Get Out And Vote...ESPECIALLY If You Are A Minority

Most days, after listening to the comedy morning show on the radio, I switch over to talk radio. I do this usually because I just want to hear people discussing the issues of the day. Usually it's mildly amusing or just interesting. This 'Blue Girl' also sometimes gets an insight into most of the local 'Red People'. In most cases, I just think something is interesting. In other cases I think those people are insane to think a particular way. But then there are days like today when I become livid and really need to vent. So, what happened? "Encouragement." I put that in quotes and I realize it sounds odd but there are reasons I shall explain.

Let me explain that the radio show has said many times most working there are white people. However, they do have an African American man working there too. He seems to be the "go to guy" for anything "black" they want to discuss. That's an issue but possibly for another day. So, the two hosts were discussing voting and if the debate has swayed anyone. They asked the resident black guy who he planned to vote for and his answer was that he had never voted. He then explained the reason is because he is uneducated about politics and and didn't want to vote just because "someone told me who to vote for." I expected the hosts to encourage him to get educated because voting is super important. Instead, they encouraged him to NOT vote until the day he magically decides to educate himself. They enthusiastically encouraged him to NOT vote and my reaction was simple....

This went on for several minutes with the two white hosts complimenting the black guy for not voting and encouraging him to take his time to self-educate for voting in the future. He's 26, has never voted and has been interviewed regarding police shootings and being racially profiled in this area. But they encouraged him to take his time getting politically educated and voting. Yup, reference the stunned stare again.

First off, if this were a young, white person, I doubt they would have applauded him not voting. I have never heard older white people advising younger white people to not vote. I've witnessed white parents, especially middle class and rich white parents, actively teach their children to go out and vote If they are Republican, they are rather happy to hear black people say they do not vote so this advice from the two white hosts didn't just trouble me, it made me angry.White people encouraging a black man to stay ignorant should anger everyone.

Second, how in the world does a member of a minority group allow members of a dominant group encourage him to not vote? As a black man living in Kansas, he is subject to an entirely different life reality than two middle-class white people. They have the luxury of ignoring voting, ignoring racial profiling and basically taking their time to get educated. They have a little thing called 'white privilege' that helps them through life. He does not. Let me add that both the hosts are not only educated about the issues and candidates but they are both registered to vote and plan to vote even though they dislike the major candidates. So, the 'good white folk' will vote while telling the black guy it's best he does not. Am I missing something?

Black people fought and died for the right to vote. There is a man who has been endorsed by the Klan running for president. Trump has encouraged violence against black people at his rallies. Unarmed black men are being shot by police. The racial divide in this country seems to be widening and this black man is taking the advice of two middle-class white people who plan on voting that he should not vote and remain uneducated. I was rather disgusted by the entire situation.

I have to ask myself, what did this man's parents teach him, if anything, about voting? He's 26 and never voted because he's not informed? He's not informed because he chooses not to be informed and that baffles me. At 18 I was not only informed, I was registered and anxious to vote.

The bottom line is, if this guy (and anyone else) is too lazy to educate himself enough to vote, then sit down, shut up and embrace things like racial profiling. You just told those working to implement such things that it's not important enough for you to care. You don't vote so they, the powers that be, can put laws on the books to keep you in your place. As a black man, they definitely have a place for you to be and that's usually in jail or the grave. He needs to stop being lazy, get educated, get registered and vote. There is no excuse to not be educated on issues and candidates today. Information is spoon fed to us through the Internet. If this guy isn't educated, it's because he's lazy, nothing more. If he doesn't care enough to vote, he needs to stop getting on the air to complain about his life in America as a black man.