Ignorance or Apathy?

You know the standard punch line to this old joke. I don’t know, and I don’t care. Well the matters that weigh in the balance are far too serious to joke about. Simply put, neither response is good enough.

If you have not figured it out by now, this is a discussion born of the fact yesterday was Election Day. For democracies, such as ours, days like yesterday, should be etched in patriotism, solemnity, and importance.

If the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence comprise the foundational framework of the American democratic process, elections provide us with the enabling operational apparatus. They allow us to make the leap from ideals written on paper to the living, breathing men and women who are charged with representing us in the day-to-day. These public officials craft and execute legislation, resolutions, and ordinances, not to mention provide approval for spending billions upon billions of dollars budgeted by local, state, and federal governments.

Indeed, elections are no joking matter. But there is more. Without question part of my interest in elections is stimulated by limited, but intense exposure to the inner workings of the process here in Mecklenburg County (including Charlotte and its six satellite communities). Nearly a decade ago, I had the opportunity to spend six months working in the capacity of interim elections director. This experience provided me an up close and personal view of a real, live Primary Election; complete with a variety of conflict and drama…the nature of which, I will spare you the details. You can thank me later.

But more than that stimulus, the power and purpose of participation in this essential ritual and right is derived from the prodigious cost in human capital and lives spent to guarantee the opportunity for all people, but especially black people, to cast ballots and vote for the candidates of their choosing at the appointed time. Were I to choose a modifier, it would be sacred!

Are you familiar with the names, The Rev. George Wesley Lee, Lamar Smith, and Herbert Lee? How about places, called Belzoni, Brookhaven, and Liberty? Probably not, but for the record, the men are three of the many martyrs who were killed for their role in working to gain blacks the right to vote. All three were Mississippians; the Rev. Lee (Belzoni) and Mr. Smith (Brookhaven) were killed in 1955, Mr. Lee (Liberty, ironically) in 1961.

The senseless death of these men is maladroitly interwoven into the patterned fabric of what is commonly referred to, in the vernacular, as the struggle. For those utterly detached from the concept, the struggle is that amorphous endeavor to rise to attain the level of fully functioning in our society. This concept, of course, is akin to the signature phrase often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, coined by Italian immigrant, Philip Mazzei, “All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson, August 6, 1965. The most recent extension, the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 was signed into law by President George Walker Bush on July 27, 2006. The ceremony for the 2006 Act, held on the South Lawn of the White House took 8 minutes. I find it instructive that after more than 40 years there is still a need for a Voting Rights Act, and even more compellingly enlightening that given such a need, the Act has not been made permanent!

It is imperative for each of us to recognize (for those of you in the Hip Hop Nation), A Luta Continua, a Pan-African phrase popularized in the 50’s and 60’s, which translates to, the struggle continues. Sadly, this fact is evident because in spite of Messrs. Lee, Smith, Lee, and others paying the ultimate sacrifice, the City of Charlotte, for example, turned out an anemic 24% of registered voters yesterday to elect a mayor, city council, several school board members, as well as determine the fate of several critical bond issues.

Admittedly, the six Mecklenburg County towns surrounding Charlotte did better, albeit, marginally in some instances:

· Cornelius – 28%
· Davidson – 52%
· Huntersville – 29%
· Matthews – 33%
· Mint Hill – 40 %
· Pineville – 44%

From the City of Charlotte, where less than 1 of every 4 registered voters showed up at the polls, to the Town of Davidson, where barely more than 1 of every two persons registered voted, the people failed the process. The voters abdicated their responsibilities, and forfeited, en masse, the legacy bought and paid for by the likes of Lee, Smith, and Lee.

There exists well-researched trend data that suggest voter participation has been steadily declining since the 60’s. In fact, statistics show, in an election comparison from 1960 to 1995, a variety of rates prevail for democracies, ranging from 95% in Australia, which has compulsory voting, to 51% in Poland, the only Country out of 36 in the data set, with a rate lower than that in the United States. One country, Switzerland, tied the US, with 54%.

Issues believed to influence voter participation include, disenchantment, indifference, contentment, as well as economic, demographic, cultural, technological, and institutional factors. Still, no matter how long and hard I muse, sift through, reckon, or contemplate the subject, I am unable to grasp how, why, or on what level these issues and factors trump those to which Lee, Smith, and Lee were subjected. As a result, I am convinced, we Americans, especially black Americans, are afflicted not with ignorance, or with apathy, but both ignorance and apathy; ignorantly apathetic, or perhaps apathetically ignorant, you might say!

That’s what I believe. What say you?

Holla back!


Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com, or Google: thesphinxofcharlotte. A new post is published each Wednesday.

To read and learn more about voting patterns, and/or the Voting Rights Act, click on the links below:

http://www.meckboe.org/ENRSummary/summary.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=active&q=voting+rights+act+reauthorization

http://www.renewthevra.org/vra_news/remote-page.jsp?itemID=28352945

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html

http://www.crmvet.org/mem/41lives.htm