I MAY NOT VOTE THIS ELECTION

Yes, you read the title correctly, I may not vote in this upcoming election.  Before I go into how I came to that decision let's take a journey shall we.

For those who do not know I am an African American (AA) woman.  Growing up, I believed that African Americans were democrats because the democrats cared about us as a people and the Republicans didn't.  More than likely I belong to a family that for the past 2 or 3 generations has voted democratic.  I never thought to question why this was until about a year or so ago.

This morning I began watching a documentary called Runaway Slave that brought some other information full circle that I have been blessed to learn these past few weeks, months and within the last year.  A few weeks ago Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco was under fire from DL Hughley, Roland Martin and others because he expressed openly that he doesn't vote.  It is a personal choice of his based on his own knowledge and understanding of politics, the system and our government.  Personally I respect his right and decision and honor it knowing that he is a conscious black man. 

I was amazed however at the number of people that were soooo upset with Lupe.  A lot of their angered stemmed from the fact that many AAs died for the right to vote.  To an extent I understand, nevertheless it bothers me when people don't have an open mind and refuse to see things from the perspective of others.

Question:  What party was responsible for the passing of the 13th (abolition of slavery), 14th (made AA a citizen giving us equal protection under the law), and 15th (AA right to vote) amendments?

What party was responsible for the Jim Crow Laws and Segregration?

We will get to the answers later.  I was shocked to discover that AAs were largely Republican up until the 1930s, some still were but the majority of AAs began voting democrat in the 1960s after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed under the democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Question:  Which party influenced the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?  Which party influenced the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 that led the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

A gentleman on the documentary Runaway Slave spoke of apathy voting.  He called apaty voting 2 things 1. a person who doesn't vote 2. an uninformed voter.  I tend to believe that a huge number of AAs are apathetic voters.  They either do not vote or they are loyal to their party be it democrat or republican and vote as suce in each election without truly examining the platform of the candidates.  Nevertheless as mentioned in the documentary since a large number or the majority of AAs that do vote, vote democratic, it leaves us in a vulnerable state.  Why?  Because it allows democrats to take advantage of us, and it leads Republicans to ignore because they don't feel they have a chance of securing our vote.  The gentleman mentioned on the documentary to not be so predictable in our voting.  I think this is possible if more voters researched each candidate as an individual and voted based on knowledge and not simply because of their party affiliation.  With that both parties would do more to try to win us over and gain our vote.

While I understand their are more than 2 parties that run for President history shows us that the winner will most likely be Republican or Democrat so one is ultimately forced into voting for one candidate or the other, if not in agreence with either candidate one can choose to note vote at all or for another candidate on the ballot but the winner again will more than likely be Dem or Repub. 

Again, the majority of AAs began to vote democratic because a Democratic President was in office when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.  However, that same man before becoming President, Lyndon B. Johnson voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.  Thanks to the overwhelming support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Republicans the Act was passed.  Yes more Republicans voted yay than nay than democrats for the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To answer the questions I asked previously, had it not been for Republicans the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments would not have been passed.  Thanks to the democrats Jim Crow and segregration reared their ugly heads in the South and beyond.

Now at this point the nation has gotten so far from what the founding fathers intended I wouldn't trust a politician, democrat or republican for the most part.  However, I am no longer blindly supporting one party over another under the guise that it has the best interest of AAs and the poor at heart.  From now on if I do vote I choose not to be an apathetic voter.  I choose to make an informed decision on candidates based on their own performance and vote accordingly.  If I don't take the time to do my research I shouldn't vote just to vote.  That does not help myself, my people or others.  It could actually be harmful.

Unfortunately, I can say that President Barack Obama has not done enough for this nation, AAs or the poor to guarantee my vote.  I do acknowledge he received a lot of push back from the Republican party and I am also learning why in some instances.  Government involvement and government handouts are not the solution to the problems that plague AAs or the poor.  Heck thanks to Lyndon B. Johnson and welfare the black family has essentially been destroyed.  When welfare was introduced into our communities in the 60s women were told that the government would pay their housing, feed them etc.  The only stipulation THEY COULD NOT HAVE A MAN IN THE HOUSEHOLD.  Prior to the 60s 80% of AAs babies were born in 2 parent households, now the # is about 30%.  All government handouts while they may seem to help can be highly detrimental to our communities.  Don't believe me, visit the nearest hood in your city.

Does this mean all government programs are bad?  Absolutely not.  I am all for Medicare, I am grateful to President Obama and what he has done for student loans rates and the introduction of the income based repayment, social security is/was great if its still around as I get older, head start programs etc.  I am sure there are more.

The point of it all, be informed, make informed decisions, do your research, don't simply support something because that is what everyone else is doing, have a mind of your own, read, watch informative DVDs, and make informed conscious decisions that sit well with you and your spiritual self.