Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., on Thursday said she was “shocked” that lowering the legal voting age to 16 is a “polarizing” subject of debate.
Pressley ‒ a co-sponsor of a resolution to H.R. 1 that aims to lower the voting age to 16 ‒ made the comment on Thursday during a Facebook Live conversation with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and author Ibram Kendi.
“Dr. Kendi, I was shocked by how polarizing an issue this was, and listen, when I would tell people [the late Rep.] John Lewis is an original co-sponsor of this — you know, our young people deserve to have a stakeholder in our democracy,” Pressley, a member of the so-called “Squad” said in response to Kendi, who said lowering the voting age is an example of anti-racist policy.
Kendi responded by saying that one of the areas of discussion he has touched on frequently is the “disenfranchisement” of Black and Brown Americans.
“Young Black and Brown folks, in particular, are facing the brunt of disenfranchisement,” he said. “And when … the younger generations are more predominantly Black and Brown, it sort of leads to a greater level of disenfranchisement.”- READ MORE
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