate rates from Covid-19.
No doubt purely by coincidence, that was also the week that everyone from right wing talk show hosts to major rightwing influencing groups to the Trump administration all pivoted from concern and caution about the coronavirus to the message, "It's time to open America back up and do it now!"
Trump tweeted "Liberate!" And white guys with guns and Nazi and Confederate flags showed up in state capitols to demand that all those disproportionately minority front-line workers get back to work.
It was as if the racists across the country, and Steven Miller and Donald Trump in the White House, figured out that if they wanted to actually reduce America's Black and Hispanic population, this was their chance. They could use this virus to, "Make America white again."
Call it the "Republican Party's 21st Century Eugenics" program?
Doubling down on this apparent strategy, yesterday Gov. Kemp officially banned cities in Georgia from enforcing their own face mask requirements.
Georgia cities with large Black and Hispanic populations like Savannah and Atlanta had passed mask ordinances and their mayors were trying to enforce them.
But Kemp--backed by Trump's political muscle and authority--just put an end to all that.
As Georgia's hospitals are reaching capacity and the virus is ripping through communities of people who can't easily telecommute or work from home, the governor is taking an official step that could dramatically increase infection and death rates among low income and minority people across the state.
It's hard to imagine that elected public officials--even those who won with the help of fraud like Kemp and Trump--would be so craven as to engage in policies that specifically target minority groups for illness and death.
There has to be another explanation, right?
I just can't figure out what it is.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
First, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, when formerly serving of Secretary of State, did everything he could to keep hundreds of thousands of Black and Hispanic voters in Georgia from having their votes counted or even being able to vote at all.
In the months running up to his own race for governor, he conducted massive purges of the voting rolls, closed polling places in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and refused to certify the recent voter registrations of about 50,000 African Americans.
Now it appears he's decided that if he can't prevent Black and Hispanic people from voting he should just help them die.
Kemp, like the entire nation, learned on April 7, when the New York Times and the Washington Post both ran front page stories about it, that Black and Hispanic people were dying at disproportionate rates from Covid-19.
No doubt purely by coincidence, that was also the week that everyone from right wing talk show hosts to major rightwing influencing groups to the Trump administration all pivoted from concern and caution about the coronavirus to the message, "It's time to open America back up and do it now!"
Trump tweeted "Liberate!" And white guys with guns and Nazi and Confederate flags showed up in state capitols to demand that all those disproportionately minority front-line workers get back to work.
It was as if the racists across the country, and Steven Miller and Donald Trump in the White House, figured out that if they wanted to actually reduce America's Black and Hispanic population, this was their chance. They could use this virus to, "Make America white again."
Call it the "Republican Party's 21st Century Eugenics" program?
Doubling down on this apparent strategy, yesterday Gov. Kemp officially banned cities in Georgia from enforcing their own face mask requirements.
Georgia cities with large Black and Hispanic populations like Savannah and Atlanta had passed mask ordinances and their mayors were trying to enforce them.
But Kemp--backed by Trump's political muscle and authority--just put an end to all that.
As Georgia's hospitals are reaching capacity and the virus is ripping through communities of people who can't easily telecommute or work from home, the governor is taking an official step that could dramatically increase infection and death rates among low income and minority people across the state.
It's hard to imagine that elected public officials--even those who won with the help of fraud like Kemp and Trump--would be so craven as to engage in policies that specifically target minority groups for illness and death.
There has to be another explanation, right?
I just can't figure out what it is.
Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.
First, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, when formerly serving of Secretary of State, did everything he could to keep hundreds of thousands of Black and Hispanic voters in Georgia from having their votes counted or even being able to vote at all.
In the months running up to his own race for governor, he conducted massive purges of the voting rolls, closed polling places in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, and refused to certify the recent voter registrations of about 50,000 African Americans.
Now it appears he's decided that if he can't prevent Black and Hispanic people from voting he should just help them die.
Kemp, like the entire nation, learned on April 7, when the New York Times and the Washington Post both ran front page stories about it, that Black and Hispanic people were dying at disproportionate rates from Covid-19.
No doubt purely by coincidence, that was also the week that everyone from right wing talk show hosts to major rightwing influencing groups to the Trump administration all pivoted from concern and caution about the coronavirus to the message, "It's time to open America back up and do it now!"
Trump tweeted "Liberate!" And white guys with guns and Nazi and Confederate flags showed up in state capitols to demand that all those disproportionately minority front-line workers get back to work.
It was as if the racists across the country, and Steven Miller and Donald Trump in the White House, figured out that if they wanted to actually reduce America's Black and Hispanic population, this was their chance. They could use this virus to, "Make America white again."
Call it the "Republican Party's 21st Century Eugenics" program?
Doubling down on this apparent strategy, yesterday Gov. Kemp officially banned cities in Georgia from enforcing their own face mask requirements.
Georgia cities with large Black and Hispanic populations like Savannah and Atlanta had passed mask ordinances and their mayors were trying to enforce them.
But Kemp--backed by Trump's political muscle and authority--just put an end to all that.
As Georgia's hospitals are reaching capacity and the virus is ripping through communities of people who can't easily telecommute or work from home, the governor is taking an official step that could dramatically increase infection and death rates among low income and minority people across the state.
It's hard to imagine that elected public officials--even those who won with the help of fraud like Kemp and Trump--would be so craven as to engage in policies that specifically target minority groups for illness and death.
There has to be another explanation, right?
I just can't figure out what it is.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.