With the federal government abandoning the responsibility to govern us all, the Black vote has never been more important. With over 13 percent of the total US population, Blacks need to change the way we vote to ensure that our collective agenda is discussed, passed, and placed into law.
To understand the choices Blacks need to make today, we need to go back and examine the Black vote in general.
Blacks originally vote republican. Because the Republican agenda represents freedom of choice, less government, and entrepreneurship, Black people voted red because it gave them options for a better life. Remember, the Democratic party heavily supported the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) and limited Blacks as much as possible.
It was not until the formation and unionization of organizations like the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) did Blacks begin to vote Democratic. If you wanted to work for a factory, you had to join a union. If you joined a union, you had to vote the way the union did. Unions from 1936 up until today stressed collective bargaining, as well as “average person” goals.
Blacks, moving to the north for a better life and more income, joined unions in droves thus changing how Blacks voted.
Black Americans identified as Democrats about as often as they did Republicans. In 1948, President and Democrat Harry Truman made an explicit appeal for new civil rights measures from Congress, including voter protections, a federal ban on lynching, and bolstering existing civil rights laws. That year, the number of Blacks identifying as Democrats increased.
Fast forward to today. For the last eighty years, Blacks have voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Then, as the divide increased between blue and red states, the circumstances for Black communities remained the same.
Poor, underfinanced, and void of any sustainable financial stability, Black communities have become bedroom cities, which means that there are no businesses, jobs, or income-generating options located where Blacks live.
Black people must venture outside their communities if they want to make a decent living. Jobs today are located far out in the suburbs. This means the tax base in Black neighborhoods remains low, the brain trust of Black talent leaves the community, and the vicious cycle of not investing in these communities continues.
WHY VOTING DEMOCRATIC IS NOT HELPING US
To understand why the Black vote has not changed our circumstances, you need to understand who we are voting for. Blacks typically vote for the party, not the person. So, Blacks essentially continue to vote for the same result, no matter who the person is.
Every political season, Black people vote for the Democratic ticket, but that ticket does not change anything for the Black community. Mayor after mayor, government official after government official continues to allocate money the same way. This means that the Black community never gains any economic footing. The vote then becomes empty because without an economic gain —e.g., factories, better roads, jobs, businesses that create wealth — the Black community stays the same.
A powerful voting block comes from money. Money comes from economic prowess. If Black people never gain any economic power, our vote will never deliver a change for the entire community. Until Blacks come together to demand economic change, nothing will change.
Proof that the Black vote can impact an election was seen during the Barak Obama campaign. Blacks voted at their highest percentages ever during the Obama presidential run. Blacks elected Obama twice and it could be said, they saved America in 2020 when they overwhelmingly voted for President Joe Biden.
Those examples of the powerful Black vote are evidence that if Blacks come together, it can change the landscape of an election.
So, how should Black people vote?
The answer that this question is loaded with one single option: MONEY! Money moves the needle. For the Black vote to matter, Blacks must pick the person, not the party. Blacks must pick people who are going to put money back into the Black community. The days of hoping for an anti-lynching bill are over. Blacks need to demand that roads, buildings, businesses, and jobs are put back into the Black community.
Until the Black community resembles other economically viable communities, Blacks need to vote people into office who are committed to changing who attains the valuable government contracts that are handed out every year. Words no longer are enough for Black people to continue to vote for politicians who do nothing when in office.
Once Blacks find out that the politicians in office are not going to bring money to the Black community, they need to be voted out of office. Once Blacks find out who the judges are who don’t render fair and balanced verdicts, they need to be voted out of office. And finally, once Blacks find out which government officials are not working endlessly to bring about real change, they need to be voted out of office.
The conversation around the Black vote is a real one and will not be solved in one article. There needs to be a major discussion in the Black community about how to collectively use our vote. Real change can happen once we decide to create that change.
Once Blacks have economic power, then, and only then, will November make a difference.
