Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
In this season of holiday giving, president-elect Donald Trump is apparently in the spirit and doing his part. Trump recently embarked on what he’s calling his “Thank You Tour,” which is intended to show his appreciation to voters in battleground states for helping to elect him president.
At a recent Thank You rally event, Trump delivered this message to the African American community: Thank you for NOT coming out to vote. And, per Trump: “We did great with the African-American community. So, good. Remember the famous line, because I talked about crime, I talked about lack of education, I talked about no jobs.
And I’d say, what the hell do you have to lose? Right? It’s true. And they’re smart and they picked up on it like you wouldn’t believe. And you know what else? They didn’t come out to vote for Hillary.
They didn’t come out. And that was big. So, thank you to the African American community.”
As reported in the Washington Post, exit polls suggest black turnout really was lower in 2016 than it was in 2012 – with Black Americans making 12 percent of the voters in 2016, down a percentage point from 2012. And since 89 percent of black voters cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton, the lower turnout likely helped Trump win (if those who refrained from voting would have voted for Clinton).
And as Trump’s comments clearly indicate, lower Black turnout is what many Republicans wanted all along.
Over the past several years, Republican legislators passed several measures that have made voting more difficult for groups they consider to be in opposition to their core political message, (i.e. Blacks, Latinos and millennials). Hence, the advent of voter ID, early voting cuts, polling places closures and whitewashing voter registration lists – all strategies used to depress the vote.
These laws don’t outright say that black voters are being targeted. But because of socioeconomic disparities, the restrictions disproportionately impact minority voters.
For example, since minority Americans are less likely to have flexible working hours or own cars, they might have a harder time affording a voter ID or getting to the right place (to a DMV office) to obtain a voter ID.
They might rely more on early voting opportunities to cast a ballot. Or they might be more likely to require a nearby voting place they can walk to instead of one that’s a drive away from their home or work.
With Donald Trump, he has been remiss in showing his full appreciation during this latest media spectacle. For one, he failed to acknowledge F.B.I. Director James Comey for his bogus announcement that cast further doubt over Hillary Clinton’s campaign regarding her email controversy.
Second, Trump has repeatedly refused to admit the role that Russian President Vladimir Putin played in hacking into the Democratic National Committee’s computers and releasing damaging information via WikiLeaks. And lastly, Trump should be offering enormous thanks to the Electoral College that cast its votes for his presidency this past Monday – using a system set up by slave owners designed to override the power of the popular vote. Nearly three million more Americans cast their ballots for a different president. Just 538 people decided our political fate.