75 Days Out, and There’s a Lot at Stake
What do you have to lose in this election?
Really, take a moment to stop and think what is on the ballot for you in 75 days. It’s a question I think about every day, but it’s been on my mind even more since Donald Trump posed it last week.
“Look at how much African American communities are suffering from Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose?” -Donald Trump in Dimondale, Michigan
What do we have to lose? Our DNC chair Donna Brazile responded well:
“Forsake a party that has welcomed us, given us voice and advanced our interests? For him? Dream on.” -Donna Brazile
To be frank, there’s too much on the line for me to list it all. But I’m an organizer and I thrive off facts, so here are the highlights laid out for what’s at stake for Black Americans:
Voting rights
Republican politicians around the country are manipulating laws to make it harder for Americans to vote. In 2016, 15 states will have new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. These laws — including voter ID requirements and early voting restrictions — disproportionately affect people of color, young people, and seniors. In each of these states, grassroots supporters like you are working hard to make sure that Trump’s Republican Party can’t take our voice away.
Access to health care
In 2011, the uninsured rate among African Americans was 21 percent. That’s one in five Black Americans lacking health insurance. In 2015, the uninsured rate among African Americans had dropped to 11 percent. Donald Trump — like nearly every other member of his party — wants to repeal the law that made that significant drop possible. Democrats fought to elect President Obama and a Democratic Congress in 2008, and the Affordable Care Act is the fruit of that hard work. Today it is saving lives; we can’t risk losing it this November.
Economic opportunity
Thirty-five percent of African American workers would benefit from raising the federal minimum wage to $12. Democrats are fighting to raise the wage, while Donald Trump thinks wages are “too high” and has suggested eliminating the federal minimum wage entirely. At the same time, Trump would try to pass his tax plan that could give his own family a massive tax cut and add trillions to the deficit. That could jeopardize funding to programs that benefit millions of Black Americans — like housing assistance and Head Start. We can’t afford that.
If Donald Trump is elected he will put in place policies that will take us backwards. In fact, he has a proven history of it; he’s been doing it for decades. In the 1970s the federal government sued Trump’s real estate company for discriminating against Black tenants trying to rent apartments in his buildings. In the 1980s he called for New York to reinstate the death penalty for the Central Park 5 and never changed his stance, even when they were exonerated for a crime they did not commit. Trump retweets white supremacists with an alarming frequency, and led the charge in the “birther” conspiracy that alleges that the first Black president wasn’t born in America.
Donald Trump was wrong — African Americans and all voters have a lot to lose if he becomes Commander in Chief.
With only 75 days to go until most of the country heads to the polls (fewer for you lucky folks who get to vote early!), we can’t ever forget what we stand to lose if Donald Trump is elected president. I’m not being dramatic when I say that this is the most important election of my lifetime. I’m working every day to make sure we elect Hillary Clinton. We have to protect eight years of progress under President Obama, and I have to make sure that my kids don’t have to grow up in a world where Donald Trump is president.
Here’s what you can do to help: You have to vote. It’s the most important thing you can do. And we’ve made it incredibly easy to make sure you’re registered. Visit iwillvote.com to check your status and register right there.
Once you’re registered, learn about all of the ways you can volunteer to help make sure that Hillary Clinton is our next president. Whether you have weeks to spare for the campaign or just a few hours, there’s work you can do. It’s going to take all of us together to stop Donald Trump. Let’s get to work.
