Sometime yesterday I braved the Bryan Center crowds, found myself a DSG representative with a card reader and voted.
Sometime next fall I'm going to navigate the U.S. mail system, rustle up an absentee ballot and do the same thing.
Not surprisingly, a little voice keeps nagging at me: "Why? Why bother? Save yourself the BC lines and a stamp."
Granted in today's society, there are scores of people who believe that their vote doesn't count. This sentiment is heightened for members of marginalized groups. The recent success of right-wing politicians-anti-welfare, anti-affirmative action, anti-anything that owns up to America's racist past or bleak racially unequal present-speaks to the marginalization of the minority vote. While there continues to be a segment of the politicos who consistently appeal to the "black vote," elections like North Carolina senatorial races, for example, prove that this appeal is not vital to political success.
So why vote?
The political scene, at Duke and nationally, is abysmal. If it isn't Farrakhan upsetting Jewish people, it's Newt Gingrich scaring African Americans to death. Everytime you open the paper, be it The New York Times or The Chronicle, you see rational people moving backwards: welfare is the scourge of the nation (remember black people are lazy); we all should carry guns (remember those black gang-bangers on television are coming to a street corner near you); segments of our community are still segregating themselves on Central Campus (remember blacks are naturally separatist and they're still bitter about slavery, anyway); cultural groups can be dangerous (remember after they make ten friends that look like them, they won't come out of their dorm rooms until the next BSA meeting). It's one thing to bring up these issues for bridge-mending discussions, but it's downright depressing if the societal climate permits them to be used as political platforms.
So why vote?
There are two very different, but very practical reasons for black people, and marginalized people anywhere for that matter, to vote.
The first reason: The chaos and selectivity of today's politcal scene is causing widespread apathy. There hasn't been a 50 percent plus voter-turnout at Duke since I've been here. National elections are suffering similarly. Lani Guinier has focused countless hours on the "tyranny of the majority." She is absolutley correct-a society that runs solely on the will of the majority consistently disenfranchises significant segments of its population if that majority doesn't shift. In America, socio-economics and race almost gurantee a "stable" majority. But what if the majority doesn't vote? Granted, such a question grossly oversimplifies the isssue and grants too much credence to the proverbial apathy sweeping this country, but let's indulge: What if the "majority" doesn't vote?
Who's vote will count? If gay people don't vote because thier vote doesn't count and Jews don't vote because thier vote doesn't count and Latinos, Asian-Americans and African-Americans don't vote because thier vote doesn't count and middle and lower-class, unpolitically savvy white Americans don't vote because thier vote doesn't count... then won't my vote count? Well, damn, somebody's vote has got to count, right?
Anyone paying attention to the current political scene knows that, no, individual votes still don't weigh quite that much. The majority is voting, but they are not voting in the numbers that they could. This means that minority blocks are plausible and powerful. So, there is a point to voting. Of course, there is also a skill involved in unifying and utilizing blocks of votes-no group is truly homogenous-but that is another topic altogether.
The second reason: Even individual votes hold politicians accountable. The pharse "I am a voting citizen" still strikes fear into the hearts of most politicians. Why?
Voting gives you the right to complain-and we all know, no one raises a protest like irrate black folk. Underrepresented we might be, marginalized we might remain, but when it comes down to it, we can write our letters to the editor, appear on Donahue and divert front page Post coverage just long enough to make our representatives miserable. The effects of such tactics within a small community like Duke are especially effective for rallying mass critism.
There is a pervailing philosophy, however, that if you are unwilling to do anything, then nothing will be done for you. You cannot forfeit an election, only to return to the political scene, months later, with complaints. That is ridiculous, and besides, the only votes that really don't count are the ones that aren't cast. What politician is going to waste time trying to appease a voter who's not going to vote for or against him? Your vote and thus your opinions, needs and concerns are null. You will be rightfully ignored.
It doesn't matter who you voted for or who won. As a voting citizen you can still command, or at least demand, respect from your representative.
So, as you read this, know that I've already voted. And if Mr. and Mrs. DSG don't create policy akin to what I believe appropriate next year, I'm going to open up my e-mail and raise hell.
Tonya Matthews is an engineering senior and editorial page editor of The Chronicle.
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