Two Sides of the Same Coin
Election 2020 is here and it feels like that one scene in The Purge when the sirens start going off and people are locking themselves in their homes and the ugliest, most barbaric crimes are being committed. I know — that sounds dramatic. And the truth is that although my family and I will be physically safe, that tension will define social interactions moving forward; the quick exchange with the cashier at the supermarket, the eerie silence that follows during a Zoom meeting when your professor asks “how is everyone?”, and the awkwardness that hangs in the air when you run into someone who you haven’t seen in years. It could be your former history teacher, or maybe someone who you took swim classes with as a kid. Politics will become an even more delicate subject because for some, human rights are political and political topics are too polarizing. Human rights are too controversial, too distasteful. When I watched The Purge for the first time, it was early on in my high school years. As I watched the people shutter their windows and arm their security systems in preparation, I wondered about homeless people. These times make me wonder — what’s happening with the children being separated from their parents at the border? What’s happening to people who can’t afford to feed their kids? What happens to people who need to work and can’t take the time to process?
I did not vote in this election and I struggled to come to this decision. There’s a misconception that people who opt not to vote are apathetic and privileged, which is true for some. Plenty of people opt out of politics simply because they can. They remain proudly apolitical and most of them are white and/or wealthy. I am privileged as well, because of my family’s class, but apathy could not be farther from what I feel. I am worried and I am scared. I feel hopelessness and despair, both as a young, progressive woman of color and as a human being. Neither of the candidates even remotely represent my values and morals, and I am tired of living in a society where the lesser of two evils is tolerable and acceptable for most people. Change takes time but the reality is that we don’t have much of it. Our ecosystems are on the brink of collapse and we have two options — a fear mongering, anti-intellectual white supremacist and a moderate career politician with a history of harming the Black community through his discriminatory legislation. Political participation is essential in a democracy, and I am not arguing against that. For most people, though, voting is the beginning and end of their contribution to the political system. How many people do you know who take direct action to put food on the plates of those who need it? How involved are you in your community? Are you affiliated with any community organizations dedicated to creating equitable environments and pushing for the legislative changes that save lives? Are you signing petitions and flooding the phone systems of the government officials that need to be held accountable? Do you make the time to do more than just vote once every four years?
I can admit that I don’t do all of those things, but being at such a huge turning point in our country has radicalized me. I want to do more for the countless people who will suffer regardless of who wins. Although Joe Biden is less explicitly racist, his policies will prove fatal for those who are already struggling to survive in the midst of the pandemic: Black and Brown working class people domestically and abroad. Voting used to be revolutionary. People protested and died for that right, and the historical significance of that is not lost on me. The criticism has been rolling in: How could I not want to vote as a woman? How could I disrespect the fine women who fought for me to have that right? But I know that Susan B. Anthony did not have a Latina daughter of immigrants in mind when she did what she did. She was not thinking of poor, Black people or a transgender man. She was acting in the interest of wealthy white women, just like they all do. At a time when most of the country ONLY votes, there is no reason for politicians to advocate for the causes that people care about the most. While campaigning, politicians try their hardest to earn your vote, and then do nothing to fulfill their promises once elected. Why? Because people are not harnessing the power of numbers. Most people do not care to show that they are willing to hold their politicians accountable for the promises that they make. Many Americans prove, election after election, that their caring stops when they exit the poll booth. So that’s why I didn’t vote. Not because I don’t care, or because I want to give Trump a vote, but because voting isn’t the big catalyst of change that everyone makes it out to be. Voting has become synonymous with posting a black square on your Instagram during a wave of performative support for the Black Lives Matter movement and nothing more. For now, I, along with countless others, will focus on organizing to create tangible, material change.
