Voting: The Pain & Promise of America

As we move closer and closer to election night, 247 Townhall wants to do everything we can to breakdown today’s issues and the issues that may affect you four years from now. When I tell you that this is a historic election, I’m not saying anything new. There is the possibility for a lot of firsts—the first African-American president, the first female vice-president, the first green presidential candidates, etc. Big things.

What you may not understand, though, is how we got here and why we need to vote. At 247 Townhall, we believe that eligible voters mustn’t just register to vote, they must do everything in their power to bum rush the ballots like Public Enemy!

I would be the last person to call myself a perfect American. In fact, it took me quite some time to indentify as an American at all. Fresh out my teens, I remember being seated behind a 7- or 8-year-old Australian boy on a flight to New York City. He kept turning around to look at me. He was with his family and, for some reason, found me interesting. After what I believe to be many attempts, including his mother telling him to stop looking, he turned and asked, “Where are you from?”

“San Francisco,” I replied.

“You can’t be from America,” He quickly retorted. To which his mom reprimanded him. I gestured that it was okay and asked him why he thought I wasn’t from America. “Because you’re not white,” he answered matter-of-factly.

Like this election, that little boy didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know, but he made me think about why I should vote. He didn’t know that African-Americans helped build this country—it’s buildings, it’s agriculture, it’s culture, and it’s laws. He didn’t know that the American psyche is intrinsically connected to the African and the immigrant psyche.

The descendants of enslaved Africans and immigrants the world over helped America, in a relatively short amount of time, alter its national psyche and its voter rights from land-owning white men to “all men” to all people. Without the inconvenient, unavoidable, and painfully active reflection of these “lesser than”, freedom-less Americans, how could America have come to know what it truly means to be great, and free?

What makes American so resilient is its promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, and the inexhaustible activity surrounding the adaptation of this creed.
Every election is in fact a battle for the interpretation and representation of this promise.

If it means less government control, lower taxes, and a strict adherence to the constitution, you may vote one way. If, on the other hand, it means more governmental oversight and regulation, higher taxes, and more government-sponsored social programs (i.e., education, health care, youth-based programs, job skill programs, etc.), you may vote another. Either way, you vote and you get involved in shaping the America that most closely aligns with your vision of what America should be.

So as a young man, there were times when I didn’t vote, when I thought it was meaningless. I saw very few figures of power that represented me. America not only meant inequality and mistrust, it represented a deep-set personal pain and a longing for ancestors I will never know. I thought it ironic to be born in a country where people flocked, risked life and limb to become citizens, while my ancestors became citizens by circumstantial default, by proclamation.

So, as young man, I couldn’t separate the pain and toil from the promise and potential. But after that plane ride, I decided it was my duty to help redefine America. Today, I vote. I vote as an imperfect American for an imperfect America. I vote for the pain and the promise. I vote for my ancestors’ will to live and son’s potential. Now I vote, and I encourage you to learn about the issues that affect you, to get involved, and to vote with me. Live brightly!

photo by: image editor

Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2534294669/sizes/o/