By Retanio Rucker,
Candidate for Judge of the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court
On a Wednesday in June of 2020, I had a conversation with one of my former co-workers. She is a Black female. No, she is not a millennial.
We were talking about the then upcoming 2020 U.S. Presidential election. The choice, excluding any Independent candidates, was mainly between the Democratic candidate, Joseph R. Biden (now President Biden), and the Republican candidate, Donald R. Trump (the former president). My co-worker stated that she was not going to vote in the 2020 Presidential election. I asked her to explain. Neither candidate, she said, is a good choice. I asked whether she was alright with four (4) more years under the then current President. She responded that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.
While I respect my former co-worker’s position, I must admit that it leaves me somewhat perplexed. The Civil Rights Movement did not make a difference because People of Color refused to participate in the process. Rather, People of Color became angry, made speeches, protested, registered to vote, and voted to achieve the change they sought, i.e., they got into “good trouble.” The Civil Rights Movement showed that People of Color were together in their beliefs and that their minds were set on one (1) thing–equal participation in the American Dream. This show of solidarity had to be respected; thus, the changes were achieved as part of the Civil Rights Movement.
By not registering to vote and refusing to participate in the voting process, People of Color are abdicating their responsibility. They are also weakening the solidarity that People of Color once showed to achieve the gains accomplished as part of the Civil Rights Movement.
If People of Color do not register to vote and then vote, individuals who harbor beliefs contra People of Color will continue to be elected to political office, including judicial positions. For example, many state legislatures have passed restrictive voting laws based on the narrative that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election. Despite this narrative having been proven false, these same legislatures have drawn new electoral maps ensuring that the status quo remains undisturbed. Such laws are an unfortunate response to the outpouring of votes by People of Color in 2020 looking for change that would positively affect the ninety-nine percent (99%).
This example is symptomatic of a larger societal issue, i.e., systemic racism. People of Color are past trying to obtain their Civil Rights. Rather, if systemic racism is to end, People of Color must procure their Human Rights. Until People of Color are seen as human beings, they will never be able to take their rightful place as equal citizens of this country.
The time has come for People of Color to once again shoulder the responsibility for change, i.e., to be the catalyst for change. It is time for People of Color to be united with respect to their beliefs and their goals. It is time to not only be angry, make speeches, and protest, but to register to vote and to vote. It is time to elect individuals to political offices and judicial positions who understand that People of Color are Human beings deserving of the ability to participate in the American Dream as envisioned by the words “We The People.”