Why I’m Not Voting For Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders
The California Presidential Primary takes place on June 7th. The political spotlight has just begun to be cast on California. Bernie Sanders announced yesterday that he will focus on lay-off much of his campaign staff and focus on California in an effort to get what will be nothing but a hollow victory. The onslaught of television ads, phone calls and door knocks for the two democratic candidates hasn’t begun yet. Despite all of that, I know one thing to be true: I will not be casting a vote for either Democratic candidate on June 7th.
I’m a Black person living in America. As such, it has become the norm that there are a number of issues that affect my life that are not addressed in any Presidential political cycle. Issues like police terrorism, lack of access to education, and jobs, are never spoken about in any concrete way despite the fact that it affects 13% of the population (and the most active voting base in the country). However, I refuse to believe that just because it’s the norm that it is also right or ok.
The most pressing issue to me, is my life. For years we’ve seen the truth of Black life in America presented through various mediums. That truth leads to the undeniable fact that Black lives don’t matter in this country. We’ve seen video after video of police officers harassing, brutalizing, and killing Black people. These videos have, far more often than not, produced no consequences for the officers involved in the crimes that were clearly caught on tape. This is showing that despite concrete video evidence, Black lives don’t matter in America. Neither candidate in the current democratic primary has actually addressed, with specific plans, what they would do to make sure that my life is preserved, to make sure that my life matters.
Months before my piece on Bernie Sanders and his lack of outreach to Black people was published, I found myself engaged in arguments with many Bernie Sanders supporters about the themes and issues I brought up in the piece. The fact that Bernie’s appeal for Black votes began and ended at “I marched with MLK”. None of his policies substantially addressed issues in the Black community. None of his policies admit that this country is rigged against Black people and for white people (therefore making his proposals white-exclusive in nature).
None of the points I brought up in my piece could be disputed by Bernie supporters with actual facts. Instead Bernie supporters would insist that they believed that Bernie would be the best possible candidate for Black people. At the end of almost every conversation I was told that I clearly “hated Bernie”, was a “one-issue voter” or that I was simply “a Hillary supporter”, despite the fact that I’ve been very clear in my equal opposition to the Hillary campaign. Much of the reason that this is lost on people is due to the ridiculous idea that you must accept one of the candidates presented to you by your prefered political party. So, if you are critical of Bernie then you must support Hillary in this mutually exclusive view.
Unlike Bernie Sanders, I have no illusion as to what type of politician Hillary Clinton is. The 2008 campaign was not lost on me. The racist attacks from the Hillary camp against then-senator Barack Obama have a lasting impression. Hillary herself ‘othering’ Obama by stating that he was a not a Muslim ‘… as far as I know.’, suggesting that Obama could be assassinated, among other incidents has not been lost on me.
Hillary has done some good in the 2016 campaign, though. She is the only candidate to speak in specifics about ending racism in the United States. She’s acknowledged the surge of Black women entrepreneurs to become the fastest growing entrepreneurial demographic in the county, and has provided specific plans as to how she would help foster the continuation of this trend. Yet, the encounters that she and her campaign surrogates have had with Black demonstrators definitely leaves much to be desired and shows that her campaign has not learned from the pitfalls of 2008.
Many have called me a “one-issue voter” for my reluctance to vote for either Hillary or Bernie. This is indeed a factual description; I am a one-issue voter. The fear I feel when a cop comes into my rearview mirror, the uncertainty I feel when applying for a job or an apartment… these things make me cling to hope that the people making decisions aren’t racist. This is my life. So yes, I’m a one-issue voter. Neither Bernie nor Hillary have addressed my issues sufficiently, so neither has earned my vote. I’m a one-issue voter. But, when that one issue is my life, and the quality of it, can you really blame me?
