Forum: Time for the Texas GOP to stop passing regressive legislation

Texas, what the heck? 

“No force in the world is going to stop Houston or Texas or America from becoming more African American and Latino in the 21st century.”- Stephen Klineberg, Rice University, Houston

I have lived lots of places, all over the nation. The great state of Texas was my favorite, but now I’m not so sure. 

I was a corporate executive and lived in both Dallas and Tarrant County. Two of my three children went to college and got professional degrees from fine Texas schools. I loved the folks there. I still have friends and relatives who are Texans.  

So, it dismays me that the state has been going backward over the last few years, a trend that has increased under Gov. Abbott. Specifically, there are three recent right wing legislative initiatives that concern me -- a. the voter suppression law; b. redistricting c. the anti-abortion law; and d. the open carry law. 

The voter suppression law is arguably the most objectionable.  

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The population of Texas is increasing due primarily to the minority community. This occurrence has scared the entrenched white GOP Texas leadership. They had the choice of modifying their right-wing policies to be more moderate... or of doubling down on the “big lie” that there was fraud in the 2020 election and using that as an excuse to disenfranchise minority voters. The Republican leadership, led by Gov. Greg Abbott, chose the dishonorable path of voter suppression. 

There was virtually no fraud in the 2020 election. Dozens of court cases, many adjudicated before GOP-appointed judges, have proven this fact. Yet, the specter of fraud has been used by the Texas Governor and legislature to deny citizens of color their hard-earned right to vote. 

We are a constitutional republic with many elitist flaws built into our Constitution. But for quite some time we have been moving towards becoming a much better democracy. By creating numerous roadblocks which disproportionately affect people of color, the Texas law throws us back into the Jim Crow era. 

Redistricting every 10 years is another method being used by the Texas GOP to deny people the right to be represented fairly. By gerrymandering districts, the GOP legislature ensures that there will be many more Republicans elected than their voter numbers warrant. 

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Redistricting via gerrymandering denies voters their rights, but it is favoring the GOP nationally. For this reason, it is hard to stop on the national level. For example, in 2010, North Carolina Democrats got 48% of the vote, but won only 26% of the congressional seats due to gerrymandering. This unfair practice has been eliminated in many states by the creation of independent redistricting commissions, but not Texas. 

The extreme Texas anti-abortion law is an example of what happens when voter disenfranchisement and gerrymandering occur. This law is an embarrassment for Texas. It prohibits abortion after 6 weeks; most women don’t even know if they are pregnant at that point. Further, in a bizarre twist, it makes enforcement the responsibility of vigilantes who are paid a bounty to inform on anyone aiding a woman to get an abortion. Those helping the woman, including her Uber driver, can be sued for $10,000 or more by anonymous vigilantes. 

The US Department of Justice is suing Texas over the law, a suit which will inevitably go to the Supreme Court. It should be noted that our reactionary SCOTUS chose (5-4) not to stop enforcement of this law. 

Finally, we have the Texas open carry law. In a tribute to the wild west, Texas “authorizes people to carry holstered handguns in most public spaces” with no permit required.  

Strangely, even before the law, Texas had the highest number of gun-related violent incidents in the nation; even adjusted for population, it was 17th. There are 12 firearm deaths per 100,000 in Texas. Six states, all with strong gun control laws, had a death rate less than half that high. This fact disproves the NRA saying that the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun. The best way to stop him is to never let him have a gun to start with. 

Texas GOP, stop going backward. It’s time to wake up to the brave new world. If you don’t, despite your gerrymandering and voter suppression, the voters will eventually catch up with you. Then, you will be out of power permanently. 

Jack Bernard is a retired corporate executive who worked extensively with hospital systems throughout Texas.