Voter Suppression and the “Black Vote”

[AdSense-A]

By Maya J. Carter

Here is a topic that I almost hesitated to write about for many reasons…

I had a conversation once with a medical assistant who asked me while we were in the clinic, “why are all these Black people voting for Barack Obama?” She was sincere in her question, so I proceeded to answer her with an anecdote I found quite revealing. A white male comedian answered the question brilliantly, in my opinion – I wish I could remember his name. But he said something along the lines of no one was asking that question when Black people were voting for all these White politicians. Welp! She did eventually go on to vote for President Obama…after she told me that she had just learned that his mother was a White woman. Okay. “Whatever it takes,” was my thought.

I have read a number of curious comments about Black people and their voting habits as of late, and I, too, am upset when people do not exercise their right to vote…but allow me, if you will, consider some of the obstacles encountered when voter suppression efforts are in full effect.

But I digress. I was appalled to learn from the Washington Post about voter suppression efforts by the orange monstrosity’s 2016 political campaign, particularly as these efforts were targeted at the Black vote. Now, do not get me wrong. Everyone of voting age and who is eligible to vote MUST VOTE in my opinion. Voting is one of our most precious civic duties. Even within the archives of Ringside Report as well as throughout countless blogs, newspapers and texts, the importance of voting has been emphasized time and time again, and the historical struggles of Civil Rights activists have been highlighted to remind people of the lengths to which these heroes fought to provide us with the right to vote. If people could only imagine the blood, sweat and tears…and lives lost in the struggle…for sure their efforts would open their eyes to the importance of voting. But the abomination currently residing in the White House and his campaign said through is actions to forget about all of that.

Apparently, in 2016 the voter suppressor in chief’s campaign collected psychographic information about potential voters. Psychographics is defined as the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research. You know those cookies you grant permission for when opening websites or purchasing subscriptions to magazines or newspapers? They could well be a conduit for collecting such psychographic data.

The orange ogre in chief’s 2016 campaign used psychographic data collected through Cambridge Analytica to place voters into five categories: voters who would certainly vote for Trump, voters who would certainly vote for Hillary Clinton, those voters who could be persuaded who had not yet chosen a side, those voters for Trump that would need to be encouraged to vote, and those voters for Clinton who should be “deterred” from voting. The last category was filled with potential voters who were identified as non-white. According to Krishnan Guru-Murthy of the British television network Channel 4, “In total, more than three-and-a-half million Black voters were marked ‘deterrence’.” 54% to be precise. He went on to state, “Now, we can reveal for the first time that many [Black voters] had been identified by the Trump campaign and its supporters. Their aim? Not to win their votes, it seems, but to get them to stay at home on Election Day.”

The strategies employed by their campaign were three-fold. To target African Americans, the campaign placed spots on African American radio stations with a “Hillary Thinks African Americans are Super Predators” statement, and included a similar cartoon delivered to African American voters through a Facebook “dark post’. The effectiveness of such ads on voter suppression is not readily quantifiable, but appears as though the campaign believed they may have been fruitful in their efforts.

The racist clown in chief triumphantly celebrated decreased Black voter turnout and discussed it with his followers in a rally in 2016. “Remember the famous line, because I talk about crime, I talk about lack of education, I talk about no jobs. And I’d say, what the hell do you have to lose? Right? … It’s true. And they’re smart and they picked up on it like you wouldn’t believe. And you know what else? They didn’t come out to vote for Hillary. They didn’t come out. And that was a big — so thank you to the African American community.” As I typed this, I bite my tongue and check my wrist for my pulse rate! Black voter turnout had increased to 69% in 2008 up from from 61% in 2004, and was essentially back to 2004 levels, 60%, in 2016. I would like to highlight that 94% of Black women, in particular, voted for Clinton after 96% had voted for President Obama in 2012.

But what about voter suppression efforts outside of the orange liar in chief’s efforts?

Recall the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a key component of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in a ruling in a case called Shelby County v. Holder. The 5-4 ruling struck down a formula of the law (Section V) that required certain localities with a history of voter discrimination against minority voters to get changes to election law cleared by the federal government before they would go into effect. Chief Justice John Roberts declared that voting discrimination was no longer as severe as it was before the law was enacted. Chief Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously dissented, stating “Throwing out pre-clearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

The result? Those who have been historically discriminated against would have to be the ones to prove that they are disenfranchised. States, particularly those in the South, quickly went on to enact new voter ID laws and other actions. From 2012 to 2018, 1,688 polling places in 757 counties across the United States have been closed according to a report from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, 214 of which were in Georgia alone. Remember how Governor Brian Kemp won against Stacey Abrams, while Brian Kemp was Georgia’s top election officials? Well, “good ol’ Kemp” sent local election officials a memo justifying closing the polls as they no longer needed federal review to submit such changes. Isn’t it amazing how the law works in the favor of the privileged? Also, many states have and are still purging people from voting rolls without giving justification or prior notice.

According to the report entitled “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote”: “By far, the most common justification for closing polling places was no justification at all. Local officials who did offer an explanation often cited pretexts, such as budget constraints, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), school safety concerns, limited parking, changes in voter turnout, or even simple logic. As one election commissioner from Mississippi put it, sometimes closing polling places ‘just makes sense’.”

Also, voter ID laws were passed in states like Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina, states where civil rights advocates voiced their concerns that Black and Latinx voters were most likely not recipients of government issued photo IDs. In 2013, Arizona took this a step further by implementing a system requiring residents to show proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, and are issuing separate ballots for federal and state elections, mostly affecting Native American and minority voters. This action spread to states like Texas, Alabama and Georgia, although the enforcement of these laws may or may not be perfunctory. Is it no wonder the birtherism conspiracy took off if these actions were successful?

Why is it that voter suppression efforts are in persistent and targeted? One simple answer: “Black voters are much more likely to identify as Democrats than Republicans” as per the Washington Post. The Democratic presidential candidate over the five presidential elections since 2000 has averaged 91% of the Black vote. According to Gallup, “the recent Sept. 13-16 Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found Biden leading Trump among Black voters by 90% to 5%. Gallup’s aggregated data from polls conducted July 30-Aug. 12 and Aug. 31-Sept. 13 show Trump approval — a rough surrogate for likelihood to vote for Trump — at 11% among Black Americans, with disapproval at 87%. In a moment of hyperbole on the campaign trail in 2016, Trump promised that if elected president, he would get 95% of the Black vote in 2020, but in reality, it is highly unlikely that dramatic change in the underlying structure of presidential vote preferences among racial and ethnic subgroups will occur.” In discussing Black voting habits, I have a simple plea…direct some of the inquiries regarding support for Trump to those that are not actively and constantly fighting for their right to vote. Local TV stations in Georgia alone have borne witness to Black people standing in line until midnight, and even later at times, after getting off work a hard day’s work to place their vote.

When asking about Black voters supporting a candidate that is unquestionably antithetical to their best interests, even with those who continue to support Trump because they believe he is a successful businessman with good morals…pause for a pulse rate check here, all good…know that these are rare cases that are unable to be convinced otherwise, despite all of the evidence of his probable tax fraud and massive debt ($421 MILLION), continual undermining of the Constitution and institution of law through the DOJ, corruption with business practices, kowtowing to foreign adversaries, and overall cruelty, catering to racists and malignant narcissism. They may also be unknowledgeable about active voter suppression efforts, or do not care just as the orange monstrosity’s other supporters. Black voters are not a monolith, but they definitely are not the ones keeping his campaign afloat. We all know who truly supports him in large numbers, usually while waving Trump flags and wearing Trump paraphernalia, among other things that Black people wholeheartedly do not support.

On another note, please, please reconsider asking about Kanye West – sigh…his antics are an aberration that can only be explained through the lens of mental illness which unfortunately has been thoroughly exploited by Trump surrogates. Many Black people see through his “political aspirations” with a jaundiced eye.

Just take a minute to consider that Black people and minority groups are still fighting for our right to vote, and are trying hard to overcome mounting voter suppression efforts, even in 2020. Black voters continue to strive to overcome the aforementioned voter suppression efforts from judicial decisions, as well as current efforts including corrupt obstruction of the United States Post Office and mail delivery, the constant barrage of lies and falsehoods about voting by mail, the felonious advice to vote twice in one election, the permission of foreign actors to spread conspiracy theories and outright lies about the Democratic candidate and platform, and attacks against states with Democratic Governors with regards to voting by the orange lying liar who lies commander in chief – just as all other American citizens. Black voters see through the lies and obstruction, and hopefully will continue to make our voices heard through our votes, just as our prior Civil Rights icons have before us. Good trouble.

Now back to watching the spectacle that is the first Presidential Debate of 2020. I actually feel a tinge of sympathy for Chris Wallace trying to keep the orange monstrosity focused. …*checks pulse rate*

[si-contact-form form=’2′]