OPINION: Black Voters Hold Donald Trump’s Fate In Our Hands And This Is Not The Time To Drop The Ball
All the shouting stops tomorrow. The counting of votes begins. When the final polls close, will you be able to say you played your role? When you look in the mirror, will you see someone who honored those who came before; those brave soldiers who fought to give Black people the right to vote?
Will Donald Trump win a second-term, or will former Vice President Joe Biden win the Oval Office? Much of that decision lay in the hands of Black voters. Often the victory or defeat of a presidential candidate is determined by Black voter turnout.
Think about it, the reason why Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee is due in large part to Black voters in South Carolina. They showed up in great numbers during the February primary to vote for the then floundering candidate. That victory changed Biden’s faltering campaign and ultimately lead to him becoming the Democratic nominee.
Conversely, we know that Black voters didn’t turn out in 2016 in certain areas which essentially allowed Donald Trump to win crucial states and then take an Electoral College victory that has cost the country dearly. If we allow this to happen again, shame on us!
We cannot give Donald Trump another four years to continue an agenda that has brought this nation to the brink of race riots, that has kept us mired in a generational pandemic that continues to kill thousands of Americans daily, including a disproportionate number of Black people. We cannot give Trump another four years to pile conservatives into federal judgeships that will determine the direction of this country long after Trump leaves the White House.
Black voters must stand in the breach and defeat this man who clearly has no intention of closing the racial divide his administration has widen. To paraphrase Biden; Trump’s racist dog whistles are as loud as foghorns. We must end this madness by voting Donald Trump out of office. Millions have made their voices heard, and yet there are still so many more who have not.
Tomorrow is your last chance.
I understand not all Black folks are against Donald Trump. There are those misguided souls, including Lil Wayne and Herschel Walker who somehow believe that Trump is good for our nation. There are others like 50 Cent who have allowed his financial wants to become larger than his moral compass.
While most African Americans are opposed to Donald Trump, that does not mean they will vote in a way that will assure he becomes a one-term president. Those who are apathetic must ask yourselves, Are you willing to give a second term to a man who at every turn has broken rules, left truth behind and is more concerned about the stock market and his ego than slowing a pandemic? A man who has shown no empathy or concern to the Black Lives Matter movement and to those victims whose lives were cut short?
Joe Biden isn’t a perfect candidate, nevertheless the differences between the two are crystal clear. The results of this election will say less about the winner and more about this country.
This year, we lost civil rights giants Rev. C.T. Vivian and Rep. John Lewis. As we mourned, we promised to keep their legacies alive. There is no better way to do that than to vote. Make sure when you look in the mirror after Election Day you like what you see. Make sure you vote. Yesterday, people died to give you the right to vote and today others could very well die because you didn’t. The choice is that serious.
Ed Gordon is the author of Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics and Leadership. He will also anchor special Election Night coverage for the NAACP on Facebook.com/Edgordonmeida
