Kevin Under normal circumstances, I don’t talk politics on this blog. There’s a million other places on the netz where you can get your politics fix on. Today is Election Day 2024, and some places have days off b/c of it. I’m one of those, so I spent my day at my summer job. Instead of the politics, and the dumpster fire it all is, I’ve decided to make today’s post about the importance of voting.
No matter where you stand on the issues, voting is a right I believe everyone should be able to access. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case. It was only a hair over 100 years ago when we women got the right to vote in 1920 w/ the 19th amendment. The 15th amendment gave Black men the right to vote, but only on paper and in theory. The systemic racism of Jim Crow made it nearly impossible for Black men to cast their rightful votes. This continued into the 1960s, when the first wave of the Civil Rights Movement put a stop to that shyt, and took the barriers that prevented so many Black citizens from voting.
This was in many ppls’ lifetimes. Not mine, but it’s still so recent in the scheme of things. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come as a society, and how much more work there is to be done.
When colonists came to Turtle Island, only a certain group had the right to vote, and that was white men who owned land. According to the National Geographic post in the link, voting was also a states’ rights issue. The social norms and mores of the time considered other groups as less than, and as such, excluded those groups from voting. It went against everything democracy stands for, and it created an echo chamber. Echo chambers are rarely, if ever a good thing, so it’s no wonder they made so little progress.
I’m sure some of y’all are wondering, how can it matter if I vote or not? It’s only one vote, ffs! Au contraire, mon ami. Au contraire. Your one vote could make all the difference it needs, according to this post over at American Progress. Your one vote can make a difference, both at the federal and the local government level. In fact, that post talks about the recent laws signed into legislation earlier this year, and how those few votes made this possible.
I already voted. I’ve been voting absentee ever since I had a bad experience at a polling place, back when I was in college. I’m wondering if this could count as voter intimidation, but either way, it’s done and over w/, and I haven’t seen any of the ppl involved since then. My polling place has also since moved locations, but still. I love the convenience of voting via absentee ballot. This year, my absentee ballot request somehow got jammed up in the mail, so I took the bus to the county auditor’s polling place on a weekend, and voted there instead. I missed the bus to a place I wanted to go, so I may as well go vote and kill some time that way. There were surprisingly few ppl there, which ended up being in my favor.
I’m typing this as I’m listening to the livestream of the election on YouTube, since the network channel this is on doesn’t come in worth shyt on my TV w/ the antenna. The polls are starting to close along the east coast, and soon, the polls in my time zone will close too, so on and so forth. It’s like I flip-flop between feeling hopeful for what’s ahead, and not. It’s a damn roller coaster, and I’m tired of this. I’m over the political ads on my Roku where they’re talking a million kinds of smack about each other. I’m over the divisiveness of it all.
I’m also planning on reading The Hope Chest. It’s a newer book, but it’s historical fiction geared more toward the middle grades. Be that as it may, there’s takeaways for older readers too. I should also mention that there’s some parts in the book where they talk about prejudice and racism. Even though many thought that way at the time the story takes place, it’s important to remember that there are just as many who didn’t think like that.
It’s the ones who didn’t think like the ones who believed only that certain group of ppl should have the right to vote that gave us access to the polls too.
Over to you, readers. How’re you holding up on Election Day 2024. Did you vote today, or did you do like me and vote early? Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts and takeaways, so drop it like it’s hot, and let’s talk. However, there’s a caveat. Since politics are so divisive, I’m asking y’all to keep the politics outta the comments, and instead focus on voting.
