By Brandon HENSLEY

Among the first things I heard last week regarding the new voting law in Georgia is it would deny the ability for water or other refreshments to be given to voters standing in line as they withered away in the humidity under the relentless Georgia sun.

Why would Republican lawmakers create those restrictions, I thought? It doesn’t matter what party I identify with; that seemed so unnecessary, and cruel.

Critics of the law say it restricts and suppresses the Black vote and, if you go by what the media said last week, who would dare to disagree?

Major League Baseball also agreed and last week, armed with more reasons aside from the whole “denying water to a dehydrated voter” stipulation, pulled its 2021 All-Star Game from Truist Park in Cobb County, where the Atlanta Braves play.

“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

President Joe Biden said he was “sick” when hearing about the law. He called it “Jim Crow on steroids,” and specifically cited the part, on page 73, where it makes it a potential misdemeanor to offer food or water to people waiting in line to vote. Biden also cited the part where voting hours would be cut off by 5 p.m., making it hard for the average worker to get to the polls in time.

Again, sounds like Manfred did the right thing! And look, talking heads on ESPN sure thought so. Commentators Bomani Jones and Michael Wilbon, both Black, applauded MLB for doing “the only thing it could do.” Rachel Nichols, who is White, echoed their sentiments on the NBA show she hosts.

“[People are] trying to take away American citizens’ right to participate in a democracy which, make no mistake, is what has been going on here,” she said.

Okay, but then … I actually read the law. As the dust was still settling from this awful, horribly racist law, I found it online myself and turns out if you’re going to make a big deal about justice and standing up for what’s right, you’d better be armed with the correct information.

The law in fact does not prohibit anyone from carrying food or water at the voting lines, nor does it bar them from calling a friend and having them bring a granola bar if blood sugar is low. What it does is restrict people who work for a specific campaign from buying votes with food, water or any other offering within 150 feet of the polls.

Huh, well then.

The voting hours? They can be open until 7 p.m., not 5 p.m.

Georgia governor Brian Kemp fought back in a press conference this week. Baseball’s headquarters are located in New York and maybe Manfred should move offices out of there, Kemp pondered.

“In New York, they have 10 days of early voting. In Georgia we have a minimum of 17, with two additional Sundays that are optional in all counties,” he said.

Atlanta is set to lose millions of dollars because Major League Baseball can’t let people have nice things. Hank Aaron, a Braves legend who passed away in January, was set to be honored at the game. Now he’ll be honored in Colorado, where the game has been moved. What a joke that a seminal pop culture figure for Black people and the Braves franchise will have to settle for recognition in the Rocky Mountains instead of the place he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record. (If you’re keeping score, Denver is 9% Black, compared to 51% in Atlanta.)

Journalists love to beat their chests and say they hold public figures accountable and discover the truth for the American people. But the media continually drops the ball when it comes to these kinds of issues because of an internal bias that will always outshine the façade of objectivity. Even though I hold a journalism degree, it makes me almost happy I never ended up in that kind of toxicity.

The same goes for prominent politicians. During coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this week, Charles Barkley said, “I think most White people and Black people are great people. I really believe that in my heart but I think our system is set up, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats … to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power. They divide and conquer.”

At this point, who would dare to disagree?

Brandon Hensley is the sports editor for the Crescenta Valley Weekly. The views expressed are his own.