When I turned 18 years old, I was finally able to vote legally. Unfortunately, I did not vote because by then, I was in college and not in the city of my birth. I didn't know about the absentee ballot and no one was particularly forthcoming with that information at the time. As a result, I didn't actually vote for the first time until I was 22 years old. To tell you the truth, I was a little apathetic even then... I didn't really feel as though I had missed out on anything or that my little nappy-headed vote from West Philly really counted for anything in the larger scheme of things.
The sad thing is, that kind of thinking was not only wrong then but, it is really wrong now because so much more is at stake. I heard today that about 8 million African-Americans of voting age are not registered to vote. I may not have voted but, I did at least take the time to register. I recently heard some knucklehead on the corner say, "It ain't our country anyway so, why the hell should I vote?" In his case, this was just an excuse for being too lazy to go register, vote, or do anything else resembling something responsible.
IT IS YOUR COUNTRY if you were born here... IT IS YOUR COUNTRY if taxes are taken out of your check every week to pay for whatever... that alone is enough reason for everyone who is old enough to vote. That's the lie that White Supremacists always want to tell everyone that doesn't look like them... "Go back to where you came from. This is our country!" Well, when they stop deducting taxes out of my check every week, maybe I'll take them up on it. Until then, I have a RIGHT to at least, make my feelings known in this way. So, to Tom Metzger, David Duke, and whoever the hell else has something to say, DEAL WITH IT! DEAL WITH ME!
Despite the fact that there are Black Republicans, do you ever wonder why the Republican party doesn't try to court the Black vote more (even though they have given lip service to wanting to do that in the past few years)? I'm glad you asked and here's why:
(1) They know that those of you who do vote, will more than likely vote Democratic. (Never let one party think that they've got your vote sowed up like that... they'll take you for granted.)
(2) They don't think that the majority of Blacks will vote anyway.
(3) They have a large base that they can depend on that they KNOW will in fact vote.
Interestingly, both parties "court" the Hispanic vote because they know that Hispanics (and Asians as well) might go either way. But, the Democrats take the Black vote for granted and the Republicans don't care about your vote... they don't consider the Black vote a factor. There are close to 41 million African-Americans in the United States today and 41 million of anything is a factor... if everyone or (at least) a large percentage of that number could be counted on to actually vote.
My name is Keith and I approve this blog post!
The sad thing is, that kind of thinking was not only wrong then but, it is really wrong now because so much more is at stake. I heard today that about 8 million African-Americans of voting age are not registered to vote. I may not have voted but, I did at least take the time to register. I recently heard some knucklehead on the corner say, "It ain't our country anyway so, why the hell should I vote?" In his case, this was just an excuse for being too lazy to go register, vote, or do anything else resembling something responsible.
IT IS YOUR COUNTRY if you were born here... IT IS YOUR COUNTRY if taxes are taken out of your check every week to pay for whatever... that alone is enough reason for everyone who is old enough to vote. That's the lie that White Supremacists always want to tell everyone that doesn't look like them... "Go back to where you came from. This is our country!" Well, when they stop deducting taxes out of my check every week, maybe I'll take them up on it. Until then, I have a RIGHT to at least, make my feelings known in this way. So, to Tom Metzger, David Duke, and whoever the hell else has something to say, DEAL WITH IT! DEAL WITH ME!
Despite the fact that there are Black Republicans, do you ever wonder why the Republican party doesn't try to court the Black vote more (even though they have given lip service to wanting to do that in the past few years)? I'm glad you asked and here's why:
(1) They know that those of you who do vote, will more than likely vote Democratic. (Never let one party think that they've got your vote sowed up like that... they'll take you for granted.)
(2) They don't think that the majority of Blacks will vote anyway.
(3) They have a large base that they can depend on that they KNOW will in fact vote.
Interestingly, both parties "court" the Hispanic vote because they know that Hispanics (and Asians as well) might go either way. But, the Democrats take the Black vote for granted and the Republicans don't care about your vote... they don't consider the Black vote a factor. There are close to 41 million African-Americans in the United States today and 41 million of anything is a factor... if everyone or (at least) a large percentage of that number could be counted on to actually vote.
My name is Keith and I approve this blog post!
5 comments:
8 million...that's alot of people.
I voted for the first time when I was 18 back in 1996. I voted for Bill Clinton. Back then, I didn't take the time to research the candidate or care what he was about. I voted for him b/c he was from Arkansas and my momma voted for him. We went together.
I take pride in voting. Our ancestors fought for our right to vote. We owe them.
Dang, i didn't know there were 8 million unregistered voters. I was in college when I turned 18, but I voted in my college town. I also vote in local and national elections.
We, as a people will make or break this election. If we come out in record numbers (and I'm sure that we will)...Barry O aka B Stizzle aka Barack will win.
If we don't then we have nobody to blame
We can't deal with 4 more years of bs!
My hairdressers partner tried to run that this is not our country BS on me , when I questioned why he didnt go vote for Obama (knuckleheads like him is why he lost NY). I went off on him, The Way I see it is this is more my country than any white face because my ancestors toiled this land to make it rich, their blood runs through every bit of dirt from NY to MS. And its time fools recognize it.
I also went to the post office before my next appt and got him the voter registration papers.
It saddens me that our people don't hold onto their history. People marched, were beat, died so you can vote the least you could do is respect that.
*Stepping off my soap box now"
Ok last thing I've voted Republican ,Thank you Mayor Bloomberg
I don't know if Joe Biden is a good pick. I really feel that anybody will do because people want Obama in office so badly. He could have said that his dog Spot was the VP nominee and people would be happy.
I have officially lost faith in politics. If I vote, it will be out of guilt because of how hard my grandparents worked to get me that right. If McCain chooses Huckabee, I'm voting Republican.
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