Today my student asked me if I thought that a professor would let her leave class early to vote since she has class all morning and has to work immediately after. I told her what I thought, and I really felt for this student, who at 18 had the desire to vote, yet to do so meant hurting her at work or school. I teach at a community college, known for having significant percentages of students who work and attend school full time, and many are mature students returning to school for a better job. These student lead very complex, full lives and schedules.
I had that conversation in my head as I watched Rachel Maddow's live Sunday special (thank you, DVR!). I was incredibly moved by Maddow's scathing characterization of the long, long early voting lines as a poll tax. I was moved because of the way that Maddow pleas with the audience -- as voters, employers, public officials -- to persevere to vote in this historic and all-important election, and then demand that we, as a nation, fulfill our democratic values and eliminate what is effectively a poll tax. I couldn't agree with her more.
Watch her assessment here:
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