How we met
Legally speaking blacks have had the right the vote since 1870. After the Civil War the 15thAmendment Article 1 was added stating that “the right to vote…shall not be denied or abridged….on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” , blacks had fought and died in the war for equality and justice but was hit with several obstacles when it came to the matter of voting. Literacy tests and violent imitation made it tough for blacks to vote for almost a century. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1964 (which outlawed segregation in public places) that Black people start voting in masses. President Lyndon B. Johnson who was a Democrat supported the bill, his opponent Senator Barry R. Goldwater a Republican opposed the bill. Blacks responded by giving 94 percent of their vote to the Democratic Party, a record number until President Obama received 95 percent of black vote 2008. No Republican candidate has gotten more than 15 percent of the black vote since the year of 1964.
Nothing in Return
Since that time the perception has been made that the Democrats generally have the interests of Black folks and more specifically the working class people in mind .The reality is they don’t, the election of President Obama brought an unprecedented emotional connection amongst the people but has yet to create a shift in US policy or a change in society. A lot of people, still blame Obama’s predecessor George w. Bush for the chaos, but the truth of the matter is a promise was made, the people supported those politicians who made the promise and have yet to get anything in return. One such lady bravely spoke on that deception to President Obama during a televised town hall meeting called “Investing in America” she stated that “I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for,” she said. “I’ve been told that I voted for a man who was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class, and I’m waiting, sir, I’m waiting. I still don’t feel it yet. And I thought that — while it wouldn’t be in great measure — I would feel it in some small measure.”