With the pervasive, wandering, omnipotent minds of today’s young adult populace, it is imperative not to assume anyone’s political party. Without surprise, not everyone in the black community is democratic, and furthermore, not everyone is voting for President Obama in the re-elections.

What many students do not recognize or inquire about is the “why” behind such partiality.  One of the biggest problems facing the re-elections is lack of knowledge about what is going on, on both parties sides: what they have accomplished, what they wish to accomplish, and international relations are a few topics that black college students have not educated themselves on.

As a result, young voters many times have little to no information about why they are voting for a particular party. This includes not only Mitt Romney in the Republican Party, but also the voters that support President Obama.

For the black students voting for Romney specifically, I believe it is from misinformation and frustration with the Democratic Party, in which their vote has moved to that of the republicans. From the black republican voters whom I have encountered on campus, I have been given a variety of responses.

One of these is that the reason for their political party obligation lies with their family. Unfortunately, for both young democratic and republican voters, after their first registration, their vote tends to be in alignment with that of their parents or family with no other reasoning behind the support of their particular parties.

Secondly, many black republicans belittle the work of the Democratic Party stating, “they have not achieved enough,” “that President Obama was not true to his word while in the White House,” or merely, republicans are better.”

Simply put, the black republican supporters, whom specifically are students, have been misinformed about the political race. Their perspective on the prospective presidential candidates has been limited by family, political mistakes of the past, and lack of information.

As a powerful, upcoming generation, and an influential part of the political process, students, especially black students, need to understand our economic, social, and international standing, in order to justly choose the right candidate to lead our country.

By Anayka Pomare

2 COMMENTS

  1. While I respect that this piece draws from more than a single encounter with young black republican voters, I’m slightly put off by the conclusion at the end. Its almost as if the writer assumes (rightfully so in his own mind) that the there is something inherently wrong with a young African American voting for the GOP. He doesn’t stop to consider that one’s values and personal political ideology can’t sync up with that of the GOP. While OpEd pieces are supposed to voice a particular opinion, this piece leaves me feeling as if the main point was just to belittle black GOP voters and not to truly understand them. If we want free flowing political thought in the black community, we have to do better than this.

  2. Thank you for your comment, however, this article is written by a young, bright woman. Of course, there is plenty to learn about politics (not simply Democrat and Republican perspectives, but all parties, as you said) from students and Americans as a whole, and it is our duty to not be foolish enough to vote without proper research for self. This article in particular is simply an opinion and I believe, and hope, (from a student perspective) that we all will have a better understanding on such important matters as time goes on. Again, thanks for commenting, and please keep interest in this site.

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