Why Your Vote Really DOES Matter (And It’s Not Why You Think…)

Since this website is primarily catered (for now) to students attending historically black colleges, I feel it is my duty to, from time to time, inform our race of people about things they may not be aware of. 

One of those things includes the importance of voting.  If you’re like me, you’ve said to yourself time and time again: “Why should I vote? It’s not like my one little vote is going to matter.  Besides, the electoral colleges and/or other big government-type set ups are the ones who REALLY choose the people elected into office!”

Despite this thought, I’ve always felt it my need to vote, if only because I had anscestors who fought and DIED just so I could walk into a polling center without being shot.

However, for those of you who can’t be persuaded to vote by guilt trips, consider this conversation I witnessed recently while attending a Hip-Hop summit at Clark-Atlanta University, courtesy of www.AllHipHop.com.  The popular website has been going around the country doing panel discussions at various college campuses about different issues, and at this particular stop they were talking about how Hip-Hop coinsides with politics.

One of the speakers on the panel made a few statements about voting that even I, as a Hampton University graduate, had never been made aware of.  I can’t remember the words ver batum, but what follows is the general sentiment of what was said:

“Do you know how local government offices determine where to do construction and/or tear down buildings?  They go back and look at the voting records of each county to see which sections of town had a high percentage of voters.  Those sections of town tend to have the people who are more apt to make phone call complaints and/or vote against a certain change being made.  The sections of town with low-voter turnout tend to be the ones who don’t make their voices heard if something they don’t like is going on, or vote to change things.  This is where you’re more likely to see buildings torn down, or worse – buildings not being fixed up.”

So, if you’re Black, how does this affect you and your family?  Well, if you grew up in a neighborhood that was less than stellar (i.e. the “ghetto,”) and always wondered why the government always seemed to be able to build new neighborhoods in the “white” areas of town instead of building up the area where you live, it wasn’t just about racism.  Chances are, either you, your parents, or the surrounding neighbors didn’t voice their opinions about the situation by going out to vote. 

Sad as it may be to say, White people tend to show up and vote more often than other races.  Hmmm, maybe THAT’S why they’re able to have better neighborhoods/schools/malls built near where they live…)

But voting in an election isn’t just about picking a person to run the White House, or your local government.  People forget that, aside from voting for people, the voting ballots also ask you to vote on other issues and/or proposals.  The issues can range from schooling monies, health care reform, and more – the bottom line, though, is that if you don’t participate in the process, you really have no reason to complain.  If you wanted to complain, you could do so by going to an election center and voting NO on a new bill that you don’t agree with.

So, on election day, before you decide not to place your ballot in the box, remember: your vote really DOES count, but only if you actually show up to cast it.  Otherwise, I don’t want to hear you complaining about ANYTHING the government chooses to do to your neighborhood – after all, you vote wouldn’t have counted in the first place, remember?

-Aaron P. Taylor