Two more days and it will all be over. This Tuesday, November 8th, we all head to the polls and end this madness. In two days, we will have a new President. For a while, I thought it would be Hillary. Now? Not so sure. It sure appeared as if Trump’s campaign had been derailed because of his antics. Hillary was a sure shot. She got cocky once Trumps infamous “grab her by the [you know what]” faux paus (to put politely), blasted across the media. Hillary herself said in response during a rally that Trump had given her a birthday present. No sooner had she finished her sentence, the FBI took her “present” and presented her with a new investigation. It sure did its damage. However, as of this morning, we have been informed nothing will come of this new investigation. Hillary’s boo boo continues to plague her and appears to be growing teeth! She and Trump will head into the election very close in polls. The emails are the least of Hillary’s problems. She has a bigger one that is playing out. This is evident by her frantic state of hoping to romance African Americans. Early voting has shown so far that the Black vote is down—way down. The sweat on her brow allows one to read the questions running rapidly through her mind, what is going on, where is the Black vote?
Gets scary without the Black vote to support a candidate, yet they never learn the lesson. They pop up in our churches, visit our neighborhoods, shake our hands, and get our votes. Once in office, they would sooner take out their own trash without gloves than return to the places they “slummed” looking for help. Well, now the Black voice is speaking by keeping silent, and this is causing tremors across the electoral map!
States that historically vote Democratic have now become battleground states! *Insert Hillary’s voice* where is the Black vote? We know that if Trump gets into office, Blacks will be in…more trouble—or the same trouble? If Hillary is elected, we can look forward to keeping Obama’s policies thus protecting his legacy…but we will still be in the situation we are in now. We see that nothing changes, even with a Black president in office. We still find our civil rights and the right to walk the streets freely and make it home ALIVE, our God given right to be human in jeopardy. So, it is easy to understand the feeling of disappointment and distrust. *Insert Hillary’s voice *where is the Black vote? There may be reasons for the low early turnout with voting among Blacks. We may be waiting until election day. One obvious reason is Obama is not on the ticket. Even when he was on the ticket during his reelection bid, the Black vote was down 9%. In the last election, Black women outpaced Black men 70% to about 61%. But there are reasons for the downturn other than Obama not being on the ticket. WHERE IS THE BLACK VOTE!!!!!!!!!!???? OK, Hillary, I will tell you. It may be wrong, and it may be a dumb move, but it is an understandable one. The Black vote is FRUSTRATED and sitting at home!
Why? Well, to start, there may have been changes made in the early voting system. TV ONE reports that for the first time this election we do not have the voting rights act. This act established in 1965 was put into place to stop racial discrimination and the blocking of Black voters at the polls. The Supreme Court gave states (mostly in the south) the right to change election laws without “advanced federal approval” (New York Times online). We all know that if you remove one part of the law, especially an important one, suppression will follow. Uhm, Hillary, maybe you should have addressed this a while ago??? Right now, there are rumors of intimidation and time changes (eg. Sunday early voting stops). This could cause anyone to want to give up, but knowing our history, we know that something like this will only invigorate voters, not suppress them nor frustrate anyone enough to stay home on election day.
The reason for the low turnout in early voting among Blacks is because African Americans are fed up. Period. We know when we are being seduced, and we know that nothing will come of it. I do NOT like using Trump's words, but when he warned that Hillary is all up in our hoods and churches to get our votes, and she will vanish once she gets them, he was speaking the truth. This is a pattern that needs to be broken with ALL politicians, and yet it continues.
During the debate out in “public”, we have not heard ONE SINGLE WORD FROM EITHER CANDIDATE on what they will do for us. We hear it in secret in our churches and on street corners, in pizza shops and soul food hangouts. But on TV, with the “majority” watching? Not a word for us Black folk. Many publications agree that Black people are issue voters; a debate or a public announcement running across mass media is the perfect time to let the African American communities know that you stand with us, and an even better time for you to explain exactly what you will do for us. It is so sweet and beautiful to hear that you sympathize with our issues, but what are you going to do about them?
We can empathize with your current position, but parading Beyoncé and LeBron James while scrambling for votes is both disgusting and transparent. Showing Black skin from people who have enough money to feed many, while we are stressed out counting pennies to get to work, is not a slam dunk. What will be done about gentrification, and unfair economic and educational conditions? And as far as racism? Gotta channel my dude DuBois and say, “the problem IS the color line”. It is not Blacks, and it is not our suppression, it is the SYSTEM that continues to allow it based on the color line. It is a system that systematically segregates, separates, and marginalizes all in the name of capitalism built on a racial project producing and protecting racial hierarchy. So, you want to know where the Black vote is? Pissed off, and unfortunately, this frustration is keeping some of us home and it may take more than words this time to get the Black vote into movement. However, until we as Black people unite and radicalize to change the system and the ideology behind it, we must go with what we have. Right now, she is the most qualified candidate running. And regardless of the frustration, it is extremely important to get out there and VOTE!
