Brentin Mock Talks Voter Suppression on MSNBC’s ‘PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton’

Aug 25, 2012

Colorlines.com Investigative Reporter Brentin Mock appeared on MSNBC’s "PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton" as a part of Voting Rights Watch 2012, in partnership with the Nation. Sharpton discussed Brentin’s latest article, "[How the Right’s Building a ‘Poll Watcher’ Network for November](https://colorlines.com/archives/2012/08/true_the_votes_large_and_growing_far-right_network.html)" on True the Vote’s rapidly growing influence in right-wing political circles. Brentin: "Poll watching is not illegal. But we also know that ‘watching’ and ‘monitoring’ are not race-neutral verbs, especially with our country’s racial history. George Zimmerman was merely ‘watching’ and ‘monitoring’ the neighborhood, and following Trayvon Martin before that ended tragically… We can see how this kind of ‘watching’ and ‘monitoring’ can lead to completely unnecessary and completely avoidable confrontations." For more discussion see the [live online chat](https://colorlines.com/archives/2012/08/live_chat_colorlinescom_reporters_on_the_threat_to_voting_rights_in_2012.html) hosted this week with Colorlines.com reporters Brentin Mock and Aura Bogado, along with Nation reporter Ari Berman.