The Post Millennial By Nick MonroeÂ
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Ibram X. Kendi suggest lowering the voting age to 16 is necessary to create an “anti-racist” society.
Courtesy: @MythinformedMKE pic.twitter.com/fRfU9hKwfh
â The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 9, 2021
âI was just asking Dr. Kendi about his recommendations for policies that are actively anti-racist and in what we should be speaking to advance in this moment, and he was bringing up my amendment to H.R. 1 to lower the voting age to 16 in federal elections.â
The current effort in Washington surrounding voter reform is H.R. 1, more commonly known as the âFor the People Act.â The aim of the legislation is set to target the election system in the United States, alongside considerations over financial reform and to root out âgerrymandering.â
Senator Joe Manchin of Virginia has been the outspoken Democrat against the bill since the beginning of the Summer.
In terms of the issue being polarizing, the ongoing scandal surrounding Texas Democrats who fled the state to protest Republicans trying to pass voting regulations is the most prominent example of the moment.
Pressley continues:
âDr. Kendi I was shocked by how polarizing an issue this was, and what I would tell people âwell listen, John Lewis is an original co-sponsor of this, uh and uh, you know our young people deserve to have a stakeholder in our democracy. But talk to me about why you believe that thatâs anti-racist?â
Ibram X. Kendi responded.
âWell I mean when you look at younger people, um and when you look at younger voters, one of the areas in which weâve talked quite a bit in terms of black and brown folks being disenfranchised. But young black and brown folks in particular, uh, are facing the brunt of of disenfranchisement, and and and when you have when when when the sort of younger generations are predominantly black and brown, it it sort of leads to a you know a greater level of disenfranchise⊠so anything that can ensure that younger people could vote, the younger the better, is going to then allow more black and brown folks to vote.â
Last month critics of Kendi confronted his anti-racism ideology and pointed out contradictions in his public statements.
