The Black Vote!

I've been asking every African American friend that I come across if they are going to vote for Barack Obama. For the most part I have experienced a non-committal attitude. I have come to refer to it as black political apathy. I understand it...I understand that the black race in The United States is and always will be a minority. After being beat down for so long I get that sense of hopelessness. I ask them if they voted for Mark Mallory for Mayor of Cincinnati. Here is a black man elected as mayor in one of the most racist, right wing, religious cities in this country. The answer is a flat out NO! The response is usually,"He's pretty much a white guy anyway, so what's the difference?" Then I ask them if they are even registered to vote in the first place. I'd say 90% answer with a NO! I had a friend at work tell me if he couldn't vote for Hillary he was going to vote for McCain. Let's just say that conversation got a little heated. I ask him how you could vote for a female Democrat and her platform and not a black male Democrat with the same platform and then for for a rich white Republican male who has a totally different platform and pretty much has an anti-black people platform. That kind of blew my mind a little.

I've read Howard Zinn's "People's History Of The United States" and the follow up "Voices..." and I cringe at the struggle that black people in this country went through just to get the right to vote. A lot of people were beaten and hanged and died for that privilege. For that purpose alone I would think that voting would be taught and expected in the black community.

I know all about the nightmare of the 2000 and 2004 elections. Black people in this country, especially in Florida and Ohio took it up the back side. Ken Blackwell and Katherine Harris showed black people where they stood with George W. Bush. That just shows you how much more important it is to register and vote for Barack Obama in November. If every black person of voting age in this country registers and votes for Barack Obama it would be a landslide victory. I can't promise that Barack will change the condition of black America but it would be an historic event that could change the course of history in this country. So I say if you don't register and vote for Barack in November don't bitch at me.