Black women are poised to make the difference in who wins the Nov. 8 general election and African-American female leaders want to make sure that turnout is high among them.
On Oct. 14, the Black Women’s Roundtable Public Policy Network held a teleconference with the media on getting Black women to vote in the general election. Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, had Black female leaders on the call to talk about turnout and Clayola Brown, president of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, made it clear her organization is working to maximize that goal.
Melanie Campbell, the convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable Public Policy Network, is trying to get Black women to vote in large numbers. (Courtesy photo)
“We are really making a push in North Carolina, particularly Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, and Charlotte,” Brown said. “In addition to North Carolina, we are working in the Hampton Roads, Va., area on voter enfranchisement there and we have operations in Flint and Lansing, Mich., Dade County, Fla., Orlando, Fla., and Columbus, Ohio. In places that have early voting, we are literally pulling folks to the polls.”
Among African Americans, Black women constitute 52 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey in 2011. That survey reported that 54 percent of the voting age populations (18 and older) among Blacks are females and this statistics peaks with the 65 and older age group, with Black females making up 61 percent of the population.
Statistics compiled by various political and academic organizations show that Black women in 2008 and 2012 had the highest percentage of voters of any demographic group. In 2012, 74 percent of Black women who were eligible to vote did and 96 percent of them voted to re-elect President Obama.
Political scientists, like Michael McDonald of the University of Florida, have said that Black women, along with other women of color, were responsible for Obama winning the female vote in 2008 and 2012, while the majority of White women voted for Republican candidates.
Daniella Leger, the senior vice president for communications and strategy for the District of Columbia-based Center for American Progress, told the AFRO that the Obama election isn’t the only instance where Black women have made the difference. “In 2013, it was Black women who put Terry McAuliffe over the top against Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the governor’s race,” Leger said. “There was a racial gender difference because most White women that year voted for Cuccinelli.”
Waikinya Clanton, executive director of the Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, said it is in the best interest of Black women to vote in November. “Black women have a lot to lose if we don’t vote,” Clanton, on the teleconference call, said. “We need to organize in the states where we have the most impact.”
Leger agrees with Clanton. “Black women are concerned about the economy, their children, and affordable child care,” she said. “Black women have an extreme burden because child care is expensive and going up and at their workplace, they are facing a pay gap in terms of making less than a male for doing the same job. Black women also are concerned about crime, mass incarceration, and every other issue Americans deal with.”
Tameka Mallory, co-chair of the New York City-based civil and human rights organization The Justice League, said it is important to get Black females millennials to the polls. “We are excited about the activities around Black millennials,” Mallory said on the call. “During this election cycle, young people do not feel they haven’t been represented so we are trying to engage them. We are empowering millennials with talking points and encouraging them to influence one another to vote.”
Ebony Riley, District’s bureau chief for the National Action Network, said they are encouraging Black women to vote through their organization’s chapters. “We have activated our 124 chapters and their youth components as well as our clergy network,” Riley said. “This is a critical time because women have been dehumanized by one of the presidential candidates.”
Leger said Republican candidate Donald Trump has lit the fire of Black women. “Black women are disgusted by Donald Trump,” she said. “Black women support President Obama. Michelle Obama recently gave one of the best political speeches in a while saying there is a stark choice between him and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.”