For Black People Who Think Voting Is Pointless, Part 2: The Fastidious and the Furious

In the past week since posting Part 1 of "For Black People Who Think Voting Is Pointless", I have witnessed exactly how important this upcoming election is to a lot of people.  Not only was the first part one of the most popular posts in New Problem Tuesdays history, but more important, the post garnered the most amount of meaningful engagement and discussion--much of it making cases for either Democratic candidate Hillary Trump or Republican candidate Donald Trump.  However, perhaps the post-debate sentiments of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick summarize how many Americans feel, especially within the Black community and among "millennials": "...to me it was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates.  Both are proven liars and it almost seems like they're trying to debate who less racist.  At this point, in talking to one of my friends, you have to pick the lesser of two evils, but the end is still evil."  Although Kaep plans on voting regardless, I have witnessed an even bigger surge of Black folks over the past week who are strongly considering not voting in November because of the paltry choices for Commander-in-Chief or their ardent supporters shoving their agendas aggressively down the throats of the undecided.  In the second and final part, I will outline the latter three reasons which note how simply having the power to choose fuels the importance of the Black vote in the most significant election in American history...

CANDIDATES WOULDN'T PANDER FOR YOUR VOTE IF THE NUMBERS WEREN'T THERE.  About a decade prior to then Senator Barack Obama running for President of the United States in 2008, Black people had about a 47 percent turnout rate.  However, continuing the upward trend from 1996 since President Bill Clinton's second term, 2008 marked a tremendous shift as we posted a 69 percent turnout rate and a little over 67 percent in 2012.  More specific, Black women have voted at a higher rate than any other demographic in the past two presidential elections, particularly in 2012 when 74 percent of eligible Black women cast their votes while White women were the second highest group at 64 percent--most of whom (along with most White men) voted for the Republican candidates in both elections.  About 95 percent of Black people voted for President Obama while about 96 percent of Black women voted for him.  Knowing how much President Obama slaughtered her in many states in the primaries among Black voters in 2008, Hillary Clinton took advantage of the inevitable void the first Black President in U.S. history is leaving with a network of volunteers, surrogates and paid staff members engaged in rigorous efforts to acquire the Black vote.  In the Democratic primaries, between 79 to 84 percent of Black men and between 85 to 93 percent of Black women voted for Clinton over Sanders in this year's primaries in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.  Obviously, Clinton is aware of at least one demographic who will butter her bread and Black folk know it, too--hence why many of us have called her to the carpet.

In a January 10 Washington Post article, Vanessa Williams outlined why Black women are aiming to prove the doubting Thomas pollsters and pundits wrong amidst assumptions their numbers would subside: 

But they [Black women] aren't looking to the political candidates for inspiration.  In interviews, they said the motivation to head to the ballot box will come from the energy generated by efforts to confront racism and other forms of economic and social equality.  The Black Lives Matter movement (which was launched by women), the campaign for higher wages in low-paying industries dominated by women of color and various online spaces in which women are sharing information and opinions all feature black women organizing, motivating and fighting to retain their political influence.

Although this particular passage speaks more to Black women's voting power, these issues affect the entire Black community and Donald Trump has failed to present concrete plans to resolve these issues.  Sure, Trump has been to a few Black churches in Detroit and Cleveland in the past month, wants the "vote of every African-American citizen" and will give us his "what the hell do you have to lose" rhetoric filled with bleak pictures of living in poverty, broken homes, violent inner cities, failing schools and high unemployment rates among youth.  The problem is he's made many of these speeches in "safe" places like Dimondale, Michigan and West Bend, Wisconsin where the population is between 93 and 95 percent White.  Furthermore, considering he is polling in single digits among Black people like most GOP candidates have done in the last sixteen years--although he's polling at zero percent in places like Detroit, Philadelphia and Ohio--outlets like NewsOne Now and NPR say Trump's Black outreach is really to convince suburban White women (especially those with college degrees) he's not a bigot or racist.  If sisters have dealt with one too many brothers channeling their inner Preach from Don't Be a Menace, then they can certainly sniff out a misogynistic White man asking them to "tap that White girl" for him, too.  Message: Trump can't get to a certain section of White America unless he goes through us first...

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, TRUMP AND CLINTON AREN'T YOUR ONLY CHOICES FOR PRESIDENT.  Although I don't personally know any Black people of sound mind and body who are "stumping for Trump", I also know plenty of brothers and sisters who don't trust Hillary Clinton as far as a five-year-old child can throw her.  Considering her connection to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, her "super predators" remarks in 1996 and a history of dishonesty, many Black voters would rather not vote at all than vote for either Clinton or Trump.  However, the problem with the dogmatic promotion of the traditional two-party system of Democrats and Republicans is it discourages people to look beyond the Dems or the GOP--largely because they have no faith in an independent to win.  When con man Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) shortened his name to "Jeff" and got elected to the U.S. Congress after filling the vacancy of a deceased Congressman of the same name in The Distinguished Gentleman, his campaign was simple: "Cast your vote for Jeff Johnson.  Good ol' Jeff, a name that you can trust, the name that you know.  Jeff Johnson."  Ultimately, people want to vote for candidates who are not only proven in key areas like balancing budgets and economics, defense, foreign affairs and health care, but they also want someone whose name and recognition can be trusted by enough voters to realistically win the election as well as someone who can handle the dog-eat-dog ruthlessness of Washington politics.

Although the first set of issues in the platform for Green Party candidate Jill Stein and running mate Ajamu Baraka is meticulously geared toward "Protecting Mother Earth and Humanity", they also feature bullet points about jobs, health care and education "as a Right", a more balanced economy, criminal justice reform and housing.  Meanwhile, receiving glowing praise as "the Healthiest Candidate" and a "principled option for U.S. president", former Republican New Mexico governor turned Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson along with former Massachusetts governor and running mate William Weld have a lengthy history in traditional politics while arguing from a conservative platform of cutting back "unnecessary" spending, laws and taxes to strengthen the job market, improve education and reform the criminal justice system.  Now let me be clear: I don't give Stein/Baraka or Johnson/Weld a snowball's chance in hell to win the election; in fact, President Obama said, "If you vote for a third-party candidate who's got no chance to win, that's a vote for Trump."  Outside of the common assumption about independents being too idealistic, their recent string of gaffes in areas like foreign policy, terrorism, being able to name at least one world leader or even Black history facts have failed to instill considerable confidence of the average American voter as well as the Black voting collective.  (Johnson didn't even know who Harriet Tubman was...major fail, bruh.)  Still, considering the fact that very few debates have forced Clinton or Trump to discuss many issues pertinent to the Black community at considerable length, it doesn't hurt to at least read up on or listen to Stein, Johnson or the other options who could be allies--although that's a strong emphasis on "could be"...

THERE ARE ALSO THOSE THINGS CALLED LOCAL, STATE AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS, TOO.  Although the Electoral College technically chooses the President, the American voter does elect in the aforementioned races and this is the most important aspect of the voting experience--especially for the Black community.  At the September 26th Charlotte City Council Citizens' Forum, Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP Chapter President Corinne Mack talked about how she, State Organizer Robert Dawkins of SAFE Coalition NC and several partners helped to author a civil liberties resolution in 2013, which the city council passed in 2015.  The document "speaks to how police have to encounter African-Americans, what the responsibilities were for those officers when they did so and we, for the first time in the history of Charlotte, got aggregated data that would now tell folk how cops interact with people who are Black and of color."  However, in regard to the September 26th shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, Mack expressed her disappointment:

Not one thing in that ordinance was done.  So when we hear people talk about what needs to be put in place, I'm here to tell everybody it's already in place...and this city did not make those police officers accountable to that document.

Before calling out specific council members, she followed up her dissatisfaction with this:

As city council people, I'm calling all of y'all on the carpet.  Everybody's saying Mayor [Jennifer] Roberts, but I know how you have to count six votes to get anything done, okay?  Though you signed the document and you're held accountable first, at the end of the day, I'm looking for leadership.

The importance of Mack's example is simple: when people aren't effectively addressing your issues or enforcing laws particularly designed to protect your interests, you take note and exercise one of your greatest powers as a citizen at the polls.

Think about Michigan cities with the highest concentrations of Black people like Detroit where the public school system is in shambles or Flint where the water supply has poisoned thousands of children and people.  Although Governor Rick Snyder (R) won't be eligible for reelection until 2018, he and other public officials at the local and state level who dropped the ball should be concerned with the amount of Black voters with long memories who could potentially vote them out of office.   In Ferguson, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch (D) has been in place since 1991 and has been reelected six times largely unopposed or in landslide victories, but his handling of the Mike Brown case was extremely questionable.  When folks in our community like late activist Darren Seals get involved in the voting process for the first time after admitting they weren't part of the political process for most of their adulthood, the district attorney is one of the most critical positions who must be considered at the polls, especially with the pressing need for American criminal justice reform.  In fact, Charles D. Ellison gave this take in an October 2014 article for The Root:

They are the gatekeepers to what the Sentencing Project dubs "the largest criminal justice system in the world." If you are black, you are six times more likely to get trapped in it. If current trends continue, then "one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males--compared to one of every seventeen white males."

I can understand a Black person considering voter abstention in this paramount election cycle might think casting a ballot for President of the United States is pointless.  However, assuming the same for senators, congressional representatives, governors, mayors, council members or district attorneys is a counterproductive strategy to anything we are trying to accomplish.  The local and state level is where we actually have any semblance of power.  

###

One of my favorite Facebook friends shared a post from another one of my favorite Facebook friends: "Quit lying. You don't want folks to 'just get out and vote.' You want folks to vote for YOUR candidate."  Among varied responses like "I only encourage people to vote if they're 'on my side", "just go exercise the right, don't abstain" and "what n---a ever got free from voting", I contributed this: "Bammas could write in 'Mickey Mouse' for all I care. Let me tell it, that's a political statement in itself: 'I'd rather vote for the King of Disney World than anybody on this ballot!'"  While I understand the implications of the 2016 presidential election and how any vote not cast for Hillary Clinton is considered a vote for Donald Trump, I will neither tell anybody who isn't convinced Clinton is the best person for Black people--which is different than saying she's the most qualified candidate overall--to vote for her nor try to sell you on anyone else--especially as an unaffiliated voter since moving to Maryland in 2014.  However, to avoid the process altogether like the plague because many of us believe nothing will change or the system needs to be overhauled altogether is exactly that on which "the powers that be" on both sides of the aisle are banking. Whether your motivation is to honor the memories of fallen martyrs for voting rights, fight the historically-systematic suppression of our vote or simply to carry out the right to choose, our vote as Black men and women is an extension of the lives we have vehemently insisted matter and holds everybody involved in the political process responsible beginning with us.  At the end of the business day, this is what the collective says: "We did our part; now do yours or we'll do our part once again so you won't be able to do yours."