Why Vote
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2
Along with the many things we have to be thankful for are the heroes who stood on picket lines, marched, faced humiliation, physical beatings and the like to ensure the bigotry and unfairness of this nation was brought to the surface resulting in the world witnessing the injustice and unfairness people of color had to bare in this country – just for the right to vote!
The United States Constitution: signed in 1776, stated that all men were created equal but Black men were not included! The Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863 ended slavery in states in rebellion against the United States. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in1865 abolished all slavery; yet, Black men, women and children were still not free! The Fifteenth Amendment ratified in 1870 declared: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” This did not include women of any color! Women were not given the right to vote until passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920! Still yet, Black men and women were prevented from voting!
After marching, orderly protest, pressure on and support of elected officials and intervention, the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 enforcing the constitutional right of all citizens of the United States the right to vote.
We as a people were thankful for the reinforcement of the right to vote; however, even after the Voters Act was enacted, many of us were restricted from doing so through Jim Crow laws which included literacy test, poll taxes and grandfather laws (if your grandfather did not vote, you could not vote) beatings, intimidation, and threats.
My people, the “failure to vote” – is a vote for the opposition and may result in your future being in jeopardy from the enacting of unfair laws passed by those in office, as well as the negative effects of redistricting of boundaries in neighborhoods gerrymandering which literally draw new boundary lines manipulating an area for a particular party which in most cases negatively affect people of color. “Election is selection”! Do not take it lightly. Research the issues, look at the candidates record and vote intelligently! It is your right! Do not give it up! If it comes down to it, vote for the lesser of the two evils – but VOTE!
Do not forgo this hard fault for right!
It Does Matter!
Victory in Christ Jesus
James S. Hall Jr., Pastor
