Black Men Do Vote. But Does America Listen?
This op-ed was originally published on to BET.com following BET's Black Men's Summit hosted by DL Hughley. You can watch President Derrick Johnson's remarks during the summit here.
America has a listening problem. Time and time again, especially around Election season, the false narrative around 'disengaged' Black men takes shape. Countless TV hours and newspaper pages are spent dissecting and discussing the complex nature of Black men. The experts, many of whom are not Black, say we don't vote, aren't engaged, don't participate, or help build community. This could not be further from the truth.
As I mentioned during BET's Black Men's Summit, the truth is Black men – next to Black women – are one of the most reliable voting blocs in the country. Not only do we vote, but we fight for our right to vote in the face of continued attempts to block our ballots and silence our voices.
When Black people secured the first wave of voting rights through the 15th amendment, more than half a million Black men were granted the right to vote, and went on to elect 2,000 Black men to public office.
But Jim Crow laws still found loopholes. From literacy tests to poll taxes, anti-Black power players worked to silence our voices and prevent our community from progressing. In the 1960s, the Voting Rights Act saw increased anti-Black violence, fraud, and other intimidation tactics to keep Black voters away from the polls. And in the last 10 years, without the protection of the Voting Rights Act, states have introduced restrictive new policies at the federal and local levels to dictate who can show up to vote and how.
As head of the nation's largest civil rights organization which has been entrenched in advocacy work in the deep south for decades, I know that Black men show up. The sad reality is, we often show up and the door is shut in our faces. 60 years after the first Voting Rights Act, and we still aren't doing enough to protect Black voters. Every day, we are combatting gerrymandering, voter suppression tactics, complicated voter ID laws, and other systemic barriers that have historically, and disproportionately, affected Black voters. This election cycle alone the NAACP has litigated over a dozen different cases in states attempting to disenfranchise Black and vulnerable voters.
Despite such daunting obstacles, we are resisting and amplifying our voices to advocate for change.
We've decided races up and down the ballot, exceeded turnout expectations and shouldered the responsibility of mobilizing millions. Still, Black Americans are the first to be left out of solutions to the problems we're facing. We face higher rates of discrimination, are more likely to be impacted by natural disasters, disproportionately lack access to quality, affordable healthcare, and so much more. These systemic barriers are strategically placed to shut us out and stall our success.
But we continue to excel. Our right to vote, and our fight for accountability, made possible through this crucial freedom, have raised us to new heights. We see ourselves in hospitals and in the halls of Congress, forcing the powers-at-be to hear our resounding cries.
And in spite of this, anti-Black forces are invested in a past that America should be running from. They seek to divide and conquer through dis, and misinformation. Not only do they deceive us about policy victories, they prevent us from obtaining the resources that we need.
This election cycle, the NAACP launched a $20M nationwide effort to combat disinformation and voter suppression and mobilize Black voters to show up on election day and vote — something many of us are already doing. As one of the most expansive campaigns of its kind ever led by a civil rights organization, our goal is to ensure that every Black voter is informed and empowered to vote come election day.
We have launched a Voter Protection Hub and introduced Our Project 2025 and we are working with and within communities across the country to give Black voters the resources they need to fight for the right to have their voices heard. Black voters are already changing the face of the electoral map, and we have proven time and time again how powerful we are when we show up at the ballot box.
But we still have a long way to go.
In order to Keep Advancing, we need comprehensive reform that addresses these systemic issues once and for all. Our laws should expand voter access and protect the integrity of our vote, not hinder it. We also need to move our country, and the narrative, forward if we hope to succeed. America, are you ready to listen?