Why Your Vote Matter by Marjorie A. Gordon-DeLee (November 6, 2018)
We have come to a point now in this nation that drastic measures must be taken by each and every human being about our democracy for the people to reestablish it as its true meaning and purpose; and not the mockery it has become. Everyone must be educated on what their civic duties are in society and why using their voices through casting their votes at each and every election is detrimental to them, their families, to the communities in which they live, and to this nation.
It was August 28, 1963 during Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom he made his “I have a Dream” speech. Within the context of that speech he said and I quote, “I have a dream that one day my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”. That was a powerful statement and a powerful speech to have been made during that era during the Civil Rights Movement when African Americans and all people of color were fighting for equal rights in this nation. Rights that we should not have even been fighting for because we are human beings first and foremost and we should never have to ask permission to be an equal part of this democracy. We are a part of the human race on this earth and it is our given right to partake in any area we deem necessary for the betterment of ourselves, our families and for the betterment of this society.
Because of this powerful speech made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he and others like, Congressman John Lewis who is still among us continuing the fight for justice, who risk their lives in the fight for Black people and all other people of color, and regardless of Dr. King’s speech, the White Supremacist of this world were not going to allow Black people to progress in the United States of America. As an African American citizen of the United States who would also benefit from the equal and fair treatment, I experienced all of the ups and downs that went into the travesty in the downfall of the democracy that we live in today.
It would appear that Donald Trump was planted as President to completely destroy all forms of democracy and rip apart all laws, rights and privileges already set in place for the people of this nation. How in the world can anyone in their right mind, who is positioned in the White House to serve the people of this nation to ensure that they have better lives, allow Donald Trump to get away with the outrageous things that he does? It is because the White Supremacist have him there to do their dirty work. This is blatantly obvious by what we have all observed thus far under the gauge of his administration.
Our sitting President, Donald Trump, has constantly been under investigation since he has been in office for one issue or the other.
As Goldsmith (2017) stated in his article,
‘Trump has acted much like Nixon did. He has pressured his senior intelligence and law-enforcement officials to help clear his name and fired the original lead investigator, FBI Director James Comey. Unlike Nixon, Trump has also publicly attacked just about everyone involved in investigating him. And yet every institution has stood firm.”
This is the person that was elected to represent the poor and suffering people of this nation to show his concern and compassion for mankind? This president and the current Republican Representatives seated in the Congress need to be replaced. We need Democrats who will represent the poor and suffering people of this nation. We need changes immediately.
It is the people of this nation who are to hold political power, ruling directly or through a representative of their choosing. That is a Democracy. Donald Trump has done nothing but incite bullish activity since he started running for office. It was even during his campaign where he aired his attitudes toward freedom of speech, religion, and the press; attacked immigrants and minorities (Goldsmith, 2017). In an article written by Tocqueville (1835) and translated by Henry Reeve (2013), the author stated that “no government could be ordained that could resist these internal forces, when, they are directed to its destruction by bad men, or unreasoning mobs”. These are the activities in which are being displayed from our White House, our Congress, the current President, Donald Trump.
When we look back on history on how this country was run by democratically elected representatives, research reveals that it is the people engaged in civic participation who were actively making the decisions for their communities.
Goldsmith (2017) reports that in 189:
“Civic participation was a normal behavior of small towns and not the exception. Walter Bill Hill reported, (cited in Goldsmith, 2017) (with perhaps only slight exaggerations) that he’d made a test case of a small town “and found that every man, woman, and child (above ten years of age) in the place held an office—with the exception of a few scores of flabby, jellyfish characters.”
America, he concluded, is “a nation of presidents.”
What he is saying here is that through the involvement of the people in the town, ranging from 10 years old and above, that they all have the potential to hold an office in the management, administration, and any other operation of a town, because Americans, all the people, are a “nation of presidents” (Goldsmith, 2017).
To expound upon learning citizen responsibilities, the following list of items are provided to review:
§ to take action wherever they can to improve their own economic, cultural and social development, and to promote self-reliance;
§ to give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay;
§ to act with integrity, sharing with others, caring for others, promoting sound values, and guiding the next generation;
§ to participate actively in affairs that affect them by joining with others to create resources and facilities in their communities, and
§ to build leaders in their communities by identifying and nurturing people who can take responsibility for themselves and for other people.
Civil Society organizations also have civic responsibilities and a role to play in building and molding good citizens. In order to do this, they –
§ should help to create a good society by educating people in issues relating to active citizenship;
§ should play a central role in making citizens aware of their rights and responsibilities, and prepare them to undertake those rights and responsibilities;
§ should build community leadership through facilitating access to information and training, and
§ should play an effective role in promoting a strong, capable and responsible Civil Society which is able to work in partnership with an active and equally responsible State (Liverpool, 2012).
Furthermore, research indicated that groups excluded from democratic government turned to democratic governance to practice and press for equal citizenship. Such as in “the 1790s, when a group of New Yorkers locked in debtors’ jail adopted their own version of the new Constitution governing themselves with dignity despite their imprisonment. Free blacks in the antebellum North and formerly enslaved blacks in the postwar South were more likely to create and participate in civic groups than were there white neighbors. Women used charitable societies and ladies’ auxiliaries to join in public debates and, eventually, to secure the right to vote” (Goldsmith, 2017).
Hence, it behooves the people of this nation to begin to think more critically about the times that we are currently living in and to take steps from this day forth in personally making those changes that will improve upon the democracy of this nation.
Casting your votes is critical to this upcoming election on Tuesday, November 6. Let your voices be heard so that the right people (Democrats) are seated that will be the voices of those individuals who are poor and suffering in this nation.
We must take into consideration the upcoming Census also for 2020. The districts have been rigged so that all of the White populated districts have a massive population represented by a Republican Representative in six out of the seven districts in South Carolina. The Black communities and all other people of color have a very small population of voters, therefore the manner in which it is rigged (which is called gerrymandering) now is disproportioned. If you do not cast your vote, you are allowing the door to be wide open for the Republicans to win back these seats in the November 6, 2018 Election. We need every Democrat who is registered to vote on that day. Research has concluded that “in those places where the rich and powerful are assembled together the weak and the indigent feel themselves oppressed by their inferior condition.
Unable to perceive a single chance of regaining their equality, they give up to despair, and allow themselves to fall below the dignity of human nature (De Tocqueville, 1835 Translated by Henry Reeve (2013). Thus said, “a nation may present immense fortunes and extreme wretchedness, but unless those fortunes are territorial there is no aristocracy, but simply the class of the rich and that of the poor (De Tocqueville, 1835 Translated by Henry Reeve (2013).
· Redistricting political control:
Governor
State Senate
State House
R
19 D, 27 R
48 D, 75 R
R
19 D, 27 R
48 D, 75 R
2000 cong. lines
D
21 D, 25 R
53 D, 71 R
2000 state lines
D
21 D, 25 R
53 D, 71 R
· South Carolina's congressional and state legislative lines are both drawn by the state legislature, as a regular statute, subject to gubernatorial veto. The members of the state House committee with responsibility for redistricting are listed here; the members of the state Senate committee are listed here.
· Timing
Census data were delivered to South Carolina on March 23, 2011.
South Carolina state law does not impose a particular deadline for drawing congressional or state legislative lines, though candidates must file for congressional and state legislative primary elections by March 30, 2012. [S.C. Code § 7-11-5] The regular legislative session began on January 11, 2011, and ended June 2, 2011.
South Carolina does not prohibit redrawing either congressional or state legislative district lines mid-decade, before the next Census. [S.C. Const. art. III, § 3; S.C. Const. art. VII, §13]
· Public input
Public hearings were scheduled for March and April 2011, and the public was invited to submit comments and plans, at least to the state Senate, through May 9, 2011. Transcripts and public comments can be found here and here.
· Criteria
Like all states, South Carolina must comply with constitutional equal population requirements.
PLEASE NOTE BELOW (Very Important): South Carolina must also, like all states, abide by section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Furthermore, because South Carolina is considered a "covered jurisdiction" under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, it has an obligation to submit redistricting plans to the Department of Justice or to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to ensure that the plans do not discriminate against minority communities.
In 2011, the South Carolina legislative redistricting committees have issued further guidelines for both congressional and state legislative districts, though the guidelines for each legislative chamber are not precisely parallel. These guidelines may be changed at any time. The guidelines ask that both congressional and state legislative districts be contiguous, and that they, where practical and appropriate, attempt to preserve communities of interest and cores of incumbents' existing districts, and adhere to county, municipal, and voting precinct boundary lines. The guidelines also ask to consider compactness, including geography, demography, communities of interest, and the extent to which there are means for a representative to communicate effectively with constituents. [2011 Redistricting Guidelines (Senate); 2011 Guidelines and Criteria For Congressional and Legislative Redistricting (House) (http://redistricting.lls.edu/states-SC.php)
We need Democrats representing the people of South Carolina to be the voices for our issues and concerns, such as:
· Domestic Violence and Sexual Assaults against Women and Children whereas South Carolina has been Rated within the top 10 states for the past 21 years. That is ridiculous and we need Democrats seated to represent the women and children of South Carolina to reduce the violence toward us.
· Incarceration is massive in the State of South Carolina as well in this nation. The state’s population in 2014 was 27.4 percent black, but the prison population was 64.7 percent black. We must think about our sons and daughters being locked away in these prisons. Also, to take under strict consideration is the lengthy mandatory minimum sentences of 10 to 30 years on drug offenses that are being given to these men and women as well (Knapp and Munday, 2016).
· Healthcare that has been put into place by former President Barack Obama (Obamacare). The people in South Carolina desperately need this insurance to remain enforced. I was fortunately to enroll into the Obamacare when I was in desire need of health insurance, and still is.
· Social Security. With the increased numbers of Baby Boomers living, our Social Security Benefits are necessary for our survivals. Living on this fixed income cannot be slashed anymore lower than it already is. We need Democrats in the seats to represent those receiving Social Security Benefits.
· Gun Control
· Women Rights
· 2020 Census is extremely important. We must put an end to gerrymandering and get adequate representation in the areas that will serve the Black people and all people of color. We have been disproportionate too long and it is time for changes to occur. For the past 50 years the economics of South Carolina has declined and poverty is worse than it ever for the families.
It is the Presidency of Donald Trump and the Republicans who sets behind him to ruin the democracy of this nation. We, as the people, need Democrats seated in the SC House and Senate representing us in Congress who care about the common people in the grassroots that need help in every economical form. Please vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. As former President Obama has stated time and time again, “Don’t Boo, VOTE!”
References
De Tocqueville, A. (1835). Democracy in America. Translated by Henry Reeve (2013). Retrieved November 1, 2018 from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/815/815-h/815-h.htm
Goldsmith, J. (2017). He is unlikely to be contained by norms and customs, or even by laws and the Constitution. The Atlantic. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/will-donald-trump-destroy-the-presidency/537921/
Knapp, A. and Munday, Dave (2016). Racial Disparity in SC prisons in spotlight. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/racial-disparity-in-s-c-prisons-in-spotlight/article_2d2f364c-71fa-55e2-8d35-44a80ef17b9e.html
Liverpool, N. J. O. (2012). Civil Rights, and Civic Duties and Responsibilities.
Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from http://presidentoffice.gov.dm/former-presidents/25-his-excellency-dr-nicholas-j-o-liverpool-2003-2012/18-civil-rights-and-civic-duties-and-responsibilities
Knapp, A. and Munday, Dave (2016). Racial Disparity in SC prisons in spotlight. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/racial-disparity-in-s-c-prisons-in-spotlight/article_2d2f364c-71fa-55e2-8d35-44a80ef17b9e.html
SC State House Website. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from http://redistricting.lls.edu/states-SC.php
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