Believing These Voting Myths Erodes Political Power

People marching in Midtown New York City
Via Flickr
Abeni Jones
January 31, 2020

White supremacists would love if Black people continued to believe these LIES about voting! Have you been hoodwinked with these outright FALSEHOODS?

Lie 1: Women Earned The Right To Vote In 1920

Women of all races fought for almost 100 YEARS to earn the right to vote in America. But in 1920, when the 19th Amendment passed, white women promptly turned around and fought to keep Black women from exercising that right!

Black women didn’t get full voting rights until 1965, when the Voting Rights Act was passed.

Lie 2: Your Vote Doesn’t Really Count

If voting didn’t change anything, racists wouldn’t be trying so hard to suppress our votes, and Trump’s team wouldn’t be literally BRIBING Black people to vote for him.

In fact, tons of elections are won by just a HANDFUL of votes - sometimes just ONE vote!

Lie 3: Only Presidential Elections Really Matter

The President has a lot of power. But your local and midterm elections might have larger day-to-day effects on your life! According to Rock the Vote, “There is no level of government that is more directly responsible for serving your community than your local elected officials.”

At PushBlack we believe in harnessing our power to change society - and voting is a crucial aspect of that. Make sure you’re registered to vote!

We have a quick favor to ask:

PushBlack is a nonprofit dedicated to raising up Black voices. We are a small team but we have an outsized impact:

  • We reach tens of millions of people with our BLACK NEWS & HISTORY STORIES every year.
  • We fight for CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM to protect our community.
  • We run VOTING CAMPAIGNS that reach over 10 million African-Americans across the country.

And as a nonprofit, we rely on small donations from subscribers like you.

With as little as $5 a month, you can help PushBlack raise up Black voices. It only takes a minute, so will you please ?

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