COMMENTARY
WHY WOULD I VOTE IN 2014?!?!? I’M BLACK
By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
The 2014
election
year should
be a voting
“payback”
year for
Black
America.
Elected
officials and
politicians
across
America
who have
voted and acted against the economic,
political and social interests of the Black
American community should be voted
out of office in the November 2014
midterm elections. Democracy requires
civic participation by all people to
ensure fairness, equality and justice.
Too often we just moan and groan
about what the forces of American
racism and repression continue to do
to perpetuate racial discrimination,
injustice, poverty and inequality.
But when election time comes
around, there are still too many
Black Americans who are eligible to
vote who simply do not vote. But
that is not because of apathy. It is
because there is an underestimation
of the transformative power of Black
American maximum civic participation.
In other words, we simply
underestimate and undervalue the
power of our vote. We need to better
understand and comprehend the
importance of the strategic opportunity
and responsibility for the Black vote to
determine the outcome of the midterm
elections in most of the key swing states
like North Carolina, Virginia, Florida,
Ohio and Texas.
Of course, there are members of
Congress and state legislatures that
are hoping that there will be a low
voter turnout this year among Black
Americans. Some of us have forgotten
the awful and bloody price that was
paid during height of the Civil Rights
Movement in the 1960’s to get the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 enacted
into law. The recent rulings by the
U.S. Supreme Court have significantly
eroded the enforcement of voting rights
protections. Coupled with the massive
voter suppression actions of the
Republican Party in those states where
Black Americans and Latino Americans
are concentrated, the necessity to fight
back now is urgent.
A major contributing factor to the
mainstream media illusion about
the so-called rise in Black American
voter apathy is that their polling
of persons of color is very often
inaccurate and superficial. That is why
media organizations like the National
Newspaper Publishers Association
(NNPA) should do its own national
polling of the issues and interests of
Black Americans.
The truth is that Black Americans are
not apathetic about voting. Yes, some
are very disappointed that we have not
made more progress in America toward
ending poverty and economic inequality.
But that does not mean that we are
going to have a downward trend in
voter turnout.
The facts are that in 2004, 2006, 2008,
2010, and in 2012 the overall percentage
of Black American voter turnout has
been on a steady increase. So, it is
important that we do not fall for the
false hype about low voter turnout.
We have to work hard and we have to
work smart to help Get-Out-The-Vote
(GOTV) across the nation.
Permit me to share a factual example of
what I am emphasizing. One the most
extreme examples of voter suppression
of Black and Latino voters is now going
on in North Carolina led by right wing
Republicans. Early voting had been
reduced and new voter ID laws have
been enacted by the state legislature.
Issues of major concern included the
discriminatory justice system and the
disproportionate mass incarceration
of Black Americans throughout the
state. Thus, it was important to have
fair minded judges on the NC State
Supreme Court to help resolve and end
the pattern of mass unjust incarceration
of Blacks.
The pundits in NC had predicted
that Tea Party candidates and other
conservatives would use the state
primary elections on May 6, 2014 as
an opportunity to put more right wing
judges on the State Supreme Court.
The reactionary forces of injustice
and voter suppression targeted
a progressive woman judge, The
Honorable Supreme Court Justice
Robin Hudson, to defeat in the NC
primary election. In fact, more than one
million dollars had been spent to finance
a negative campaign against Judge
Hudson. I personally knew that Hudson
was not only a fair judge, but also she
had a progressive track record. Judge
Hudson also had been endorsed by the
NC Democratic Party African American
Caucus.
We decided that on the night before
the NC primary election we would
make technology work to help stimulate
and to encourage Black American
voters across the state by doing a
specific robo telephone call. We were
able to call nearly 200,000 people in a
two hour time period. I taped the audio
message urging the vote for Supreme
Court Justice Robin Hudson. I later
received c