To Vote or Revolt: That is the Question
By: Solomon Hillfleet
Tags: Race, Social Justice, Equality

To Vote or Revolt: That is the Question

2020 is a crucial year for Americans and I am conflicted about whether I should vote on principle or abstain

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

What a year. Over the course of a few months, the world and its array of problems doubled. Beloved leaders and activists are passing every day. Former presidents find time to take shots at legendary activists like Kwame Ture. My favorite artist announces he’s running for President during a manic episode, and to add to it, I am sure that most of the women in my life that I respect and love view me in contempt. Never saw this coming.

Out of all these things though, the one thing that racks my mind is the decision to vote and whom to vote for. It should be a no brainer. If you would have asked me four years ago, I would have said that it was. An easy but unfulfilling one. A paradoxical, but responsible. Worst of all, I would have justified it.

I would have sent you videos of people like Marc Lamont Hill telling people not to vote for the lesser of two evils and still contradict that message by voting for Hilary. I would have told you about how Hilary and the Dems pander, but never really peer into the issues that affect our community, only to still head to the polls and tweet my I voted sticker. It was easy then.

But now things have changed permanently. There’s no more middle ground in beliefs and party affiliations anymore. Overnight things became abolition or contradiction, vote for the Dems or none of them, and refuse to vote you deserve to be choked. It’s polarizing. On one hand, I want to support the Democrats. But how can I when I see that they are more committed to maintaining party politics than being progressive? How can I in good faith say that I think we have the best candidate when I know we don’t?

Contrastingly, I don’t see voting for Republicans as an option. It never really was and arguably will never be. But I would be foolish if I didn’t really analyze their stance and ask myself how so many black and brown people could vote against their own interests with them. Still, I mean what I say. They aren’t an option. So then, what’s the hold up? Why aren’t on Twitter ardently arguing against followers who are advocating not voting?

Well, it’s simple. This quarantine has forced me to do two major things: read and reflect. I have read several books from African American leaders like Kwame Ture to Assata Shakur, and even conservatives like Thomas Sowell and Jason Riley, and what I’ve found is voting is really a small part of the fight for freedom. When we focus our energy on promoting voting over other larger issues, we play into the dynamic that leaves us at the mercy of political parties. We say we need someone to organize us and we are saying we entrust them with our fate.

Knowing this, I can’t in full conscience agree with the decision to support someone who doesn’t value us. Appointing a POC as your vice president doesn’t signal a change to me. Visibility is no longer representation to me and to others. Flowery speeches and performative actions don’t excite me. I, like many others, want to be respected and viewed as more than just props for political parties to exploit and if that means critiquing a party harshly no problem.

But I also feel uneasy about rapidly throwing away everything. The people who consistently tweet about the exploits of Garvey, Malcolm, Huey, and Kwame fail to acknowledge that despite our love for them and their legacy, we still have no lasting institutions from them we can cling to. More so, I struggle to see how these people and their movements recognized and elevated black women the way political parties do now.

So yeah, I feel you on not voting because you see the illusion of control lodged in it. Yes, I agree, group economics comes before political advancement. But amid that rhetoric, I cannot shake the realization that the rhetoric alone offers no power. Can you feed people? Can you sponsor a bill that radically change the school curriculum? If not, I can only agree with this alternative so much.

Ultimately, I haven’t figured it out yet. Every day I see the tweets of my college friends admonishing non-voters, I laugh some. Both sides, the voters and nonvoters, have lost the desire to understand each other’s perspectives anymore, which leads to a perpetual dogfight where no one wins. Sure, the tweets pass time and make for wonderful entertainment, but does it really benefit us?

Both sides have valid arguments. Voting is power. There is no way to get around the impact lobbying has on society. But the longer we refuse to deal with the major issues of miseducation, mental health, and toxic gender ideals, the more nefarious these roots will grow until they strangle us all. Maybe the answer is to both vote and protest this farce in spirit. Maybe I’ll just do what I have been doing my whole voting life.