HAVE YOU NOTICED EVERYWHERE IS OUT OF EVERYTHING? NEW REPORTING ON THE GLOBAL SHORTAGE OF EVERYTHING. "ALL IN" STARTS RIGHT NOW. GOOD EVENING FROM NEW YORK. IM CHRIS HAYES. FOR THE LAST 24 HOURS I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT MITCH McCONNELL SAID YESTERDAY. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN HE CAME OUT TO ANNOUNCE HE IS NOT JUST AGAINST THE AMBITIOUS VOTING RIGHTS BILL KNOWN AS THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, BUT ALSO THE MUCH MORE LIMITED JOHN LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ACT, WHICH WOULD SIMPLY REESTABLISH PROVISIONS OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT THAT WERE STRUCK DOWN BY THE SUPREME COURT IN 2013. >> THREAT TO THE VOTING RIGHTS LAW. ITS AGAINST THE LAW TO DISCRIMINATE IN VOTING ON THE BASE OF RACE ALREADY. SO I THINK ITS UNNECESSARY. >> UNNECESSARY. ALREADY AGAINST THE LAW TO DISCRIMINATE BASED ON RACE. NOW, THERES A BUNCH OF STUFF TO UNPACK. BACK IN 2006 MITCH McCONNELL NOT ONLY VOTED FOR REAUTHORIZING THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT BUT AS MAJORITY WHIP HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING HIS REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES TO VOTE FOR IT TOO, EVEN TOOK TO THE SENATE FLOOR TO GIVE A SPEECH ABOUT IT. >> WE HAVE OF COURSE RENEWED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT PERIODICALLY SINCE THAT TIME OVERWHELMINGLY AND ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS YEAR AFTER YEAR BECAUSE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REALIZE THIS IS A PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT HAS WORKED AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE SAYINGS IS IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT. THIS IS A GOOD PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT HAS SERVED AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE OVER MANY, MANY YEARS. THIS LANDMARK PIECE OF LEGISLATION WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOT ONLY IN THE SOUTH BUT FOR ALL OF AMERICA AND FOR ALL OF US, WHETHER WERE AFRICAN-AMERICANS OR NOT. >> 15 YEARS AGO, IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT. YOU GOT TO WONDER WHEN MITCH McCONNELL THINKS IT BROKE. FOR MITCH McCONNELL TO COME OUT YESTERDAY AND SAY, WELL, YOU SEE, ITS ALREADY ILLEGAL TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE FOR VOTING AND NOT BE THE SOURCE OF JUST UNIVERSAL RIDICULE AND CONDEMNATION, SPEAKS TO JUST HOW ABSENT THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF RACE AND DEMOCRACY IS IN ALL OF OUR DISCUSSIONS TODAY. MITCH McCONNELL SAYS ITS ALREADY AGAINST THE LAW TO DISCRIMINATE FROM VOTING ON THE BASIS OF RACE. SO HE THINKS A LAW POLICING THAT RIGHT IS UNNECESSARY. NOW, THERE IS A VERY OBVIOUS PROBLEM HERE. THOSE WHO STUDIED THE HISTORY OF VOTING RIGHTS IN AMERICA AND THWARTED EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE A MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY. NO. IT HAS BEEN AGAINST THE LAW TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE IN VOTING SINCE 1870, WHEN THE 15th AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED SAYING, QUOTE, THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES TO VOTE SHALL NOT BE DENIED OR ABRIDGED BY THE UNITED STATES OR BY ANY STATE ON ACCOUNT OF RACE, COLOR OR PREVIOUS CONDITION OF SERVITUDE. IT SAYS IT RIGHT THERE IN BLACK AND WHITE IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION. IT SAYS YOU CANNOT RACIALLY DISCRIMINATE IN VOTING. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE A VERSION OF MITCH McCONNELL IN, I DONT KNOW, 1920 KENTUCKY SAYING LITERALLY THE EXACT SAME STATEMENT. OH, WHY DO WE NEED A LAW TO ENFORCE VOTING RIGHTS? ITS ALREADY ILLEGAL. OR STROM THURMOND SAYING, THERE ARE THREE REASONS I FEEL THE BILL SHOULD NOT BE PASSED. THE FIRST IS THAT ITS UNNECESSARY. EVERY STATE HAS ENACTED SOME
LEGISLATION MAKING IT UNLAWFUL LEGISLATION MAKING IT UNLAWFUL TO INTIMIDATE A VENTILATORHIM OR IN VOTING. ITS IN THE CONSTITUTION. THOSE WERE THE TYPE OF ARGUMENTS SEGREGATIONISTS MADE, JIM CROW AUTHORITARIANS, DECADE AFTER DECADE AFTER DECADE AFTER DECADE IN THIS COUNTRY. AS THEY FLOGGED MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY TO DEATH UNDERNEATH THE TABLE AS THEY GAVE THOSE SPEECHES. WE ARE NOT DISCRIMINATING. THE LAW SAYS WE CANT. ANYONE CAN VOTE. THIS IS HOW SENATOR JAMES EASTLAND OF MISSISSIPPI, NOTORIOUS SEGREGATIONIST, THE VOICE TO THE WHITE SOUTH, PUT IT TO MIKE WALLACE. >> ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT YOUR PEOPLE DOWN IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI ENCOURAGE NEGROS TO REGISTER AND VOTE? >> WELL, WE HAVE NO VOTING QUALIFICATIONS BASED ON RACE. NOT AT ALL AND ANYBODY WHOS QUALIFIED CAN VOTE. >> MISSISSIPPI SENATOR 1957, WE HAVE NO VOTING QUALIFICATIONS BASED ON RACE. OF COURSE. WHY WOULD WE? ITS IN THE CONSTITUTION. THE CONSTITUTION RATIFIED IN 1870 WHEN MISSISSIPPI WAS UNDER FEDERAL OCCUPATION. THEYRE ALL SAYING THE SAME THING, STROM THURMOND, JAMES EASTLAND AND MITCH McCONNELL 64 YEARS LATER. McCONNELL SAYS THIS AS HE IS THREATENING TO FILIBUSTER THE WHOLE SET OF LEGISLATION MEANT TO AFFIRM THE FRANCHISE, LEADING TO A SITUATION ONE CRITIC DESCRIBED AS A SENATE THAT IS A MINORITY OF MISGUIDED SENATORS WHO WILL USE THE FILIBUSTER TO KEEP THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE FROM EVEN VOTING. SO EVEN THOUGH IT HAS BEEN THE LAW SINCE 1870, AS MITCH McCONNELL SAYS, THAT DID NOT MATTER TO THE VAST SWATHS OF MILLIONS OF OSTENSIBLY FREE BLACK AMERICANS. THEY WATCHED THAT DESTROYED, ERODED AND GUTS ALL ALL KIND OF MEANS, EXTRALEGAL TERRORISM AND ARMED COUPS THAT LITERALLY TOOK GOVERNMENTS AWAY FROM THEM WHICH WERE MULTIRACIAL IN NATURE. THAT HAPPENED IN WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, WHITE PEOPLE JUST STORMING THE TOWN HALL, TAKING IT OVER, WHICH I IMAGINE YOU PROBABLY HAVE NOT HEARD A LOT ABOUT, BECAUSE ITS NOT REALLY TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS. ARMS COUPS HAPPENED ALL OVER THE SOUTH.
THEN OF COURSE THERE WERE THE THEN OF COURSE THERE WERE THE JIM CROW LAWS WHICH STUDIOUSLY EXPLIT ITALY EXPLICITLY AVOIDED MENTIONING RACE. THATS WHY WE HAD LITERACY TEST AND GRANDFATHER CLAUSE AND NAME HOW MANY JELLY BEANS ARE IN THE JAR, LAWS THAT MADE IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FUNCTIONALLY TO VOTE DESPITE THE RIGHT BEING ENSHRINED IN THE 15th AMENDMENT. THAT IS THE WHOLE STRUGGLE FOR MAKING REAL THE PROMISE OF MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY AND UNIVERSAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF ALL ADULTS. FOR MITCH McCONNELL TO COME OUT IN 2020 AND SAY, WELL, THE LAW PRESCRIBES IT, SHOWS HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HISTORY OR IS WILDLY CYNICAL OR BOTH. YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE EFFORTS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION. YOU CANT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOURE SEEING TODAY UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY, BECAUSE IT WAS PRECISELY METHODS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION, CHANGING THE HOURS THE REGISTRAR WAS OPEN OR MAKING THEM OPEN ONLY ONCE A MONTH, THOSE ARE THE METHODS THAT TOOK WHAT WAS A NASCENT MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY AND TURNED IT BACK INTO APARTHEID STATE. I HAVE COME TO BELIEVE THIS STORY, THE STORY OF THAT FACT, THAT IN THE WAKE OF THE CIVIL WAR WE BEGAN TO PUT IN PLACE THE FOUNDATIONS OF MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY, AND IT WAS DESTROYED BY WHITE SUPREMACY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY ABOUT AMERICA AND THE LEAST TOLD. WHEN IT IS NOT TOLD, IT IS IN THE ABSENCE OF ITS TELLING THAT SOMEONE LIKE MITCH McCONNELL OR REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS IN GEORGIA OR TEXAS OR FLORIDA CAN GET AWAY WITH THEIR NOTHING TO SEE HERE. OF COURSE, WE SEE THESE METHODS ALL THE WAY UP TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BLOCK THINGS LIKE THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT OR NOW HE OPPOSES THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. IT MAY SOUND JUST LIKE A WEIRD MESSAGE OF HISTORY. THE HISTORY OF THE FILIBUSTER IS ALSO INEXTRICABLY BOUND UP IN THE HISTORY OF RACE AND SOUTHERN OBSTRUCTION OF BLACK ENFRANCHISEMENT. THE PERSON WHO JUST FIGURED OUT WHAT WOULD BECOME THE MODERN FILIBUSTER WAS JOHN CALHOUN. JOHN CALHOUN, THE INTELLECTUAL FATHER OF THE CONFEDERACY, THE MAN WHO SAID SLAVERY WAS NOT A NECESSARY EVIL BUT, QUOTE, A POSITIVE GOOD. YES, THE FILIBUSTER WAS USE FOR LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS LOTS OF PLACES, BUT ONE OF ITS CORE CENTRAL USES WAS BY SOUTHERN WHITE SENATORS TO BLOCK ANTI-LYNCHING BILLS AND TO BLOCK CIVIL RIGHTS BILLS. EARLIER I READ A QUOTE CONDEMNING THE USE OF THE FILIBUSTER TO BLOCK VOTING RIGHTS. YOU KNOW WHO SAID THAT? MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HERE HE IS DECRYING THE FILIBUSTER AS A TOOL OF WHITE SUPREMACY IN 1963. >> THE TRAGEDY IS THAT WE HAVE A CONGRESS WITH A SENATE THAT HAS A MINORITY OF MISGUIDED SENATORS WHO WILL USE THE FILIBUSTER TO KEEP THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE FROM EVEN VOTING. THEY WONT LET THE MAJORITY SENATORS VOTE. SUDDENLY THEY WOULDNT WANT THE MAJORITY PEOPLE TO VOTE BECAUSE THEY KNOW THEY DO NOT REPRESENT THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. >> WILD TO HEAR THAT, RIGHT? THE STATEMENT IS JUST AS TRUE NOW AS IT WAS 58 YEARS AGO. EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THIS HISTORICAL CONTEXT, IT IS HARD TO TRULY APPRECIATE WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN FRONT OF OUR FACES. THAT HISTORY IS LARGELY NOT TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS. PEOPLE DONT HEAR ABOUT RECONSTRUCTION AND ALL THAT IT REPRESENTED. PEOPLE DONT KNOW THAT THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA HAD A MAJORITY BLACK HOUSE OF LEGISLATURE IN 1868, THAT MISSISSIPPI HAD A BLACK SENATOR IN 1970. I HEARD ABOUT IT, BUT NOT A TON. THAT BRINGS US TO THE ASSAULT ON HISTORY THAT REPUBLICANS ARE NOW PAIRING WITH THEIR ASSAULT ON VOTING RIGHTS. IT THEY ARE DIGGING IN THE ARCHIVES FOR METHODS OF VOTER SUPPRESSION AND TARGETED ATTACKS ON BLACK AND BROWN FOLKS IN AN ATTEMPT TO ROLL BACK MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY WHILE ALSO ATTACKING THE TEACHING OF THE HOUSE THAT WOULD ILLUMINATE TO PEOPLE WHY THAT EFFORT IS SO DANGEROUS, WHY IT HAPPENED BEFORE AND WHY IT WON LAST TIME AND WHY IT PUT US WHERE WE ARE NOW, SO STATE AFTER STATE, FOX NEWS AND REPUBLICANS HAVE WHIPPED UP PANIC ABOUT SO-CALLED CRITICAL RACE THEORY. MORE THAN 20 STATES HAVE INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO BAN CRITICAL RACE THEORY OR BANNED IT ALL TOGETHER. CRITICAL RACE THEORY IS AN ACTUAL DOCTRINE, ACADEMIC METHOD STARTED TO QUESTION SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LAW AND POWER AND HOW THEY FUNCTION IN THE U.S. IM NOT AN EXPERT AT IT. I HAVE READ SOME OF IT. I DONT THINK ITS THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON RACE AND THE LAW OR AMERICAN HISTORY, BUT ITS A VERY DIFFERENT THING THAN HOW THE TERM HAS BEEN APPLIED BY CONSERVATIVE ACTIVISTS. A FEW MONTHS AGO CHRIS RUFO, ONE OF THE ACTIVISTS PURSUING THIS MORAL PANIC, TWEETED, QUOTE, THE GOAL TO HAVE THE PUBLIC READ SOMETHING CRAZY IN THE NEWSPAPER AND IMMEDIATELY THINK CRITICAL RACE THEORY. WE HAVE DECODIFIED THE TERM. IF YOU DONT LIKE IT, THEN ITS CRITICAL RACE THEORY. THATS WHAT HES SAYING. IF YOU DONT WANT YOUR WHITE CHILDREN BEING TAUGHT THAT SAY WHITE TERRORISTS MURDERED BLACK PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH, WELL, THEN THATS CRITICAL RACE THEORY. YOU SEE HOW THAT WORKS? SO NOW THE REPUBLICANS ARE RAILING ABOUT FREE SPEECH TO BASICALLY MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE OR EVEN CRIMINAL TO TEACH CERTAIN THINGS IN SCHOOLS. BUT ITS ALL PART OF THE SAME STORY. THEYRE RUNNING BACK TO THE OLD TACTICS IN THE PAST WHILE MAKING IT HARDER FOR PEOPLE TO LEARN
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It blow my mind that people point at a show like this riddled with citations, facts, and logic, and draw equivalencies to Tooker Carlson whining while using hypothetical question as his supporting evidence. But leftists are the snowflakes who get their feelings hurt.