By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher, San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper
Chairman, NNPA Board
Here in California, there is an unbelievable field of candidates running for a number of offices. In addition to 52 Congressional Seats and a Special Election to fill the seat of former Congressman Salwell who recently resigned, State Constitutional Officers from Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, State Comptroller, Assembly and Senate seats and local City Council seats, there is a great demand for voter attention and potential support. Most interesting is the fact that many of these candidates have thousands, if not millions, of dollars to spend on getting voters at all levels of our democracy, except one: The Black vote.
Once again, a reminder that it was the Black vote that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; it was the Black vote in the South that gave us our first two Black U.S. Senators Blanche Kelso Bru from the State of Mississippi, serving from 1879 to 1881, as a Republican, and Hiram Revels, who became a senator from Mississippi in 1870 serving one year. Today, we have over 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus and two African Americans in the Senate and eight Black women seeking election to the Senate in this year’s midterm elections.
But it appears that many of our past achievements, such as sending Vice President Harris to the U.S. Senate and having her serve as Vice President of the United States, are being forgotten by us and taken as a threat by those who would “cancel” all people of color if possible. This is evident by the efforts to erase and rewrite our history by taking our name and images off buildings and seeking to remove our achievements.
Let us, and Black people in particular, not forget that our Black Churches and Black Press represent fundamental institutions in the lives of our people. Let us not forget that our vote does matter, even if some have forgotten us. Let us not forget that the Black Press has told our story, when no one else would, for more than 199 years. Can we allow candidates and those who support them to write us off by refusing to spend dollars to state their positions in the Black Press, the same way they are spending millions, if not billions of dollars to do the same in the “main” streams (White) Media?
How can people come to us saying they value our votes, when all their campaign dollars go to others, because it has been determined that other votes are more important than ours.
Black Voters are the victims of both Democrats and Republicans in every election. Democrats, because they take us for granted assuming we have no choice but to vote for them over the Republican alternatives; Republicans, because they have made it very clear that our vote is the one thing they wish to stop. They don’t need the Black vote as long as they can keep enough Whites afraid of Black political participation.
Black votes must be able examine both sides, realizing that neither are totally for us. We must develop a sense of “permanent interest” and not permanent alliance to those who change their support of us depending on the issues at hand.
We don;t want a Republican Governor of California; We don;t want to send Republicans to the Congress and help them retain control of the House and Senate which will help Trump continue his insanity; but we can live with either if that becomes the price of reminding people not to assume they have our votes without earning them.
Where do you stand? Will you be looking for candidates and their campaign issues in the Black Press, before you vote. Time is running out.
