After all that, it’s almost heartbreaking to hear that young Black people are more likely to be politically involved, to vote, and to have opinions on political issues. The study finds that in the past two presidential elections, Black youth voted at a consistently higher rate than white youth, and played a large part in electing Barack Obama to office. But it also shows the impact of the increase in Voter ID laws — which require voters to present government-issued identification, and which have increasingly sprung up around the country since the Supreme Court struck down a key piece of the Voting Rights Act in 2013.At the time of the decision, critics said that the invalidation of the part of the Act that requires certain states with histories of racial discrimination to get federal approval to make changes with regards to voting procedures would have a disproportionate effect on minority voters . Indeed, the study finds that although Black youth were more likely to vote than whites or Latinos, of those who didn’t vote, 17% of those said that they were unable to because they didn’t have proper ID — more than three times the number of white youth who cited ID as a reason, and twice as many as Latinos. Black voters also reported being asked for ID more frequently than whites, even in states with no ID laws.The report sums it up succinctly: "These data show that voter identification laws appear to be applied disproportionately across racial groups. Among youth, people of color — young Blacks, especially — are considerably more likely to be asked for identification in order to vote. The uneven application of these laws suggests that polling-place workers exercise a high level of discretion in requesting ID from potential voters. Unless all polling places — and all poll workers — apply voting laws in a consistent manner, the very existence of identification laws implies that young people of color are more likely than white youth to be asked to prove their identify before being allowed to vote." Perhaps this is why three-quarters of young Black people polled said that they didn't believe the government treated all groups fairly.The millennial generation — loosely defined as people between the ages of 18 and 34 — is the most diverse generation in American history. Forty-four percent of Americans born between 1982 and 2000 identify as part of a minority racial or ethnic group , and the trend is only increasing. Census projections predict that by 2060, more than half of the United States population will consist of nonwhite individuals. The minority millennials of today — the people who don't trust the police, who are being excluded from the political system, and are discouraged from education — will be the leaders of tomorrow. It may be a small comfort.