An Open Letter To Democratic Senators: End the Filibuster

To the Undecided Senator:

I want to encourage you to voice affirmative support for ending the filibuster. After the Chauvin verdict, I think many of us felt a collective sigh of relief, followed by a moment of clarity on how unsettling that sigh was. We’ve had the same 10 minute video for over a year. A video of an armed agent of the state lynching a legally innocent black man in broad daylight, in front of several witnesses. The evidence was clear as day, and yet we did not have faith in our justice system to do the most basic and fundamental step of acknowledging this. If this system was ever intended to be an executor of justice it is severely broken, corrupted beyond recognition, rotten to its core. Certainly the people have lost faith in it. A faith that must be restored if we are to ever heal as a nation. The conviction of Derek Chauvin serves as a troubling reminder of how many innocent civilians are murdered by state actors and are never acknowledged by the government. The United States government — and its federal bodies such as the United States Senate — continues to affirm the countless other lives stolen like George’s do not matter through this horrifying pattern of inaction.

Tradition and bipartisanship are nice. They’re pleasant words that poll well. They are not even comparable aims to justice, peace, liberation, and democracy itself. The filibuster represents the former, whereas the George Floyd Act represents the latter, along with all the other legislation in the justice graveyard that the United States Senate has become. Keeping the filibuster isn’t a neutral choice regarding bureaucratic procedure. It is a policy choice. A denial of the people’s power who put Democrats in office, arguably because of the murder of this beautiful, loved human being. It cannot be said enough. He should be alive today. By not passing this piece of legislation, by stepping away from his legacy, the Senate signals they do not care he is not with us today.

Even that is a rosy characterization of the realities of the Filibuster. The Filibuster is systemic racism at the highest level. It’s white-washed, forgotten about Jim Crow. A pig in lipstick, pretending to be a bald eagle. The people know this, and I think, most of us, have reached our rope end at the indifference towards this deference to tradition over anti-racism. If the Senate Democrats don’t wake up soon and realize this, I really worry about where we as a nation go from here. This is not just an argument for a redemption, but for our very survival as a nation. This is the very stink of Washington that pushes so many people away from the democratic practice, causes some many to lose faith in the power of their own citizenship, and pushes them towards more radical means of accessing justice. It instills in the people a sense of learned helplessness when looking towards their government to protect us, to serve us all. It is why the Democratic party continues to fumble power every time they manage to get their fingertips on it. The people’s mandate needs to be recognized, embraced, and actualized. This is the right thing to do politically and morally speaking.

It’s not just the George Floyd Act that needs to be passed. The For the People Act, Climate Change legislation, Gun Control Reform, Puerto Rico and DC statehood, Judicial Reform, marijuana legalization, healthcare reform. This was what we showed out in droves to vote for. These aren’t just good policy proposals. They are required remedies to a nation rotting from democratic decay. They are the politically right things to do to expand the scope of power for Senate Democrats, but more importantly these proposed legislation, if passed, make us all more free. It is in line with all of the United State’s alleged ideals.

We need to remove the filibuster: Because people of color, particularly black people like George Floyd, are more free without fear of being hunted by police. Because our democracy is strengthened, made real even, when we all have access to the ballot box and just representation. Because our children are more free when they have the guarantee of clean water and air, when they can live without fear of being victims of the next school shooting. Because the people of Puerto Rico and DC deserve representation just like any other Americans. Because the judiciary, as is, is dangerously close to permanently tipping in the direction of permanent minority rule. Because it is incoherent Kafkaesque nonsense that marijuana is legal in nearly half the states, but is scheduled like heroin by the DEA in their classification system. Because the lack of access to healthcare continues to be an American human rights crime. The list goes on and on.

Everything hinges on this. You’re either for the advancement and protection of justice and democracy or you are for the filibuster. There is no in between. If the Senate Democrats choose to keep the filibuster they choose to affirm support for radical injustice through inaction. We all know the Republican Senators are not operating in good faith. All they care about is power. Why are we waiting for people who have continued to express disinterest in doing the right thing, by claiming that is more just than actually using the government for its most basic, fundamental functions. Every second the Senate Democrats wait, the human toll compounds. What’s more, it feels like a dangerous game of chicken. If the pandemic taught us anything tomorrow is never certain. With a slim margin, if tragedy strikes and god forbid a Democratic senator in a red state should perish, we might not get another crack at this in the Biden administration. Who knows what will happen in the elections of 2022. Most importantly, as the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Justice too long delayed, is justice denied.”

Senators who are still ambivalent about utilizing their power for actualizing justice over some perceived political risk, would do best to stand down and stand aside for someone who will. The American people are fed up with these shenanigans, this political theatre that seems to take priority over our humanity in exchange for I don’t even know what at this point. It’s seems your sitting on and gambling your power by doing nothing. Is it money? I just can’t even comprehend the sort of depravity that it would take to sacrifice justice in exchange for something as common and filthy as money.

Again and again the establishment within political circles, the media, and the wealthy demonstrate a lack of urgency that in a just society would have long amounted to malicious neglect. It is this very inaction that has turned what should be the world’s most deliberative body into the world’s most nihilistic, destructive body in human history. The very fate of the planet may hinge on this debate. This should be former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel’s legacy, and those who enabled him. However if the filibuster is allowed to remain an obstacle to justice, it becomes the Democratic Party’s as well. Maybe even more so. There is no pretense with Mitch McConnel. He is enthusiastically antidemocratic, whereas the Democrats claim to be otherwise.

We all deserve a more just America, but first we need you to take this first crucial step. Exercise your power as a labor of love, and open up the Senate. There is too much at stake for Senate Democrats to sit on their hands. Please, we’re begging you, do better.

Sincerely,

Francesca Bavaro

This is a call to action. Only 16 Democratic Senators are on the record, agreeing that the filibuster should be ended. Find out at Vote Save America, where your senator stands, and let them know what you think about the filibuster!