Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Home / Community Bloggers / Sacredness of the Vote

Sacredness of the Vote

/
/
ad-mania

I was awakened by the sound of my father’s voice blaring through my window, interrupting my Saturday morning sleep-in. My father was a dignified gentleman, not given to blaring under any circumstance. I later learned that he was manning the bull horn as he rode through the neighborhood urging folks to come out and vote. As head of household in one of five Black families living in a White suburb, my father knew America’s dark history for our people when it came to voting, He was living the sacredness of the vote.

Decades later on November 5th, 1974, I held my daughter’s hand as we entered the polling place. There were three booths with drawn curtains. At intervals we saw each curtain open as one-by-one, a voter emerged. I explained the sacredness of the ballot, then whispered in her ear the candidates of my choice. It was a happy neighborhood event. We waved, nodded, and smiled at familiar faces on the line.

Fast forward. One by one, my grandchildren are coming of age to vote. They’ve each had the privilege of 21 years of political discussions at the family dinner table. The vote is precious to them, and they have more options than the curtained booth of 1974. Early voting and vote by mail have made the ritual more convenient. Unfortunately, redlining and shortened polling hours in minority communities have echoed the discrimination of earlier times. Regretfully, the atmosphere is not always one of neighborly greetings and waves. Our family’s youth are coming of age in tumultuous times: boisterous proclamations of bitterness, hatred, and divisiveness.

I realize that as a child, and later a young mother, I was naïve to some of the underlying currents of unspoken polarity. I believed the American dream was already a reality; now I see it as a work in progress. Nevertheless, I still believe in the dream, and feel saddened by the backward steps of the era in which we live.

Today, the grandbabies, now grand-men, are living successful lives. Unlike the younger me, they are not naïve to the underlying hypocrisy that is rising to the surface. Nevertheless, they are recipients of the opportunities that America has to offer. And they know that to have a voice in correcting the existing ills, they must follow the family tradition and hold fast to the sacredness of the vote.

written by Amy Bryant, Safety Harbor Resident Blogger
Author of “You Can Go Home Again

2 Comments

  1. So well chronicled, Amy. The 1960’s, 70’s and some of the ’80’s felt in many ways like the world of racism was coming to a close. As beneficiaries of open admissions at the university level, banking and real estate accountability and affirmative action for employment, we were blind to and protected from the truth. As the 90’s rounded the corner, it became obvious we were victims of a fickle system that only worked because laws had been voted into legislation and the legislation was enforced. Our children and their children and on must not fall into this fantasy that victimizes us all over again. Vote. Vote. Vote. Recently we hear the term the American Experiment more often, reminding us that the Dream is only there for those who work for it, care about it and practice the one right we have above all others to maintain the good, expel the bad and lead change.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This div height required for enabling the sticky sidebar
Ad Clicks : Ad Views : Ad Clicks : Ad Views : Ad Clicks : Ad Views : Ad Clicks : Ad Views : Ad Clicks : Ad Views : Ad Clicks : Ad Views :