Posted on November 5, 2024 by Dr. Shannon

Today my husband and I walked to our local polling site to vote. Ours happens to me at a local community center so it didn’t take us too long to get there. I always get a bit frustrated, when I hear African Americans say, “Why vote? It’s not going to make a difference.” And I think, “Nooooooo! Don’t you know what it took for us to be able to have the right to vote in this country? What our ancestors went through to secure this right? They paved the way, with their voices, their bodies, their blood, and their tears. Let me explain.

Early Voting Rights

Prior to the Civil War Black Freedman didn’t have the right to vote and those who were enslaved had no rights at all. After the Civil War, things began to change. During this time, known as the Reconstruction period, Black men were granted the right to vote, and Black communities used this right to vote in over 1,500 Black men into public office at the city, state, and federal level - over 15 seats in Congress! It was a time of hope, of progress—that, sadly, came to an abrupt end.

As Reconstruction ended, there was a harsh backlash from the white southerners who were beside themselves that Black men were in office, making laws, and were walking around like they were equal. So they made a deal to get the Union soldiers who were enforcing the new laws out of the South, so they could do the evil they wanted to do with no compunction. This led to a wave of oppression in the South that systematically dismantled Black voting rights. Jim Crow laws were institutionalized, explicitly targeting Black voting rights through “separate but equal” policies, through poll taxes, literacy tests, "grandfather clauses" (only if a person’s grandfather could they vote- and we all know that left out the recent enslaved folks, and a couple of generations after that) and outright intimidation; African Americans were systematically barred from voting. Even the very information that they had the right to vote was often withheld.

Women had their Own Battle for the Right to Vote

And although the 19th Amendment passed in 1920, giving women the right to vote, Black women in the South still faced severe voter suppression and discriminatory laws. Leaders like Fannie Lou Hamer, became a voice demanding Black people - men and women’s - right to vote. She, along with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and advocates such as the late John Lewis, led courageous voter registration drives, facing physical violence, arrests, and constant threats to their lives. Fannie Lou Hamer’s powerful words, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired,” became a rallying cry for justice to demand their rightful place at the polls. Their activism was instrumental in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which finally prohibited racial discrimination in voting, this was only 59 years ago. My parents were alive during this time, and thank God they are still with me today.

This is Why I Vote

My ancestors faced violence, intimidation, and exclusion but still demanded a voice. Let’s honor their fight by showing up at the polls, reminding ourselves that their sacrifices grant us this power today. Whether or not your candidate or measure wins- you vote. Whether or not you think it makes a difference. You vote. Just vote. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain.