Set the scene: it's 1916 and you're sitting in a bar as a fairly wealthy white male. Some random person walks up to you and says, "one day, a mixed-race female will be able to vote in any election." You would laugh so hard you'd spit out the beer in your hand. But what would seem so absurd then is actually possible 100 years later.
When the constitution was written in 1776, it was stated that he or she that owned land could vote. Then it eventually all went to shit.
In 1870, the 15th amendment was passed stating that no person can be denied the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude. This should have given the freed black slaves the right to vote, and it did on a federal level, but individual states had a different idea. Between then and 1960, multiple states had literacy tests, making it hard for blacks to vote considering that most of them had been slaves their entire lives and had no clue how to read or write. You're probably thinking, well what about when blacks started going to school? I'm glad you asked. When they finally let black youth into schools, there was next to no federal funding. Their schools were barely taken care of and teachers were under paid, resulting in a terrible education. It wasn't until black activists, like Martin Luther King Jr., were literally dying (yes, I said dying) for their equality that they finally started to get the treatment they deserved, including the right to vote.
On top of the terribly graphic and violent denial of the right to vote for the black population for so long, women were also denied the right vote between 1807 and 1920. In 1807, a law was passed stating that only free white men were allowed to vote. While this law was meant to limit the black men from voting (wow, what a surprise) they seem to have forgotten about the women who were being left out (again, wow, what a surprise). In 1848, the first major notation for women wanting their right to vote took place at a convention in New York. After many protests and conventions, Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote in state elections. Eventually, states started to follow Wyoming's lead and allowed women to vote one-by-one. Finally in 1920, the 19th amendment allowed women to vote. Of course, people had to be tortured and mistreated to gain this right (wow, what a surprise.).
What am I getting at here? Well, as a mixed race female, I am personally offended by those of you who choose not to vote. You can say whatever you want about voting, and make up whatever excuse it is that you want to to not vote. It has been made easy to vote, easy to get the information, and easy to form an opinion. At the end of the day, your vote is so important and it makes such a difference that people have literally died and been tortured to give you that right. So get off your lazy butt, do some research, form an opinion and get registered. And if you still think it's not important, then go live in a country that doesn't have this beautiful gift of democracy like we do.
