White Air Force Vet Prohibited from Registering to Vote Because of Race
Believe it or not, there is a place where the American flag flies that citizens of particular races are excluded from voting. Citizens not of the chosen race are not allowed to vote in an important election. White and Asian citizens of the United States there are even prohibited from registering to vote for the election. As implausible as it sounds, such is the law on the island of Guam, a territory where the American flag flies and the Voting Rights Act applies, along with the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
Unless you are a Chamorro (a “native”), you are not allowed to register to vote for a certain election involving the future of Guam. If you are white, or Filipino, you are prohibited from participating.
Even in the Jim Crow south of 1951, some blacks successfully registered to vote after they navigated the nasty maze of character exams and shifting office hours. In Guam, for the plebiscite election, whites (or Filipinos) cannot register to vote, period.
Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Guam by the Center for Individual Rights to have this racially discriminatory law declared illegal. Dave Davis, a retired Air Force Major who has lived on Guam since 1977, is the plaintiff. I am also an attorney helping to bring the case. We seek to open up the election to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race.
Many Americans don’t appreciate Guam’s important relationship to America. For starters, more than 1,700 U.S. Marines died liberating Guam from a brutal Japanese occupation in the summer of 1944. I’ve stood on Asan Beach where the Third Marines landed and clawed up sheer beachside cliffs to dislodge the suicidal Japanese firing down on them. More than 18,000 Japanese died in the battle. Guamanians have served in the U.S. armed forces since the island became a territory in 1899, and continue to give their lives for America in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Guam is the tip of the spear for American power in the western Pacific, while at the same time China is challenging American dominance in the region. A nuclear submarine base is on Guam, as well as Andersen Air Force Base, the operating home of B-2 and B-52 bombers aiming west.
But organized anti-American agitators want to throw this essential military presence off Guam. They use the tactics of the European Pershing missile protesters of the early 1980s, but add a native twist — calling the United States the “colonizer” while loudly picketing outside Andersen and the Navy base. They even rely on calls by the United Nations to “decolonize” places like Guam.
Enter the racially discriminatory status plebiscite we are challenging in federal court.
The plebiscite election would decide what Guam’s relationship to the United States should be. The supporters view it as the tool to achieve “decolonization.” One choice would be to sever all ties with the United States. If that choice prevailed (though it is unlikely the federal government would peaceably acquiesce), it would antagonize relations between Guam and the United States.
The organizers have rigged the plebiscite election by prohibiting any whites or Asians from participating in the vote. Only native “Chamorros” are allowed to register and participate. Once enough Chamorros are registered to vote, the election will take place. The government promises to ratify the results of the racially discriminatory election however they can.
In an echo from a nasty bygone era, the plaintiff, Dave Davis, literally had his voter registration form rejected because he is white. Filipinos have been rejected also.
Unfortunately for the activists, the United States Constitution applies on Guam. The 15th Amendment prohibits racial discrimination in voting and the Organic Act of 1950 (the federal law which serves effectively as Guam’s constitution) incorporates the Amendment. The Voting Rights Act also applies on Guam, and strictly prohibits racial discrimination in voting.
Some will claim that the law only limits participation to “native inhabitants,” essentially those who can trace their ancestors back to Guam before 1950. A well disguised racial test is still a racial test.
Imagine if Jim Crow had decided that only those who could trace their ancestors back to anyone who could show title to land, or a contract of indentured servitude, from before 1860 could vote. No mention of race there, but the effect would be to exclude almost all blacks from voting. Nobody would dare claim such a law was free from racial discrimination.
Even if the law we are challenging in Guam really is nothing more than an ancestral test, it still has racially discriminatory effects. If a racially neutral law has racially discriminatory effects, it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, period.
Strangely, or perhaps not, the Obama Interior Department is slated to give $250,000 to GovGuam (the name for the territorial government) to promote and advertise the racially discriminatory election. Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA), has oversight authority over the Department of the Interior and should put a stop to any promotion of an illegal and racially discriminatory election in Guam by Interior. Representative Michael Simpson (R-Idaho) has budgetary oversight over such racially misguided spending by Interior and should demand that it stop, today.
One cannot help but wonder where the usual suspects are who reflexively attack voting laws they claim are racially discriminatory, such as Voter ID. Where are the noble champions of voting rights now that the victim is a white retired Air Force officer? Where has the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund been now that the discriminated U.S. citizens are Korean and Filipino?
In the meantime, I along with the Center for Individual Rights will fight to ensure that all Americans on Guam, and not just a racially select group, are eligible to participate in any election wherever the stars and stripes fly, and wherever the U.S. Constitution applies.
If your plaintiff were Black or Hispanic you might have a better chance; a white guy suing for voting rights isn’t going to carry much water with the mainstream media…
The case is a class action. Filipinos were also denied the right to register to vote.
It sounds to me like it would also apply to any “black” who lives there too. So there is a racially diverse class of people who are being denied the vote. Bring in some of each to stand as co-plaintiffs.
Sorry, but Asians aren’t any better than Whites to the “anti-colonialist” progressives or to mainstream media reporters (but I repeat myself).
Forget the media – it would never get past Eric Holder.
Eric Holder the Attorney General of the United States has just hired 113 Marxists into the voters rights division of the Justice Department to take care of situations like this. You actually think that Holder of “Fast and Furious” fame will care for any whitey bringing suit? Hey, thats why Obama put him in that place. 55 million voters were hoodwinked by the msm propaganda machine into voting full bore racists and radical communist ideologues into the seat of power in this country, this is what occurs.
Does the US Constitution fully apply to an unincorporated territory such as Guam? I know that their people are considered US citizens and have full voting rights if they move to the 50 states, but Guam as a political entity does not have any votes for the Electoral College and only has a single non-voting Representative in Congress.
You can read the complaint here. And the answer is yes, the 15th amendment applies through the Organic Act. If you read the complaint, you can get the exact code citations.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73412190/Complaint-Davis-v-Guam
So sorry,Rossignol. This “Constitution” of which you write began to be phased out during the administration of that wonderful, central government loving “progressive” Woodrow Wilson. Apparently, you dozed off when the Lame Stream Media completed the destruction of that document and anointed “The Won”, his Superior Brilliantness Barack Hussein Obeyme The Magnificent, as Supreme Emperor of All Creation.
In the future, try to pay attention.
No need to thank me…
Come on. This is EXACTLY what the Civil Rights movement was all about, and really is entirely consistent with the Supremes and every other court’s view that some races matter more than others. All the Civil Rights movement was about was taking Black people from the back of the bus and putting ordinary White guys (loathed by the elites, feminists/women, non-Whites alike) in their place.
Wow, a White guy is denied the right to vote. The Media calls this a good thing. They’ll ignore any Asians being denied the same rights.
Supremes are likely to reject the motion. They’ve already held repeatedly in Affirmative Action that some races are more important and worth more than others, and Whites are worth, well nothing.
This is why I don’t support Civil Rights in the slightest — as a straight White guy living in the actual real world, I have none, and never will.
Oh noes! Somebody call the whaaaambulance!
Yeah, there’s uneven enforcement of a facially neutral law, wah-wah-wah. I haven’t seen so much beer cried in since the last time I talked to … a liberal!
You don’t like the way things are? Change them. It’s the American way.
Follow up — didn’t Sandra Day O’Connor writing for the majority hold that the Government (any one really, not just the feds) can cite “a compelling interest” and “diversity” (which appears nowhere in the Constitution, but that document ceased to exist eighty years ago or more) to favor some races over others.
How is promoting “Chamorro Diversity” (read: anti-White guy stuff) not consistent with O’Connor’s majority opinion?
And we know the Wise Latina, the Lesbian, Breyer, Ginsberg, and Kennedy will eat this up. The whole point of the law is to demand “better outcomes” for favored racial groups and group identity rights by screwing over Whites and White guys (without connections) whenever and wherever possible.
This suit is a disaster. All its likely to do is codify a New Jim Crow, one aimed directly at Whites. With expansion everywhere.
Does anyone even remotely believe justice is possible for non-connected White guys? That’s betting on unicorns and rainbows. The Supremes cannot wait to stamp down hard on that. [Breyer and Ginsberg both wrote in Grutter v Bollinger that AA will have to last forever.]
It wasn’t O’Connor, it was Lewis Powell. Regents of UC v. Bakke.
Are Filipinos asian? I didn’t think they were, at least they used to fight against being labeled as such.
“Pacific Islander”, I think. But my daughter’s (1/4) Filipino status does make her eligible for some “Hispanic” scholarships ,due to the revival of the antebellum “one drop rule”.
“Even in the Jim Crow south of 1951, some blacks successfully registered to vote after they navigated the nasty maze of character exams and shifting office hours.”
Character exams are a good thing. The franchise to vote is taken far too frivolously these days. In the Founding era the franchise was not taken lightly. Character and intellect should be tested both for jury service and the voting franchise.
….so, who defines ‘character’ and ‘intellect’?
….and then after that’s been worked out, using these new definitions, who draws up the questions for this examination of ‘character’ and ‘intellect’?
….and who decides the ‘pass/fail’ point?, or, all of the lines and gradations in between?
…who exactly are all of these required arbiters? ….who and how….chooses and judges these choices?
That was also one of the talking points of the Christian Terrorist Organization the Ku Klux Klan.
Where is HOLDER and his Department of (In)Justice?
Of course, the plaintiffs didn’t bother to consult with DOJ’s Civil Rights or Voting Divisions since we all know those two groups would have laughed the plaintiffs out of their offices. So, the only possible angle of attack is the District Court. Good luck.
What about highly restrictive gun laws in US territories? For example Puerto Rico has a lengthy and costly process for legal gun ownership. This includes A hefty gun tax, affidavits from multiple bureaucrats, and a yearly tax to maintain the licence. how is this legal? Has anyone ever contested the constitutionality of these laws?
So let the Guamanians vote to get out from under our bootheel. Then we pull out everything we built, supplied, or maintain.
They will last about 30 days. That’s how long the food, gas, and electricity will last without US government input.
This will never happen for the simple reason that a government bureaucracy is now in place to administer in Guam. And we all know all bureaucracys are permanent.
After mount Pinatubo destroyed Clark AB in the R.P. we rebuilt it just prior to our pull out. It didn’t take 30 days for it to be reduced to wreckage again. They even stole the fixtures in the bathrooms. The same would happen if we left anything of value after a pullout on Guam. And how long before the Chinese descend on it and take it over completely if we leave?
If the Guanians who want out of the United States are hoping to hitch their wagon to China, they won’t much care. If we simply abandon the military bases, presumably taking the mobile stuff like submarines and planes with us, we’ll simply be doing China a favor and making it easy for them to move in. If we actually demolish the buildings, airfields, and other non-mobile stuff on our way out, it will simply cost China a bit more to build their own new bases. They can afford it given our (fiscal) indebtedness to the Chinese government.
Not to mention save us a butt load of money.
Move the military to Tinian or Saipan and see how quick Guam reconsiders.
Are these the same guys that were calling themselves the Guam Liberation Front in the mid 70′s?
Not so fast. We leave and the ChiComs move in to occupy the base. Bad idea. Cheers -
Where’s Jimmah Cahtah when he’s needed? He’d make sure Guam got its way. He always campaigns for the oppressed like himself. Isn’t he some rare breed of some kind that gets special Constitutional protections? (Outside of being a lowly President, of course).
If they want us out let’s git. The Chinese or muslims will take over in a heartbeat.
Simple solution: extend the vote to those who fought to liberate the island in 1944 and their descendants, as well as the natives. You cannot argue that those who risked life and limb — and those who gave their lives — don’t have a say in the island’s fate.
At least until the Chinese show up on day 29…
I have long held that these territories need to either be granted statehood or be considered a foreign land.
enough of this half assed stuff that costs us money and, rightfully so, in this case uses our courts.
I’d prefer they be treated as foreign, being a state that far away reminds me of the old british empire too much.
I’d rather the resources used for the people living there be applied to real us citizens living in DC with little actual representation.
Ragnar @5:
You forget the Pacific Islander predilection for maintaining a stable human population on the smaller islands…cannibalism!
Seriously, there won’t be much hunger, for long, on Guam if we pull everything out and leave it in the same condition the Spanish colonial authorities maintained back in the 19th century. China or Japan will step up, in short order to “acquire” influence in such a strategic location and for the Japanese at least to develop commercial tourism.
Yep, I’m sure Eric Holder at the Department of Justice will get right on this. After all, isn’t he in charge of preventing voter discrimination? Sorry, I guess that retired Air Force Major is just the wrong color, right?
Actually, I often wondered why both Guam and Puerto Rico never became the 51st and 52nd states of the union? They seem to get all of the benefits of being part of the United States, including voting in national elections, yet they are not part of the union. Both islands are important parts of US defense, too, so why not make the move to officially make them states? I’m sure there are lots of reasons not to do this, but considering what America spends on these islands, it may just be cheaper to make them part of the country. Who knows.
I was stationed on Guam in the late 70′s.
What you see here is the same old commie crap that was used to realign Saipan and the northern Mariannas into the future Worker’s Tropical Paradise of the Pacific, to replace the now seedy Cuba.
The fact is that Guam, without the overarching and protective presence of the United States, would shortly become a wholly owed subsidiary of Japan. The Chamorros (of which there are practically none remaining on the basis of DNA) would be submerged in a wave of Japanese immigration and whatever the commies are promising them would result in the locals being made servants in their own island.
PS: The Spanish pretty much slaughtered the indiginous population of the island well before the 19th century. What is left is mostly Phillipino stock. I guess the Spaniards never forgave them for killing Magellan
From some perspectives the spanish motivation, wherever they slaughtered, was genetic sociopathy.Gratuitous robbery, rape, torture, homicide were the four pillars of their colonial programs. Ambushing from behind the facade of Catholicism, their rapine was cloaked as evangelistic endeavor. They owe the remaining Chamorro; and those Chamorro owe the USA.
My wife is a Filipina. She told me a long time ago that she didn’t know of a single former Spanish colony that ever amounted to anything. She claimed they were all corrupt and economic basketcases. At the time, it seemed an accurate observation although it may not be true today.
Well, a former Spanish colony that amounted to something: Texas!
“facade of Catholicism” is right; the Spanish were just beginning to emerge from the Muslim conquest so of course they were a lot more violent than, say, the French Jesuits of the Northeast and Midwest.
We conquered Guam. It is our territory to use as we see fit. Guamanians,(really nice folks!), are free to move to the USA if they wish to do so; but we need the bases in that area. The troublemakers need to find a different cause to promote; say, a marathon benefitting needy relatives of the Marines who died freeing Guam from the Japs? They should be so persuaded. Hopefully Gino and Vito are already on the way.
How about the U.S. Government simply tell the Guamanians that, if they really want to be independent of the U.S., we will be happy to accomodate. There’s just a few things to consider:
1 — Guamanians will be allowed to retain their U.S. citizenship and move to the U.S. up until a date certain. Those remaining on Guam will then be Guamanian citizens, and will lose their U.S. citizenship.
2 — Because there will no longer be any U.S. Government presence on Guam, Guamanians who are currently employed by the U.S. Government will have to seek employment with the Guamanian government or a private business.
3 — The air base will converted back to its original pristine natural condition, and abandoned by the U.S. Government.
4 — The naval facility will likewise be converted to its original pristine natural condition.
5 — All other U.S. Government facilities, except a facility converted to use as a U.S. Embassy will be abandoned by the U.S. Government, and all furnishing and equipment removed from Guam to another U.S. location. Buildings will be available for purchase by Guamanian businesses or citizens.
5 — All U.S. Government public assistance programs will be terminated on Guam, and their beneficiaries identified to the Guamanian government for continuation of benefits from the Guamanian Treasury.
My guess is that we would see a fairly rapid change in voting policy on Guam.
Guam is 3246 miles farther to the U.S. than Taiwan is to China [3401 mi. (Guam to Alaska) - 155 mi. (Taiwan to Fuzhou)]. Can the Chinese vote in Taiwan? That’s roughly 22 times the distance, yet the U.S. claims Guam and condemns China for its regional influence. For that matter, Guam is 2911 mi. to China and only 2756 mi. to Taiwan.
Clearly, Taiwan owns Guam, not the U.S.
If you prefer ethnic arguments over distance, Hawaii is 38.6% Asian vs. 24.7% White/Hispanic (2010 census).
“出て行け！ Everybody out!”
Ok but, we use laws not milage or ethnicity to determine governance issues. Maybe you should read the article again. Seems you may have missed that point.
Then let Guam declare its independence. We will accept all refugees who want nothing to do with nationhood for Guam.
The last time it was tried, the North sent soldiers to rape women and steal silverware. Not their stated mission, but that’s what happened.
North…??? Explain, plz.
When US marines were liberating Guam a few years back we weren’t asked to measure mileage, so why would that factor be important now? Thank you for your kind invitation to go elsewhere, but we cheerfully decline. Looks like we’ll be enjoying the climate there at least two more centuries, so buzz off, Baobo.
Umm, Baobo, the UI.S. doesn’t claim it on the basis of proximity or ethnicity. We claim it on the basis of the Treaty of Paris.
Subtle distinction, I know.
This is just part of a much bigger movement to squash all the rights of whites or whatever we are allowed to call ourselves. I’ve been fighting against this kind of reverse racism since my community was invaded by illegals from south of the border in the early 1990′s. Tyson Foods with the help of the local suck ups at the Chamber, the white sellouts at the schools, churches and other brainwashed, PC boobs that allowed the gangs, disease and wage destroyers to take over. Soon they had their own schools, their own ethically compatible teachers and their own medical clinics. No one did anything. I started writing letters to the editor, showed up at a City Hall chamber meeting and went after the Mayor. We started a group called, “Americans for an Immigration Moratorium”. Ended up on all of the national TV stations, newspapers and even PBS did a piece on McNeil Leherer News I testified before Congress, but all of our supporters were middle aged ie: 50 ++.
Young whites are so loaded down with PC guilt that they won’t fight for their own rights, their children’s rights etc. My point is that our people are so demoralized that we need to start from ground zero and try to destroy the brainwashing that goes on every day in the schools. Your taxes pay to destroy the rights of your own people. Has this ever happened in history before?
What is the issue with a US citizen not being allowed to vote in non-US elections?
If there is an issue, either make Guam a state, or give the people the independence they desire.
If someone does not like the rules or laws of other counties, they need to leave and go back home.
Is Guam another country…? I’m asking.
No. The American flag flies there and the people are US Citizens. That was in the article.
There is an old principle of equity that would seem to apply here: “He who seeks equity must do equity.”
A writ of mandamus forcing the government on Guam to allow all U.S. citizens to vote or an injunction preventing them from precluding certain classes of citizens from voting, are both forms of equitable relief. Thus, in seeking either, it would seem fair to require that the plaintiffs offer full representation to all U.S. citizens on Guam, as tit-for-tat.
I’m sure the plaintiffs will be able to offer full representation to the citizens. Perhaps under Article IX of the Constitution.
I don’t understand this part of the discussion. How would the plaintiffs offer full representation to all U.S. citizens on Guam, and what’s Article IX of the Constitution?
I think you get the point. They can’t.
J.C.A. wrote: “Imagine if Jim Crow had decided that only those who could trace their ancestors back to anyone who could show title to land, or a contract of indentured servitude, from before 1860 could vote.”
Funny you should say that, and this may be useful to your legal case: that is EXACTLY what Jim Crow did, until the SCOTUS banned the practice in Guinn v. United States, 1915. It was held to be a violation of the XVth Amendment.
“The Grandfather Clause was enacted by seven southern states during and after the reconstruction era to prevent freedmen from voting. The clause, designed to negate the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which allowed black men to vote, significantly reduced African American political participation well into the 20th Century. Starting in Louisiana in 1898 and working its way into laws and constitutions in seven other states by 1910, the Grandfather Clause stated that all men or lineal descendants of men who were voters before 1867 did not have to meet the educational, property, or tax requirements for voting then in existence. This effectively allowed all white males to vote while denying the franchise to black men and other men of color. The Grandfather Clause, with its voting denial, became the centerpiece of a much larger system of discrimination and racial segregation.”
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/grandfather-clause-1898-1915
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