‘What’s In it For Us?’ podcast addresses dismantling the Electoral College

This week, our hosts take on Biden’s electoral college certification and the loss of 300,000 people from COVID-19

Dec 16, 2020

In this Dec. 19, 2016, file photo members of the Mississippi Electoral College sign certificates of vote in the process of formally casting their electoral votes in the 2016 General Election for President and Vice President of the United States at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

This week on the What’s In it For Us? podcast, Dr. Christina Greer and Dr. Jason Johnson discuss Biden’s electoral college certification, the far right group, Proud Boys, protesting the 2020 Presidential election, and how 300,000 Americans have passed away from COVID-19.

“The COVID deaths, it’s taken us only nine months to lose almost 300,000 people. It took 4 years in World War II for us to lose 400,000. This is an actual war on our people,” says Johnson.

Earlier this week, Republican leaders delivered a statement on the Senate floor, ending their silence on Trump’s presidential bid loss. From Mitch McConnell to Russia President Vladimir Putin, many people congratulated the new president-elect Joe Biden. As Greer happily notes, “we are one step closer” to Inauguration Day. With this step closer, many folks like Greer and Johnson think we should stop, re-think, and examine what the electoral college actually means. Contrary to popular belief, getting rid of the electoral college “doesn’t mean voter suppression will end,” considering it takes more than that to transform racist institutions.

“What is more pressing than abolishing the electoral college is reinstating all full benefits of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” says Greer to Johnson.

In our modern presidential history, Greer notes, “the electoral college has given the results it’s meant to give.” Greer is interested in keeping the electoral college because it hasn’t failed the Black community consistently, outside of arguably the 2000 and 2016 elections.

Johnson on the other hand, thinks that Bush v. Gore and Trump v. Clinton aren’t one-offs, since this year’s election was primed for a similar fate had it not been for mail-in ballots. Ultimately, both agree that talking about the issues of the electoral college will bring forth change, since this system cannot hold.

Dealing with the fallout of Trump’s presidency, men and women travelled far and wide to march in support of Trump’s unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Greer finds the hypocrisy of evangelicals and other faith leaders astounding, considering many protesters damaged Black Lives Matter posters from Black churches, What concerns Johnson and Greer is the mid-20th century chant, “the cops and klan go hand-in-hand,” and as the days lead to the inauguration, folks must take seriously how racism is a national security issue.

A demonstrator reads a banner on display at Black Lives Matter Plaza, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“We need someone in the Department of Justice who is going to view the Proud Boys as a domestic terrorist organization, the fact they wear khakis and put on AXE body spray doesn’t mean they’re not terrorists,” says Johnson.

Greer aptly puts it into frame: far too many white Americans don’t understand white America. It’s evident in how this nation is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and, for Greer she’s interested in how we’ll cope with a post-corornavirus world.

“If there’s walls to Vietnam veterans, if there’s walls to WWII veterans, we’ve lost just as much or more people,” states Johnson.

Greer and Johnson note that the loss is due to gross incompetence.

As we continue to count the days to positive change, stay tuned to What’s In It For Us, the funny and politically edgy Black commentary podcast.

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