Every other November political energy in America climaxes in an effort to churn forward the institutions which govern our society. In this past 2018 midterm election cycle there existed a growing pressure, particularly on young, poor and minority populations to "get out the vote."
Along with this pressure came specifically a sentiment of annoyance, frustration, even disgust, for Black Americans who voiced their concerns about the prospects of voting. Articles like "Confession: ‘Woke’ Black people who want change but REFUSE to vote are wearing me out" and others like that posted by Roland Martin's website express these concerns. The reason for my inquiry is to examine what political gestures such as participation in the electoral process mean for Black people and other vulnerable populations with interrelated fates. This requires an honest evaluation of the context of electoral politics as well as an examination of "get out the vote" rhetoric and the menu of choice available to aforementioned communities. It should be safe for me to start by saying that the goal of any Black political action should ultimately be the eradication of racism and racist structures. These forms of suppression exist as a mean to deny Black people the basic condition of humanity - freedom - through violence, intimidation, social neglect, economic exploitation and cultural pathologies. Racism is an existential threat to Black life and should be treated as such. Its existence in institutions, hearts and minds is antithetical to our presence. This is about ensuring our peace. Our joy. Our safety. Our survival. Therefore, the litmus test for involvement in electoral politics for Black people and communities should simply be; will this move us towards the eradication of racist structures? The first mistake we can make in answering this question is to allow ourselves to be pressured into voting before we can answer that question on the basis that we are somehow obligated to show up to the polls on election day. You would hardly expect any well-minded person to feel obligated to support an institution before they could be sure that said institution actually has their best interests and livelihood at heart. Even so, the popular sentiment in this year's version of "go vote" fever is that voters who are traditionally apathetic (the young, the black and brown, the poor) are some how responsible this time around for mobilizing against and responding to Trumpism and the racist, authoritarian element which apparently threatens the integrity of our democracy. The argument is that those who are targeted by racist politics bear the responsibility of creating and bolstering opposition to Trump and his disciples by showing up to vote. This logic implies that to some extent these people are to blame for the current political climate. After all, racists showed up: we didn't. In my opinion this argument and other similar ones are not only mislogical but also steeped in respectability politics meant to silence dissent and ultimately keep Black people and other underrepresented people in line. The first flaw in this thinking is to assume that the Black voting bloc is somehow weak in terms of turnout. To the contrary most evidence for the past 10 years suggests that Black voter turnout, despite systematic attempts to thwart it, has been healthy when compared to the American norm. Even then, ignoring the history of voter suppression and how even healthy blocs of Black votes are watered down and even eliminated is dangerous if we are to ever create an atmosphere where Black votes matter. Through gerrymandered districts, voter id laws, intimidation tactics and other individual instances of corruption - such as that of Brian Kemp in GA who trashed rolls of registered Black voters ahead of his gubernatorial election - Black turnout is routinely rendered ineffective and meaningless. These practices are more dire threats to our political well being than the revolutionary we all know who is (correctly) skeptical of the voting process. In addition, there is currently no consolidated effort on behalf of current or prospective candidates to put forward a strategy to ensure that Black votes and the votes of vulnerable communities will be valued. Were Democrats (who are ubiquitously hailed as the anti-racist political antidote to Trumpism) to campaign vigorously on restoring the Voting Rights Act, repealing voter id laws, present anti-gerrymandering and felon disenfranchisement legislation not only would they be committing an act of good faith but would also undermine or at least threaten the effectiveness of Republican measures of modern-day Jim Crowism. You'd think over 50 years of service and loyalty would get us at least that. Another fallacy I find embedded in "go vote" rhetoric is the idea that vulnerable voters are responsible for answering to white backlash. This expectation is extremely exploitative, leveraging the very real threat to the safety of these communities as a means of coercing them into bolstering democratic institutions which have already failed them miserably. This school of thought suggests, essentially, that we should elect non-racist, non-republican candidates as a first priority, only holding them accountable after we've ensured that the racist threat is out of office. My problem with this is that accountability should be a precondition of any voter's blessing. This issue came up in a personal way just days ago ahead of the election for governor in my state of Iowa. The democratic nominee, Fred Hubbell, was and is one of the most powerful businessmen in Des Moines, Iowa's capital city and my hometown. Hubbell was a power-player in a business community which, centered on a relatively new and booming insurance industry, opened the floodgates for corporate interests into Iowan politics. This alone is monumental. Iowa is a key state in deciding the center of platforms and agendas for both major parties. Iowa was the state which, for example, helped push the Democratic party to the right on healthcare early on in the 2008 primaries. As a result the ACA was not the single-payer, medicare-for-all plan that vulnerable communities desperately needed. Surely it's not a coincidence that Des Moines is known as the nation's insurance capital. Neither is it a coincidence that Fred Hubbell, Des Moines business sweetheart, did not run on a medicare-for-all platform. Accountability is essential! When I expressed these concerns on Facebook a staffer from his campaign commented and (after admitting I was right except that Fred Hubbell was somehow different from the entire business community) argued that Kim Reynolds, his republican opponent, was "surely a direct threat to [my] interests." This lesser of two evils thinking not only allows mediocre politicians like Fred Hubbell (OR HILLARY CLINTON) to duck accountability for their obvious shortcomings but also has the long term effect of pushing the center of the political spectrum to the wrong direction, in this case towards neo-conservative norms, while at the same time strategically disarming resistance. That's not to say that Black issues and the issues which face similarly vulnerable communities even exist in the "right-left" paradigm. Racism is an issue that doesn't confine itself to the partisan plane. Party conflicts are ultimately intramural, but the issues that press us in existential ways cannot be solved through compromises or contracts with dominant social institutions. Struggle, disruption, civil disobedience, organizing and resistance are crucial to solving the problems that face us. When we affirm the voting process as one which is essential to the cause of justice we many times unknowingly pigeon hole Black political expression and other forms of political expression which seek to DESTROY systems of injustice. The other idea is that voting is somehow essential to the practice of meaningful civic engagement. Those who argue this point somehow argue that those who express concern about American society or the world for that matter but don't vote are hypocritical. "Fake ass revolutionaries," I had seen someone say of those who are skeptical of voting on my twitter timeline. "Get off your ass and go do something for your communities." Now to be honest I felt some type of way because I had vocally been considering abstaining. Given the considerable amount of activism I had done in a community shared this young lady I felt personally attacked (LOL) because my skepticism is borne from a very real concern that the pressure to assimilate into mainstream modes of political expression could result in the dilution of Black political, economic and social aspirations. In my case and many others, choosing not to vote isn't some act of bold protest, but the natural result of systemic disenfranchisement. The issues I care about and mobilize around whether they be the prison industrial complex, the military industrial complex, extreme wealth inequality, housing and education inequality and political corruption were largely absent from my local ballot. That's not to say I and other's who think like me are not politically and socially active. In fact it is those who sought alternate forms of political expression who have laid the groundwork for our current consciousness. I'm talking the Eldridge Cleavers, the Assatta Shakurs, the Huey Newtons and Malcolm Xs. I don't need to run through my own resume here, but there exists plenty avenues of community involvement and social activism that have and will continue to serve as an engine for true meaningful change in American society. Writing, speaking, programming, canvassing, protest and advocacy are all tools in my civic tool-bag and I invoke them with pride. What I don't do is shame others who choose not to participate in similar ways. In fact, that is the primary reason why I've waited until after the election season to write this post. All of that said, ultimately the electoral process is one that is undeniably broken, or at least compromised in the name of the elite class whose interests our elected representatives actually serve. Elections in America are largely for sale, from the agendas down to the advertising and campaign routes the entire process is created by the dollars of those who finance candidates on both sides of the aisle. Inevitably whoever wins will not answer to voters first, but to the lobbyists who represent their financial supporters. Of course there are exceptions, but the majority of us get the luxury of choosing which faces will represent the interests of the truly powerful, that big ole bad 1% who everybody is saying have corrupted the public institutions of this country. This is not an issue that standing alone should keep you from ever paying attention to, caring about or voting in elections. However these issues together provide more than enough evidence to support the claim that voting in elections can be counterproductive to the stated goals of equality and peace. There are many roads towards a world of justice and electoral politics may very well be one of them. I am of the opinion that we are very far from that day when justice and elections align. We should be skeptical of mainstream American institutions, including democracy, as well as their stated goals and modes of operation. We should look to challenge and redirect political energy at every opportunity towards our own narratives and issues. We should cultivate our own consensus and move forward to achieve collectively desired outcomes. In so many ways we are already doing this. In fact, it is the courage of our generation as well as those before that have allowed us a moment in history where we have the type of political flexibility we find today. I don't believe we should be eager to run to the aid of the Democratic party which has done as much as any other faction to cement the obstacles our communities face today. Yes, I hold to that opinion even in the face of a blatant White Nationalist movement which has found an ally in the Republican party. Because frustrated working class whites are rushing to embolden those who don't actually share their interests doesn't mean we should as well. If the democratic party must fail, as I've written earlier, then so be it if it means that we don't compromise our voice. We deserve representation, not just a representative. Elections only matter if they make #BlackLivesMatter. That we must remember.
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Author22 Years Old. Writer. Artist. Sigma Man. Muslim. Revolutionary. Lover of all things Beautiful, I am the Eccentric Black Boy. ArchivesCategories |