Phillip Agnew, left, a leader of Black Men Build, speaks with Robert Holness at a “Free the Vote” march to the polls, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, in Miami. Get out the vote efforts targeting Black men aren’t just about persuading them to choose former Vice President Joe Biden over incumbent Donald Trump. “We are not choosing a champion, we are choosing an opponent,” says activist Agnew. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

By Reginald Williams
Special to the AFRO

Resolute in his mission and unmoved by the Klu Klux Klan’s threats, Maceo Snipes walked into a Taylor County polling place and cast his vote in Georgia’s Democratic primary. Snipes was the only African-American in Butler, a town in Western Georgia, to vote in the 1946 election. The following day, the World War II veteran would be shot in his back by Edward Williamson, a White World War II veteran. Snipes died two days later.

Like Snipes, Black men have boldly made their way to the polls to cast their ballots, voting for a more equitable future. Seventy-six years before Snipes’ murder, Thomas Mundy Peterson, under the newly enacted 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving Blacks the right to vote , was the first African-American to ever cast a vote in an election.

Many people of all hues believe the forthcoming presidential election to be the most important election of their lives. Black men, mirroring the boldness of Snipes and the history of Peterson, continue to make their way to the polls, some with great hope while others possess a sense of trepidation.

Stephan Bell will cast his vote for the party he believes will protect democracy through transparency and truth and create a sustaining strong economy through competent and tested plans of actions. Bell, a former congressional staffer and lobbyist, believes there has been a “dumbing down” of America to which the African-American community is not immune.

“Through a myriad of reasons to include the educational system and its embarrassing level of failure in teaching things such as accurate history, economics and civics in a way that teaches instead of pushing personal ideologies can be the blame,” said Bell.

When Brett Givens steps up to the voting booth to make his voice heard, he will be doing so, not just for himself, but for his students’ future. Believing that this is a critical hour for Black men to empower themselves, Givens, a Prince George’s County School administrator, believes that Black men and the vote sets the example, builds foundational blocks and removes generational curses. Givens said, “We must use our votes to scaffold our communities and build from the ground up as we level up. We have to be and exemplify the change we must lead.”

While there exists a large population of Black men pushing the vote despite America’s lack of warmth towards people of color and Black men in specific, there are brothers who have taken the stance that their vote is useless. In speaking with one gentleman who chose against offering his name, nor share if he would vote, asked a rhetorical question: “How can the Black vote count when to the larger society, Black lives do not matter?”

With a sentiment similar to the unnamed man, Adam Alston asked if the Black vote has shown itself to represent any real change when considering all the blood, sweat and tears that Black people have invested in America. When discussing the historical policies of former Vice President Joe Biden and the vitriol behaviors of Donald Trump, Alston shared, “We’re not voting for the lesser of two evils. We are dealing with the same devil, wearing the same mask ⎯ they are as one.” 

“I don’t have the confidence when I hear the talk around the Black vote. I’m not sure we are included in the fabric of America,” Alston added.

In between Bell’s pro-vote declaration and Alston’s uncertainty, are those brothers whose voting ideologies almost feel moderate in belief. Jerrod Mustaf, politically astute since his youth, vigorously maintains that the “Black vote must be leveraged for Black people’s best interest,” but he is troubled like never before with his election choices. 

“I have more issues with both these candidates than I can remember having for candidates in the past, with age being a serious concern.” While Mustaf, the executive director for the Take Charge Juvenile Diversion Program, and former NBA player, will cast his ballot as he always has , his concerns as a Black man do not differ much from Alston’s.  

“As Black men, we don’t have much of a choice. Neither party has any representation of us on their ticket. Neither ticket has been good to Black men, and neither has made us a priority. I think overall, the Republican party will use this election as a “last stand” for White supremacist and White male dominance in America policy. I also believe the Democratic party and platform will include us in the Big Tent, even though we will still be marginalized and pushed to the fringe.”

In the 74 years since Snipes’ death, Black folks are caught in the dichotomy believing while much as changed, we still find ourselves looking in the mirror as it reflects the white supremacist ideologies of the past. There are several far-right, neo-fascist groups promising a war if Trump loses his re-election bid. But like Snipes,  Black men are marching to the polls casting their votes, despite these veil threats.

Reginald Williams is the author of A Marginalized Voice: Devalued, Dismissed, Disenfranchised & Demonized, a seminal read that exposes the nuanced behaviors of young Black boys and the iatrogenic practices of alleged professionals. It brings to the surface the duality in criminality that exists in a broader sense to include those emotional crimes committed against young Kings. He can be reached at bookreggie@reginaldwilliams.org