Moving Beyond Hope by Casting More Black Votes

“We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of Black people…”

— Fannie Lou Hamer

This month, another election cycle ensues. Voting is unequivocally the most essential civic duty and holds particular importance for Black people in the United States. Voting provides Black people with the power to influence the direction of our communities. By participating in elections, we can elect representatives who share our values and address our concerns.

At its core, voting equates to exercising power and allocating resources. Elected officials determine how our tax dollars are spent, which directly affects our daily lives. By electing individuals who prioritize our interests and champion initiatives that support our well-being, we ensure our tax dollars benefit our families and communities. Abstaining from voting essentially endorses those who may not share our values.

It’s not enough for Black people to say we care about our communities. We must prepare ourselves to fight for and advocate in all ways possible for the issues that impact our well-being, especially those associated with ensuring fairness in our voting rights. Ultimately, our vote is the arbiter of whether our interests are genuinely valued and respected in this country.

Participating in the electoral process is just as important today as it was prior to and during the Civil Rights era. The recent and widespread changes to voting practices, redistricting, and voter identification laws are designed to suppress voters of color and silence our collective voices The number of eligible Black voters in the United States, now nearly 33 million, has been growing. Yet, racism remains a persistent thread in American culture, consistently working to deny and dilute the influence and power of Black people.

No one gets the right to vote because they ask for it. People get the right to vote because they organize themselves, one community at a time. The struggle is ongoing, as the structures of power continually attempt to deny Black Americans their right to vote, all under the guise of the law. As Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.”    

Efforts to deny Black people the right to vote and/or to steal their votes is constant and pervading. A recent study by the Democratic Party of Virginia reveals a concerning trend: mail-in ballots from Black voters are flagged for rejection at a significantly higher rate than those from white voters. Presently, 4.8% of Black voters’ ballots are flagged, while only 2.8% of white voters’ ballots face the same fate. In Richmond, city officials flag more than 11% of ballots from Black voters, compared to about 5.5% of those from white voters. The rejection rate for Black voters remains more than twice as high as that for white voters.

In the face of pervasive white supremacy, Black Americans are in for a long and arduous struggle. Our unwavering commitment to constituting a genuine democracy in America has remained a constant throughout our history in this country. Now more than ever, African Americans must use every means at our disposal to avenge our enslaved ancestors, including exercising our right to vote. We must vote for people who have our best interests in mind. We must vote for issues that advance the well-being of our families and communities. We must vote because we’re empowered to do so as full American citizens. We can’t expect to win every election, but if we don’t vote, we will most assuredly lose.