Illustration by Alex Williamson
“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” That’s an old saying, but it’s more relevant now than ever before. In the weeks after Michael Brown’s shooting, I was asked one question again and again: Why is African-American voter turnout so low in Ferguson and St. Louis County? Even now, I can’t answer why more African-Americans haven’t voted in recent elections.
What I do know is that African-Americans have too much to lose to sit at home on Election Day. Just this August, in the Democratic primary, an African-American woman, Leslie Broadnax, sought the party’s nomination against prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch. Broadnax was trounced by McCulloch, an incumbent who has been in office for more than
20 years. Had more African-Americans voted in St. Louis County—where turnout among African-Americans was shockingly low—maybe Broadnax and County Executive Charlie Dooley would have stood a better chance.
As a young member of the NAACP, I find it impossible to ignore the countless blacks and whites who died to secure voting rights for African-Americans in this country. To sit at home on Election Day is a slap in the face not only to those who fought for the right to vote, but also to our forefathers who founded this great country. We, as African-Americans, should be voting in every election, not simply because it’s our civic duty, but because our future so desperately depends on it.
When speaking with Ferguson residents, I can’t help badgering them about the fact that because the leadership of the city does not reflect the demographics of the community, what happened to Brown is no surprise. In a municipality that is 67 percent black, how is it possible that the mayor is a white Republican? How is it that only one African-American sits on the city council? Because of the social and political disconnect between the African-American community and city leadership, those in power have shown no sensitivity to important issues, such as racial profiling by police. Brown’s body lay in the street for more than four hours. That’s a clear sign that the leadership in Ferguson must be reevaluated.
The young people who are rallying and protesting must do more than just send tweets. They must lift their voices and vote! The people of Ferguson and North County must value their votes and vote their values, now more than ever before. There’s too much at stake to be an activist on Monday but play hooky from the polls on Tuesday. It is my hope that the young generation of freedom fighters who have been on the front lines during this tragedy will turn their chant of “Hands up, don’t shoot” right into “Hands up, let’s vote.” Courage will not skip this generation.
Gaskin, age 21, is the youngest person from St. Louis ever elected to the NAACP’s national board of directors.
