How are Black Americans going to survive the 2020 election?

In prep for Election Day as well as the aftermath, theGrio political contributors Dr. Christina Greer and Dr. Jason Johnson will be steering the Dear Culture podcast ship with their political expertise. 

With the election coming to a close in the next few days, feelings are running high throughout the nation. Conversations and policies surrounding voter disenfranchisement and potential theft continue to be the hottest topic on Americans’ minds. From states that have begun counting early votes to states like Wisconsin that recently ruled in their Supreme Court that mailed-in absentee ballots that arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Day will be ineligible, 2020 continues to be an unprecedented time. The climate has Greer and Johnson asking the quintessential question: “Dear Culture, what the hell are we gonna do for the next few days?”

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“The reason I sleep like a lamb is because I’ve done everything I needed to do” says Greer to Johnson.

The nation’s currently at 75 million votes and counting, with the total number of voters expected to surpass the Kennedy-Nixon days. A large part of that turnout is due to young voters utilizing early voting, especially in swing states. 

“White supremacy is a serious drug,” Johnson says about the backlash to early voting.

In addition to addressing early voting, both Johnson and Greer remind us that Americans often focus too much on the white women’s vote. Though this demographic does play a large role in shifting the tides election outcomes, what is amazing to note is the amount young, old, Black and people of color that are creating history at the moment with their votes. Johnson and Greer speculate that just because white women have historically voted Republican, doesn’t mean they won’t change their minds due to the political climate of 2020. 

Donald Trump pissed off white people and when white people are angry, they will vote you out!” jokes Johnson.

Many white voters are not satisfied with the way Trump has handled the COVID-19 pandemic and that could be a contributing factor to how white women vote this election year. A question Greer jokingly asks, “Is the president trying to kill his supporters?”

The nation has witnessed the president put his own people at severe risk with several large rallies across the country, throwing his mask into crowds, and not providing sufficient healthcare for people in a global health pandemic. 

Read More: Trump, Biden appeal to Florida voters to turn out in person

Unfortunately, one of the fastest ways to go bankrupt in America is getting diagnosed with an illness. As a first world nation that claims to sit on the proverbial throne of democracy, it is often disappointing that healthcare continues to fall to the wayside on our nation’s to-do list. 

Eight million people who have been diagnosed with and/or are being treated for coronavirus are susceptible to paying high rates in a nation that has yet to provide legible and apt healthcare for all.

So how are we going to get through these next few days until election night? Stay safe, do the work, and vote appropriately.

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