Black White Man

Headline: Justice Dept. Official Regrets Remarks

John Tanner, the man in charge of voter rights in the Department of Justice, has been in a lot of trouble for saying that laws which require voters to show their ID before they can vote don’t really impact minority populations. This is, according to Mr. Tanner, because (a) the most likely people to show up at a polling location without an ID are the elderly, and (b) African-Americans “die first” and therefore, there aren’t many elderly black voters.

In a completely different speach (to the NAACP in Alabama), he said that minorities are more likely to have their ID, anyway, because they are required at check-cashing places.

In the last week or so, Mr. Tanner has been getting a lot of heat for these comments, and will probably be forced to resign. He’s publically apologized, but for the “tone” of the “way I presented” the information — and not for _what he said_. Basically this is more white racism trying to get by under the guise of facts and science, and then complaining of a the “politically correct” world we live in, when people get upset.

I’m not a statistician, and I can see flaws in his argument. This means that he’s not only bigoted, but also incompetent at his job.

1. Life Expectancy is an median average, and therefore doesn’t address distribution. We can’t say that, because African-Americans have a lower life expectancy, that there are proportionally fewer elderly. My gut assumption is that African-Americans who live to be 35, probably have comparable chances of living to old age as their white counterparts. Although there are differences in access to healthy food, exposure to cigarettes and alcohol, and so forth; I would expect that the youth-specific issues of AIDS and incarceration have a huge impact.

2. Several southern politicians are reporting that elderly black people vote at a higher frequency than elderly white people, in their districts.

3. It’s entirely possible that other factors affect the amount to which people carry a driver’s license. As a white-skinned guy, I’ve been pulled over driving without a license and let off with just a fine. If I were dark-skinned, that could have gone very differently. The process at the DMV can be very subjective; I have to believe that it’s easier for the average white elderly person to keep their ID as they get older.

4. The impact of a law which may or may not be unfair shouldn’t be rated merely in the number of people it affects!

Now I’m brainstorming off my head… so it’s quite possible that some or all of my points are wrong. But this guy should at least have the sense to brainstorm antithetical arguments and address them when he’s making a speech with inflammatory claims like the ones he made. On behalf of all the old black voters in my life (like my Mom), I’m pretty well disgusted.