Universal Suffrage Does Not Exist: If You Are a Foreign National, You Cannot Vote
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Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
Social Education 83(6), p. 356–360 ©2019 National Council for the Social Studies Teaching with Documents Suffrage, Activism, and Education in the Era of Chinese Exclusion: Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee Sara Lyons Davis The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, a year after being passed by ment, Mabel Lee settled with her fam- Congress. It extended the right to vote to many women, but not all. Excluded from ily in New York City. Her father, Lee this landmark constitutional victory were women like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who Too, founded the First Chinese Baptist was born in Guangzhou (then Canton), China, in 1896, but who immigrated to New Church and worked as an educator and York as a child. leader of the Chinese Christian Center on Pell Street, run by the New York City New York State had long been a restrictions on their ability to enter Baptist Mission Society.3 Lee Too’s pro- site of activism in support of women’s and exit the country, and were prohib- ficiency in English and connections with rights, dating from the 1848 Seneca ited from naturalizing. The Chinese the religious community, both acquired Falls Convention. In November 1917, Exclusion Act initially mandated a through his missionary school educa- New York extended the right to vote ten-year moratorium on Chinese immi- tion, advanced his family’s standing into to women. Lee, however, was excluded gration by laborers, but was ultimately what was considered the merchant class. from becoming a U.S. citizen under the extended by the Geary Act, and was later This offered additional opportunities restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act, and, made permanent, in 1902.1 By the 1920s, and somewhat fewer restrictions under as such, was not allowed to vote at either Congress adopted more comprehensive the Chinese Exclusion Act.4 the state or federal level, even when the immigration restrictions, including As a child, Mabel Lee attended public 19th Amendment was ratified. -
' Dangers and Delusions'?
UCL LIBRARY SERVICES ‘ Dangers and Delusions’? Perspectives on the women’s suffrage movement An exhibition of material from UCL Special Collections February – December 2018 ‘Dangers and Delusions’? Perspectives on the women’s suffrage movement An exhibition of material from UCL Special Collections February – December 2018 #dangersanddelusions Preface The movement calling for women’s right to vote in the United Kingdom was drawn out over several decades and generated intense differences of opinion, not only between those for and against electoral equality, but also within pro- and anti-suffrage campaigns. This exhibition draws on items held in UCL Special Collections – satirical commentaries, campaign literature, personal notes and petitions – to examine the actions and reactions surrounding the case for universal suffrage, from the 1860s up to the fi rst legislative step towards equality for women: the Representation of the People Act, 1918. 4 | ‘Dangers and Delusions’? Introduction | 5 Introduction Coming in to force one hundred years ago, the Representation of rejected by a vote of 194 to 73. Right up to his death a few years later Mill remained the People Act, 1918 granted the vote in Britain to some women a strong supporter of women’s suffrage, as illustrated by a letter to UCL Professor over the age of 30. The long-running suffrage campaign that led George Croom Robertson. to this change has strong resonance and interest for us today, In 1865 the National Society for Women’s Suffrage was formed to bring together although when it first began in the 1860s ‘the Cause’ was of no local suffrage societies. -
Making Exceptions to Universal Suffrage: Disability and the Right to Vote
Making Exceptions to Universal Suffrage: Disability and the Right to Vote Kay Schriner, University of Arkansas Lisa Ochs, Arkansas State University In C.E. Faupel & P.M. Roman (Eds.), Encyclopedia of criminology and deviant behavior 179-183. London: Taylore & Francis. 2000. The history of Western representative democracies is marked by disputes over who constitutes the electorate. In the U.S., where states have the prerogative of establishing voter qualifications, categories such as race and gender have been used during various periods to disqualify millions of individuals from participating in elections. These restrictions have long been considered an infamous example of the failings of democratic theorists and practitioners to overcome the prejudices of their time. Less well-known is the common practice of disenfranchising other large numbers of adults. Indeed, very few American citizens are aware that there are still two groups who are routinely targeted for disenfranchisement - criminals and individuals with disabilities. These laws, which arguably perpetuate racial and disability discrimination, are vestiges of earlier attempts to cordon off from democracy those who were believed to be morally and intellectually inferior. This entry describes these disability-based disenfranchisements, and briefly discusses the political, economic, and social factors associated with their adoption. Disenfranchising People with Cognitive and Emotional Impairments Today, forty-four states disenfranchise some individuals with cognitive and emotional impairments. States use a variety of categories to identify such individuals, including idiot, insane, lunatic, mental incompetent, mental incapacitated, being of unsound mind, not quiet and peaceable, and under guardianship and/or conservatorship. Fifteen states disenfranchise individuals who are idiots, insane, and/or lunatics. -
Soviet Democracy
SOVIET DEMOCRACY by Harry E Ward SOVIET RUSSIA TODAY New York 1947 NOTE ON THE AUTHOR Dr. Harry F. Ward is Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. He has spent considerable time in the Soviet Union and has writ- ten and lectured extensively on the Soviet Union. His books include In Place af Profit, Democracy and Social Change and The Soviet Spirit. The cover is by Lynd Ward, son of the author, dis- tinguished American artist who is known for his novels in pictures and for his book illustrations. - i 5.1 12.$fiW Photos, excem where otherwise in icated v cour- tesy of the ~xhibitsDepartment of the ~atiohai~oun- cil of American-Soviet Friendship. A PUB1,ICATION OF SOVIET RUSSIA TODAY 114 East ~2ndSt., New York i6, N. Y. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 209 CHAPTER I THE ECONOMIC BASE URING 1945 and 1946 the Soviet press carried on an extensive discussion of Soviet democracy-what it is D. and how it works. This discussion began as an edu- cational preparation for the election of the Supreme So- viet. It continued in response to much talk here about "dif- ferent ideas of democracy" that arose from disagreements in the United Nations and in the occupation of enemy coun- tries. Soviet writers point out that underneath such differ- ences over procedures is the historic fact that theirs is a so- cialist democracy. This, they tell their readers, makes it a higher form than capitalist democracy. They mean higher in the ongoing of the democratic process not merely as a form of government, but a cooperative way of life through which more and more of the people of the earth, by increas- ing their control over both nature and human society, emancipate themselves from famine, pestilence and war, as well as from tyranny. -
Right to Housing
THE RIGHT TO HOUSING If a person has a low opinion of himselfand is unhappy because he lives in a filthy, dilapidated,rat-infested house, you cannot tell him to apply positive thinking-and "Be Happy!" Happiness will begin to blossom only when he finds a way to get out of his physical trap into improved surroundings. Harold Cruse* I. INTRODUCTION Housing is basic to human survival. When properly constructed and maintained, it provides an essential element for life: shelter from the forces of nature. The 1949 Housing Act' recognized the importance of housing by enunciating the national goal of a "decent home and a suitable living envi- ronment for every American family." The impact of housing quality on so- cietal well being is undeniable. For example, the quality and character of the family living unit significantly affects the nature of organized family life.2 Moreover, poor housing has been shown to cause mental and physical illness and is a contributing factor to the cause of crime.3 The demonstrated importance of housing quality supports the assertion that the right to habitable housing is a personal interest which is "implicit in the concept of ordered liberty"4 and thereby deserving of constitutional pro- tection. Yet, in Lindsey v. Normet5 the Supreme Court held that access to housing of a particular quality is not a fundamental interest which requires application of a strict standard of review under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Thus, governmental action which curtails a person's ability to obtain habitable housing need only bear a rational rela- tionship to a permissible governmental objective.6 Because the range of per- missible governmental objectives is broad, a rational relationship can usually be established and a challenged governmental action upheld.7 * H. -
The Right to Emergency Accommodation in France and EU Equality Law Cécile Bénoliel
Articles 75 Universal Rights but Not for Everyone: The Right to Emergency Accommodation in France and EU Equality Law Cécile Bénoliel Lawyer, member of the French housing rights law network Jurislogement, formerly a law and advocacy officer at Abbé Pierre Foundation \ Abstract_ In the context of the refugee crisis that started in 2014 in Europe, many have denounced restrictions imposed on migrants’ fundamental rights. This article explores the striking example of the right to emergency accom- modation in France, and puts these developments into question in the framework of European equality law, asking whether and how they may contra- dict the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of race and ethnic origin under EU law. The apparent incapacity of the current EU equality framework to effectively question discriminatory aspects of this recent phenomenon is dangerous, and calls for an urgent common reflection. In light of critical legal studies, it poses a threat to the consistency and effectiveness of the anti- discrimination legal framework in Europe, on the one hand, and of the very nature of fundamental rights, on the other hand. What is at stake is the tackling by the law of phenomena that may be seen as pertaining to institutional and structural racism, at national and European levels. ISSN 2030-2762 / ISSN 2030-3106 online 76 European Journal of Homelessness _ Volume 14, No. 2_ 2020 Introduction Much ink has been spilled on the consequences of the refugee crisis that started in 2014 in terms of people’s rights. These consequences are now also denounced as a housing policy issue in an increasing number of European countries, 1 and the EU Commission’s Social Policy Network has recently published a report on the fight against homelessness, demonstrating attention to this issue and openly recognising the specific obstacles faced by the migrant homeless (Baptista and Marlier, 2019). -
Lessons Learned from the Suffrage Movement
University of Baltimore Law ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law All Faculty Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 6-3-2020 Lessons Learned From the Suffrage Movement Margaret E. Johnson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac Part of the Law Commons Johnson, Margaret 6/3/2020 For Educational Use Only LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, 2 No. 1 Md. B.J. 115 2 No. 1 Md. B.J. 115 Maryland Bar Journal 2020 Margaret E. Johnsona1 PROFESSOR OF LAW, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE SCHOOL OF LAW Copyright © 2020 by Maryland Bar Association; Margaret E. Johnson LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT “Aye.” And with that one word, Tennessee Delegate Harry Burn changed his vote to one in favor of ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment after receiving a note from his mother stating “‘Hurrah and vote for suffrage .... don’t forget to be a good boy ....”’1 *116 With Burn’s vote on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, paving the way for its adoption.2 The Nineteenth Amendment protects the female citizens’ constitutional right to vote.3 Prior to its passage, only a few states permitted women to vote in state and/or local elections.4 In 2020, we celebrate the Centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment’s passage. This anniversary provides a time to reflect upon lessons learned from the suffrage movement including that (1) voting rights matter; (2) inclusive movements matter; and (3) voting rights matter for, but cannot solely achieve, gender equality. -
The DC Right to Housing Campaign Meetali Jain
Human Rights Brief Volume 17 | Issue 3 Article 2 2010 Bringing Human Rights Home: The DC Right to Housing Campaign Meetali Jain Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief Part of the Housing Law Commons, and the Human Rights Law Commons Recommended Citation Jain, Meetali. "Bringing Human Rights Home: The DC Right to Housing Campaign." Human Rights Brief 17, no.3 (2010): 10-14. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Human Rights Brief by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Jain: Bringing Human Rights Home: The DC Right to Housing Campaign Bringing Human Rights Home: The DC Right to Housing Campaign by Meetali Jain* Housing is not simply about bricks and mortar, nor is it simply a financial asset. Housing includes a sense of community, trust and bonds built between neighbor- hoods over time; the schools which educate the child; and the businesses which the local economy and pro- vide needed goods and services. — Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing1 he United Nations Centre for Human Settlements esti- mates that globally over one billion people live in inad- Tequate housing, with an excess of 100 million people liv- ing in conditions classified as homelessness. Here in the District of Columbia, a city with the widest income gap between rich and poor of any city in the country, we do not need to look further than our backyard to bear witness to the truth of these statistics.2 Washington, D.C. -
Expanding Voting Rights to All Citizens in the Era of Mass Incarceration
Expanding Voting Rights to All Citizens in the Era of Mass Incarceration In order to strengthen democracy and address significant racial disparities, states must pass reforms establishing universal voting for people impacted by the criminal legal system. 5.2 million people in the United States are currently Disenfranchised People in U.S. Prisons, 2020 denied access to the vote because of a felony convic- tion. The number of people disenfranchised has grown, Total: 1.2 million from 1.2 million in 1976, as a product of mass incar- ceration and supervision. Of people denied the vote, 1 one in four (1,240,000) are currently incarcerated. While Latinx many states have expanded access to the vote for 17% people who have completed their sentences, only DC has joined Maine, Vermont, and Puerto Rico by granting Black full voting rights to people in prison. In order to strength- 39% en democracy and address significant racial disparities, All Others states must pass reforms establishing universal voting 44% for people impacted by the criminal legal system. The United States maintains far greater restrictions on voting while in prison than any other democratic country in the world. The Supreme Court of Canada has twice ruled in favor of protecting voting rights for people in As the United States maintains the highest incarceration prison, stating that the “denial of the right to vote on rate and largest prison population in the world, outdat- the basis of attributed moral unworthiness is inconsis- ed and undemocratic voting restrictions continue to tent with the respect for the dignity of every person that dilute political representation. -
Chapter 6 Hong Kong
CHAPTER 6 HONG KONG Key Findings • The Hong Kong government’s proposal of a bill that would allow for extraditions to mainland China sparked the territory’s worst political crisis since its 1997 handover to the Mainland from the United Kingdom. China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s auton- omy and its suppression of prodemocracy voices in recent years have fueled opposition, with many protesters now seeing the current demonstrations as Hong Kong’s last stand to preserve its freedoms. Protesters voiced five demands: (1) formal with- drawal of the bill; (2) establishing an independent inquiry into police brutality; (3) removing the designation of the protests as “riots;” (4) releasing all those arrested during the movement; and (5) instituting universal suffrage. • After unprecedented protests against the extradition bill, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended the measure in June 2019, dealing a blow to Beijing which had backed the legislation and crippling her political agenda. Her promise in September to formally withdraw the bill came after months of protests and escalation by the Hong Kong police seeking to quell demonstrations. The Hong Kong police used increasingly aggressive tactics against protesters, resulting in calls for an independent inquiry into police abuses. • Despite millions of demonstrators—spanning ages, religions, and professions—taking to the streets in largely peaceful pro- test, the Lam Administration continues to align itself with Bei- jing and only conceded to one of the five protester demands. In an attempt to conflate the bolder actions of a few with the largely peaceful protests, Chinese officials have compared the movement to “terrorism” and a “color revolution,” and have im- plicitly threatened to deploy its security forces from outside Hong Kong to suppress the demonstrations. -
A Right to Housing
P1: FAW/FAW P2: FAW GRBT106-INTRO GRBT106-Bratt December 7, 2005 15:37 Char Count= 0 Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone and Chester Hartman WhyaRight to Housing Is Needed and MakesSense: Editors’ Introduction IT IS UNCONSCIONABLE that in the larger fissures between the nation’s richest and 21st century, upwards of 100 million people in most of the rest of us—but most especially the theUnitedStatesliveinhousingthatisphysically poorest among us—disparities that have a clear inadequate, in unsafe neighborhoods, over- racial dimension as well and that make true crowded or way beyond what they realistically democracy impossible. can afford. Yet it could be quite different. We Just over 60 years ago, in his 1944 State of the could and should guarantee high-quality, truly Union address to Congress, President Franklin affordablehousingin“good”neighborhoodsfor Delano Roosevelt declared that economic secu- all and thus finally achieve the National Housing rity is a necessary ingredient for a democratic Goal of “a decent home and a suitable living en- society. He further asserted that there was a need vironment for every American family,” as artic- for a whole series of economic and social rights, ulated by Congress over a half-century ago in the including a Right to Housing. This is part of his 1949 Housing Act and reaffirmed in subsequent message: legislative initiatives.1 This book embraces the view that a commitment to a Right to Housing We havecometoaclearrealizationofthefactthat should be the foundation not only for housing true individual freedom cannot exist without policy but also for a new social agenda. economic security and independence. -
Indigenous Peoples' Right to Adequate Housing
Indigenous peoples’ right to adequate housing A global overview United Nations Housing Rights Programme Report No. 7 United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Nairobi, 2005 This publication has been reproduced without formal editing by the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the United Nations, and a failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. Excerpts from the text may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. Cover design: Sukhjinder Bassan, UN-HABITAT. Cover photo credits: Miriam Lopez Villegas. Printing: UNON Printshop, Nairobi. UN-HABITAT Nairobi, 2005. HS/734/05E ISBN 92-1-131713-4 (printed version) ISBN 92-1-131522-0 (electronic version) ISBN 92-1-131664-2 (UNHRP report series, printed version) ISBN 92-1-131513-1 (UNHRP report series, electronic version) An electronic version of this publication is available for download from the UN-HABITAT web-site at (http://www.unhabitat.org/unhrp/pub). The electronic version – in compiled HTML format, allowing complex text searches – requires Microsoft Windows 98 or later; or Microsoft Windows 95 plus Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 4 or later).