Politics

Top 6 Reasons Why African-Americas /Caribbean-Americans Should Vote in the August 2014 Primary Election

By: Dr. Marcia Magnus, Chairperson, Caribbean American Politically Active Citizens

SOUTH FLORIDA -No group of Americans has suffered more than African Americans in their struggle for voting rights. Thousands of African Americans have been lynched, beaten, even killed for trying to register to vote.

Top 6 Reasons Why African-Americas /Caribbean-Americans Should Vote:

1.Vote in this primary election because today Blacks CAN vote. The 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed when 600 African Americans began the 5-day 51-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. On Bloody Sunday, state troopers attacked unarmed peaceful marchers with tear gas, bullwhips, and nightsticks. If they could walk 51 miles through known hostile Ku Klux Klan territory, could you take 51minutes to vote in this primary election?

2.Vote to give honor to the millions of African Americans who could NOT vote because unjust laws required that they either recite parts of the US Constitution, or pay a voting poll tax, or they had to provide proof that they owned land. We can vote today because of their struggle yesterday.

3. Vote in this primary election because today we stand on the shoulders of those who were beaten, lynched, and killed; for the African Americans who faced burning KKK crosses; for the churches which were bombed just because activists tried to change unjust voting laws. Rosa Parks tried to register three times because of these unjust laws.

4.Have you noticed that complaining about the criminal justice system with your friends and family has not really changed anything? When you vote, your vote counts and the right legislators decide on policy and how to spend our tax dollars.

5.Vote for candidates who are more sensitive to Caribbean American issues—immigration, the economy, the criminal justice system. Most people vote by ethnicity and gender. Generally, Hispanic voters go for Hispanic names. Irish voters select candidates who have Irish names. Jews vote for Jews. Women vote for women, and men vote for men. This way, candidates get elected based on their ethnicity and gender. Vote for candidates based on their position on the issues that are important to you. It’s easier than you think to vote when you use your Caribbean-American Voters’ Guide.

6.Although every registered vote can vote, some groups are more likely to vote than others. Supervoters–people who vote in both primary and general elections are usually older adults, more educated, White, and earn more than $50,000 a year. Because Supervoters vote for people who are like them, it is easier for people to win elections just because of their first and last names.  SuperVoter condo dwellers in east Broward have notoriously high voter turnout in every election. Don’t let anybody wipe out your interests because they are Supervoters, and YOU didn’t bother to vote!

Needed: Caribbean-American SuperVoters who vote in every election!

August 11 – Early voting begins

August 26 – Primary Election Day

People wait in line to vote in Miami.  Photograph by: Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis.
People wait in line to vote in Miami.
Photograph by: Michele Eve Sandberg/Corbis.

 

Dr. Marcia Magnus, Chairperson, Caribbean American Politically Active Citizens can be reached at [email protected]

South Florida Caribbean News

The SFLCN.com Team provides news and information for the Caribbean-American community in South Florida and beyond.

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