By Chrysandra Roland
As a Black woman who has lived in Georgia for over seventy years, I have witnessed segregation and integration. I have witnessed schools in Georgia evolve from a place where no child could learn, to a place where every child can thrive. But, above all else, I have seen the importance of voting — especially for Black voters like me, who have the power to determine the outcome of elections.
It is no secret that Georgia is ground zero for the attack on voting rights in the United States. In April of 2021, the Republican state legislature introduced, passed, and signed a nearly 100-page bill that drastically changed voting laws in the state. Some of the many provisions in the bill include a longer waiting period to attain absentee ballots, stricter ID requirements in order to vote, making it illegal to pass out food and water for voters in line, and allowing counties to decide whether to permit early voting on Sunday, when we usually have our Souls to the Polls events. Make no mistake — these changes are designed to restrict our freedoms, stifle voter turnout, and specifically to prevent Black people like me from voting.
But Georgia’s history shows two patterns. First, the attack on voting rights, particularly for Black people, is not a novel concept. We saw this clearly in 1907, when the Governor of Georgia, Hoke Smith, signed into law a bill that would enact a literacy test as a requirement for voting, which was designed to disenfranchise Black voters in the state.
While the method that our state legislature is using to change voting laws may be different today, the intent remains the same: to prevent Black Georgians and other minorities from making our voices heard at the ballot box.
However, the second pattern that Georgia’s history proves is that, despite these attacks, we will not be deterred from making our voices heard by voting. Take the 2020 election. It was the relentless organizing and volunteering from Black Georgians that helped not only President Biden get elected, but also helped Democrats attain a majority in the Senate by electing then-candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. And they are doing a lot for us in Washington — pausing student loan payments for 2 years, passing the Inflation Reduction Act, capping childcare costs at 7% of a family’s income, the list goes on. And we did that, with our votes. In fact, in 2020, over 30 percent of the electorate that turned out was Black voters, the highest share among any battleground state.
Less than two years later, our state finds itself in a similar position as we head into the 2022 midterm election: Republicans aim to restrict the ability of voters like me to turn out to vote. But given the stakes of this election, Black Georgians must do what we do best: show up to the ballot box in full force and elect people who are fully committed to protecting our freedom to vote.
Consider two candidates running for Governor: Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said that he passed SB 202 in 2021 because he was “frustrated” with what happened in 2020 — a clear admission that he is unafraid to change voting rules, even if it hurts Georgia voters. Stacey Abrams, a Democrat, on the other hand, has committed herself to not only protecting voting rights, but also expanding them. At the end of the day, the differences between Democrats and Republicans could not be clearer — and this goes all the way down the ballot.
We need to pay attention to and vote in elections at the Senate, state, and local levels, too. We saw the power of electing Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Now, we can elect Bee Nguyen as our next Secretary of State, putting an experienced woman of color in the position that oversees the fairness of Georgia’s elections for the first time.
In November, Georgians face a clear choice. Against the backdrop of attacks on our ability to vote, would we rather have elected officials who strive to continue to undermine them or would we rather have elected officials who will protect them? As someone who has lived in Georgia all my life, I would like elected officials who care about protecting my freedom to vote.
We have the power this November. Republicans like Brian Kemp keep trying to take that power away, because they know — when we vote, they lose. Let’s use our power this fall to make the state we all love become a state that recognizes and protects our freedom to vote and to thrive.
