The Not-So-Powerful “Power” of the Black and Brown Vote
This election cycle, we are repeatedly told that our Black and Brown votes hold “power.” So, what happened to the “power” of the black vote in previous elections?
Let’s go back one election: Trump versus Clinton, 2016. For many, this was a memorable election. This election was a tough decision for many who believed they had to choose between the lesser of two evils.
Clinton was known for her “emails,” her husband’s 1994 crime bill that affected African American communities, for which she was an aggressive advocate, and for her sketchy past with African American communities.
Trump was known as a disrespectful loudmouth who had 25 sexual assault allegations against him, a man who mocked a reporter with a disability, and most importantly, became famous for saying “grab em’ by the pussy,” while referencing women.
In 2016, many (89%) but not all (8%), Black people had believed that a presidency with Trump would be a disaster that would destroy the country. So, the majority of the Black community backed Clinton and threw their votes behind her. A lot of us believed that our vote mattered and that our vote held “power” to sway the decision of the presidency. We believed that our vote would matter in the decision making of our communities.
A lot of prominent Black celebrities like Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Uzo Aduba, Kerry Washington, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Russel Simmons and Steve Harvey, all lent their voices to the Clinton campaign, and publicly endorsed her for the presidency.
Even with her checkered past within the Black community, when compared to the disaster that was Trump, we believed she was the one person who stood for Black people. She was our lesser of two evils.
Though, according to Pew Research, “the Black voter turnout rate declined for the first time in 20 years in a presidential election, falling to 59.6% in 2016 after reaching a record-high 66.6% in 2012.” However, a staggering 89% voted for Clinton in 2016, compared to the 37% of white demographic, 66% Latino demographic and 65% Asian demographic that voted for her.
Fast forward four years later, Trump is president. So, what happened to the “power” of our Black and Brown votes?
Since this election cycle started, both the Republican and Democratic parties have been trying their best to show us that this election is the most important election of all, and that our vote matters and holds some type of “power,” again.
According to former president Barack Obama, “What we do in these next four days will not just decide the next four years, but the future of this country…” he then went on to tell us to choose hope over fear.
Now where have I heard that before? Oh wait, 2016. We were sold this same rhetoric in 2016 and look how that turned out for us. They keep selling us the same story repeatedly.
Both parties have been very deliberate in trying to persuade Black people for their votes.
This election cycle alone, I have seen a lot of black people being used as front men for both parties.
Whether it’s through commercials, posters or Black celebrities taking a stance for a candidate, or President Trump stating that “he’s done more for Black people than any other president,” or Senator Kamala Harris eating her chicken with hot sauce to prove how “Black” and hip she is, both parties are constantly courting the Black community.
Though I quite enjoy all this pandering, I am still left asking myself, and you may be asking yourself this, too, “How important is the Black vote, really?” “Why is my vote all of a sudden so important?” “Was my previous vote not important enough?”
To be able to answer these questions thoroughly, let’s take a closer look at this year’s nominees. On the Democratic side, we have Joe Biden as the presidential candidate, and Senator Kamala Harris as his vice presidential pick. On the Republican side, we have President Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
Trump is widely known to many as someone who incites and supports racism, stands with the “proud boys,” endorses police brutality, tries to take away women’s rights to abortions, tries to terminate Affordable Care Act, carelessly letting 229, 000 Americans die of COVID and someone who ignores climate change.
Despite all this, to many other Americans, he is seen as the best president this nation has ever had, and his supporters believe he is doing a good job.
Joe Biden is widely known for sponsoring the 1994 Crime Bill. He was the man who once referred to state-mandated school integration as “the most racist concept you can come up with.” Senator Harris pointed this out during the very first democratic debates in 2019.
Biden is a man who once referred to former president Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean,” Biden is also a man who once described African American felons as “predators” and too “sociopathic to rehabilitate.”
Despite all this, the majority of Black people plan to vote for Biden. Why? Because, compared to Trump, they believe Biden is the lesser of two evils. They believe he will, (maybe) help restore the détente.
So, it seems we are back to where we started in 2016; back to picking between the “lesser of two evils.”
Black people are always expected to come in and save the day. Both parties are expecting us to put the “power” of the Black vote to work. But does our vote really hold any power?
With these facts in mind, I’ve concluded that our Black votes do not matter in an American election.
In the grand scheme of things, I do not believe the black vote holds any “power.” Why? Because of the type of nominees the Democratic party keeps endorsing.
From Clinton to Biden, these nominees, at some point in their lives believed that the lives of Black people did not matter; and they did everything in their power to show that.
So why should I, a Black person, suddenly believe that my vote holds any “power” to my oppressor?
We are pawns used in this cruel game of chess played by both parties. But it seems when it comes to the Democratic party, some Black people conveniently develop amnesia.