(ThyBlackMan.com) Like many Americans, I sat home during the Trump administration and watched violence against African Americans in this country escalate. We sat back and watched police get more comfortable with terrorizing us on the streets, and in our neighborhoods. We sat back and watched American citizens that are racist, prejudice, and bigoted get more comfortable terrorizing us in this country. We also sat back and watched other POC’s be terrorized as well. On the back end of the Trump administration on January 6th, we all sat back and watched as our nation’s capital was attacked by citizens of the United States galvanized for Donald Trump. Once he was out of the office, we had to listen to rhetoric that an election was stolen. We have turned on our news to update after update on court cases regarding the former president. Furthermore, all sat back and watched as he became a convicted felon. Those that believe in Donald Trump for whatever reason that they believe in him decided that none of this mattered. The lives of many Americans did not matter. Well, to be fair, the lives of African Americans to America as a whole have never mattered.
We have listened to Trump supporters talk about making America great again. Well from my standpoint as a Black woman, making America great again means marginalizing black people further; it means rewinding time by which we lived in a more confined terror. It means taking away the rights that we have gained, and it means that we become even more so Public Enemy #1. The keyword is even more so because we never stopped being that particular thing. Domestically, Trump is dangerous to all Americans even his supporters. When I sit back and look at his administration from a foreign lens, he weakened the position of the United States of America on a global stage. We cannot count how many times we were embarrassed because it was not about whether we agreed with his politics or not…we literally could not agree with his manner as a president.
Let me give you a good example. I’m an independent and I did not vote for George W Bush. If by some wild chance George W Bush was running for president right now as my only option against Donald Trump I would vote for him. George W Bush was president when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. My sentiment regarding how he handled that as a president runs deep. However, I can never accuse him of not being presidential to a degree. Donald Trump threatens the United States on all fronts. So, with that being said, I’m voting for Kamala Harris.
I am not conflicted. There’s nothing for me to think about. I can sit here and run down her track record as aa senator, and attorney general. I can run down her track record as a vice president of the United States. I can research the stances that she’s taken on various different domestic and foreign positions. However, none of that matters. The bottom line of what matters is she is the Democratic Party choice and come November she will be on a ballot directly opposed to Donald Trump. Because of this she has my vote. I will not be a hypocrite in this election and get completely wrapped up in my feelings of whether I agree with her or disagree with her as a candidate while the opposition is a convicted felon. He’s not only voting, but he’s also running for president of the United States. Let’s stop as a black community and think about what that means. Our vote has been disenfranchised so many times we have lost count. Voter suppression regarding African Americans has been a primary issue since we were given the right to vote. One of the ways that our vote can be suppressed is when our people go to prison or they are convicted of felonies, they lose their right to vote. Voices within our community become silent. When you are thirteen percent of the population every voice, so a substantial piece of our community is silenced. So, you mean to tell me that this man, Donald Trump, can be a convicted felon, and not only is he allowed to vote, but you’re telling me he has the right to possibly be my president? That simply doesn’t sit well with me personally, nor ethically.
Too many of us in the black community are going back and forth about whether we are going to vote for a felon. However too many of us have family members that don’t have the right to vote for the same reason…felonies, that just cannot be OK. This is an issue that must be driven home. We don’t have to run down what makes Kamala Harris an acceptable candidate. All we must know at this point is that she does have qualities, she does have experience, but more importantly, she’s not a convicted felon. You can sit back and say oh, well Kamala Harris have put so many black men in prison. I think you should go and Fact Check that outside of your feelings.
However, what we do know is Black men have been denied their right to vote because they’re convicted felons, and now you’re going to vote for a convicted felon or consider doing such? How hypocritical is that? That in itself could be considered a betrayal to your own community. That’s something we, as a community, must consider deeply. I don’t have to think about it because I’ll be voting for Kamala Harris. I will be voting for whoever the Democratic candidate is, and it is to be her. I will not withhold my vote, which is just as bad as voting for Trump, because I have questions with Kamala Harris’s politics. My vote will not be withheld but feeling I don’t believe a woman could run this country; that is a deep issue that has to be addressed within black community.
Let’s be honest we believe that black women can fix so many things, and black women come to the aid of so much in so many then why can’t she fix the country? This is a fair question; some of our people and some of our men might want to check the sexism and gender issues at the door. Your very life could depend on you not making a decision in November that goes against your self-preservation. There really isn’t another option for me in November. I’m a black woman in America, married to a black man, raising black children, 2 black boys to be specific. I have a family, and I live in a community that looks like me.
We cannot afford to be marginalized or threatened any further from a governmental position. It very well may become more dangerous on the ground regardless of who wins. However, I won’t have peace telling my children when they ask one day, because history tends to become a question in the house, that I didn’t vote in their best interest. I must be able to rest at night knowing that when I went to the ballot, I wasn’t just voting for myself. I wasn’t just voting for my people. I’m also voting for two little boys that are minors and cannot speak for themselves. I will never tell them I didn’t prioritize their life. Trump simply cannot be president again. It’s not safe for our democracy, our community, and it’s simply not wise. This is simple for me…I am voting against Donald Trump. Kamala Harris has my vote.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; C. Starr and also Twitter; MrzZeta.
Also via email at; CStarr@ThyBlackMan.com.