All In: The Fight for Democracy Parent Guide

When Brian Kemp was acknowledged the winner of the 2018 gubernatorial race in Georgia, his opponent made a most unusual speech. Stacey Abrams said: “This is not a speech of concession. Concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of faith, I cannot concede…I know that eight years of systemic disenfranchisement, disinvestment and incompetence had its desired effect on the electoral process in Georgia.” Since that speech, the issue of voter suppression has come to the fore in discussions of democratic renewal. All In: The Fight for Democracy goes all in in providing historical background and current context for this issue.

Parents and teachers considering this documentary for viewing by tweens and teens will breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that the movie avoids partisan rancor. In fact, Director Jack Youngelson goes out of his way to avoid partisanship. Instead of casting blame on current parties, the film dives into the history of voting restrictions, going back to colonial America and its restriction of the franchise to white, property owning males. The history of broadening suffrage, to African Americans after the Civil War and to women in the early 20^th century is covered, as is the tragic reversal of voting rights for Black Americans after Reconstruction. The passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent weakening in the Shelby case in 2013 are also examined, setting the stage for today’s challenges.

All In: The Fight for Democracy provides a survey of current voter suppression tactics, touching on voter ID laws, felony disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, voter roll purges, precinct closures, and “exact match” rules. These strategies are described as are their effects on members of minority groups, the poor, and young voters. While the electoral results of these strategies are clearly illustrated, the disheartening effects on individual voters are also shown as they grieve their inability to vote or to have their votes counted. Viewers also see the frustration of Georgia voters, caught up in an election in which the Secretary of State (Brian Kemp) responsible for running the election, was also a candidate. (It’s a bit like going to a basketball game and discovering that the opposing team’s coach is also the referee. That doesn’t inspire confidence in the outcome of the game.) These voter suppression tactics strike at the very legitimacy of a system and raise the worrying question of what will happen when a social underclass realizes that it has no voice in its government. It is not a recipe for social cohesion.

In terms of production quality, this documentary shines. It’s capably produced with historical footage and animated episodes. The real stars are its interview subjects, and the documentary has managed to draw on the foremost scholars and public figures active in this field - Carl Anderson, Eric Foner, Michael Waldman, Andrew Young, Debo Adegbile, Hans von Spakovsky – all of whom provide insightful commentary.

As another vitriolic election season looms, this movie reminds us of the roots of democracy and of citizens’ responsibilities to both vote and to protect the rights of our neighbors to cast their ballot. As Stacey Abrams says: “The fundamental power of democracy lies in the right to vote. If you protect that right you create possibilities for everything else.”