San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper Chairman of the Board, NNPA
It is a well-established fact that the Black Press is and always has been the “Trusted Messenger” of the Black community. It is also very interesting that when many political organizations and donors decided to support voter registration and “get out the vote” initiatives, those donors gave their dollars to predominantly Black organizations like the Urban League, the NAACP, the League of Voters, and other nonprofit groups. Those groups will prepare and send out press releases about such voter participation efforts since Black people were responsible primarily for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
What is most interesting is that those press releases rarely find their way onto CNN or the major news networks. Those press releases and calls to Black voter participation are carried in the Black Press. However, the dollars that support those press releases being written, nor the ads that carry the message of those releases, reach the Black Press. Historically, the dollars behind those messages do not find their way to the very Black Press that carries those messages.
Now, as we approach one of the most important midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media. Those who are spending the billions of dollars that will go to campaign finance appear to have forgotten that elections are won and lost on a single vote. Now is the time to remind the candidates and the political initiatives and propositions that will appear on ballots across this nation that the Black vote must not be taken for granted. It does not belong to any particular political party or interest group. It can not be judged by whether it exists in a Blue or Red State. The Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and supporters of initiatives should not assume that our vote is unimportant. Elections are won on a single vote.
The United States Supreme Court, in Reynolds v. Sims (1964), established the One Person, One Vote rule. The rule in that case made it mandatory to base legislative seats on population within districts rather than on geography, and guaranteed equal protection coverage under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. That principle has not been abolished, and neither should we act as if our one vote does not count. Let us not forget our own values, and we look toward the Midterm elections. The “Trusted Messenger” can make the difference.
