Black Women Saved America Again, So Why Aren't Their Voices Being Heard?

Black women save america, voters, doug jones, roy moore
BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL

Black Women voters from Alabama save America from Roy Moore and SO much more. While they haven't been given the proper recognition in the past, we're hoping to see more women in positions of power in the future.

Connie Liou
Dec 13, 2017

Black Women Saved America Again, So Why Aren't Their Voices Being Heard?

In an election that was too close to comfort, Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican and accused sexual abuser and child molester, Roy Moore, in the Alabama special election. The two candidates were campaigning for Jeff Sessions' Senate seat.

Despite the accusations against Moore, President Trump and the Republican National Committee decided to back his campaign. Jones was also said to be a "long shot" and only won by 1.5%. But, that wasn't the only aspect about the polling numbers that grabbed our attention.

The Alabama Exit Poll

The exit poll on the Alabama election made it abundantly clear who was voting for Jones versus Moore, regarding race and gender.

72% of white men and a whopping 63% of white women voted for Moore, considering more female Alabama voters thought that the allegations against Moore were true.

93% of black men voted for Jones as well as 98% of black women. 98%. Just let that sink in.

Washington Post

Before The Election

Prior to the election, there were efforts in Alabama to pass new voter identification laws as well as the movement to close DMVs in predominantly black neighborhoods, which would result in fewer votes by the Black community.

However, there was an organized effort by the Black community to not only register people, but to give them rides and ways to get to the polls. And clearly, their efforts paid off.

Twitter's Reaction To The Election

After news of Jones' victory on Tuesday night, people took it to Twitter to celebrate the first Democrat to ever represent Alabama in the Senate, it wasn't exactly Jones the people were thanking.

People on the internet were thanking Black women and the Black community for their involvement the Alabama election.

But Is Thanking Black Women Enough?

While it's abundantly clear that Black women and the Black community played a huge part in this win and it's about damn time that they were recognized for their efforts and victories in history, the conversation does not end here. The very fact that we are in awe that Black women had to step up to vote for a progressive candidate, who is also not an accused child molester, says a lot about our society and brings it to our attention that Black women are still kept from obtaining leadership positions.

Black women gave us this victory and have been on the frontlines of basically every American social movement. Saying "thank you" is one thing. But, people need to begin to act, listen, and invest resources in Black women while recognizing that this does not mean that Black women should be expected to singlehandedly rid of racism and sexism in America. This is not a storm they should be expected to weather alone.

Senator from California, Kamala Harris, said, "We need to do more than congratulate them. Let’s address issues that disproportionately affect Black women—like pay disparity, housing & under-representation in elected office."

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