Washington, D.C., will soon have a vaccine passport. If you buy into liberal logic, it’s a systemically racist policy.
Starting on Saturday, people ages 12 and older will have to show proof they received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine before entering various businesses in the city. This includes restaurants, entertainment venues, exercise/recreational facilities, and more. The city will provide religious and medical exemptions, but those with an exemption must show proof of a negative test within the last 24 hours. That’s not an option for the general public.
Mayor Muriel Bowser explained on Twitter that people ages 18 and older will have to provide a photo ID in addition to their proof of vaccination.
“Remember that starting Saturday you will need these three things before heading out: 1. Proof of Vaccination (12 years +) 2. Proof of Vaccination and Photo ID (18 years +) 3. Mask,” she wrote.
So, a city that typically does not require a photo ID to vote will require a photo ID for someone to go out to eat?
The liberal argument against voter ID over the years is that it’s a racist voter suppression tactic. If we take that same logic, then this is a racist, segregationist tactic that will prevent black people from participating in everyday life.
If racial minorities don’t have IDs to vote, how will these same people who don’t have IDs be able to do anything in the city?
In August, then-acting Mayor Kim Janey compared vaccine passports to slavery-era freedom papers — because she knew they’d disproportionately affect racial minorities. The comparison is nuts, but she deserves credit for consistency.
As of Dec. 13, 58% of white people across 42 states had received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine — higher than both the rate for Hispanics (56%) and black people (51%), according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
That’s a 7-point gap in vaccination between whites and blacks. That’s the same racial gap in confirmed photo ID ownership, according to the liberal Project Vote. The organization says 95% of white adults have a government-recognized photo ID, while the same is true of 87% of black adults.
Photo IDs should be free for low-income people nationwide, and everyone who wants a photo ID should have one. But one must ask: Why is it OK to require a photo ID here but not there?
Voter fraud doesn’t happen nearly as much as former President Donald Trump wants you to think it does, but it’s not nonexistent either. We should want to have election integrity, and we should want to make sure every vote cast in an election is legitimate. When liberals oppose voter ID, it solidifies people’s opinions there is fraud in elections — even if their opinion of how much fraud is happening is wrong.
Regardless of how one feels about vaccine passports, there is some intellectual inconsistency here. Let’s highlight this moment when liberals try to call voter ID racist.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts. He is also a freelance writer who has been published in USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other outlets.
