While I lean mostly liberal in my political views, this time around I am expecting the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle to speak specifically to the needs of the African American community. I want them to touch on more than police brutality and the criminal justice system. Those are very important issues and I think the Black Lives Matter movement is doing a great job of holding the democrats accountable and I suspect they will be moving over to the republicans too, or at least I hope. But we are more than that. We deserve to hear more. Our leaders should demand more. We as a community should demand more.
Every debate thus far has fallen very short on issues concerning the African American community. Quite frankly, the policy concerns of the African American community aren’t much different from the rest of the country…with a few exceptions. As an African American woman, a wife, a mother of one son and an entrepreneur, to earn my vote I need them to breakdown their overall policy platform and specifically state how they plan to execute those policies for the African American community. When speaking about Education Reform, I don’t want to hear only about school choice, I want to know how they plan to end the disparities not only in achievement gaps but in disciplinary/suspension of black children. What unique education enhance programs and techniques that will cater to different learning styles? As for predominately black communities that are economically depressed, how will they insure that black owned businesses are part of the revitalization and economic boost? Line by line, I want to know the specifics as it relates to our community. Because, as when you take a moment to look at each of the candidate’s policy platforms you will see a deep void in how they will improve the economic, education and health of the African American community.
Moving forward, my expectation, actually my demand, is that there are more than 1 question that speak to our concerns. Each candidate has presented their platforms, it is time now that they put forth more effort to show that African American votes count. And we should no longer allow them to pacify us by saying buzz words like Black Lives Matter, police brutality, school choice and black unemployment rate. Those are just words and I haven’t seen any real effort to express how they will change the system and insure that our community is top of mind in their domestic policy decisions. I’m done with the rhetoric and empty debates on our issues. So, if they aren’t willing to put forth the effort to show our votes count, then we must teach them how much our votes count. #WeDeserveMore #BlackVotersMatters
Dru Ealons 