For years, voter mobilization has been a priority of Greater Diversity News (GDN). Because of that priority, GDN initiated an effort to better understand the consensus opinion that Black students were traditionally underperforming voters and had limited interest in the political process.
Black voting rights were seriously restricted through voter suppression tactics that started after Reconstruction in 1877 and lasted until 1965. The era between 1877 and 1965 is known as the era of Jim Crow, legal segregation. This era gave way to the Civil Rights Era. It is appropriate to poll the impact of Black communities since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
We are in the 2022 off-year voting cycle and Black college students are, once again, a prime target for voter mobilization. Between now and the November General Elections, various political activist groups and individuals will spend lots of money and devote lots of time in efforts to mobilize students. If history is any indicator, the student voter turnout will be low.
During my many discussions concerning the lack of interest that students have in voting a suggestion was made to conduct a poll to try to identify the cause of the low interest of students in voting. GDN supports the idea of a poll and developed a series of questions that it believes should be included.
Lastly, many students evaluate the value of voting based upon individual interactions with politicians. I describe this as a limited view. All voters have concerns with candidates and elected official, especially when they have limited contact. The better the evaluation of politics is to consider a broader view based upon questions that are the same or similar that are included above.
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