Many Minority Women Don't Vote, Here's How to Help

Posted by Liza Sabater, Culture Kitchen at 3:15 AM on September 16, 2008.

69% of Latinas do not vote. Even though we have the highest pregnancy rates and the fastest growing incidences of AIDS in the United States. 70% African American and Asian American registered voting women also abstain from voting.


Pass on this video clip to every single, Black, Latian, Asian, Native US American woman you know and ask them to pass it on to their family friends.


Faced with the prospect of a McCain presidency that would squash any hope of Universal Health Care and would put on the bench Supreme Court Justices that would bring back reproductive slavery, it is absolutely necessary that each and every minority woman and man go out and vote.


From the EngageHer blog :

With over 30+ million minority women in the U.S. who are eligible to vote, we can make a big and profound impact on our November elections. More importantly when you multiply our influence on our families, communities and social networks, to go out and vote, we have a huge part to play in choosing our next President. Even more important is all the excitement and feedback we’re getting from women regardless of their racial or ethnic background who want to join us. They’re saying that our key messages and focus on the issues we universally care about is what we all should focus on when we vote. Together, we will pick the next President of the United States.


Our key messages:


1. Focus on the issues: Education, Health, Economy, Environment, Social Justice


2. Demand accountability from the elected legislators for the past 8 years and moving forward


3. You can Vote for just the President, member of Congress and Senate and skip the rest of the ballot


4. Use the absentee ballot so you don’t have to worry about childcare, getting to the polls, etc.


Our documentary tells the stories of minority women and the reasons why they don’t vote.

This is a video that should be required viewing for all canvassers for the Obama campaign. And required reading? I have two articles : Lost in Hillaryland and What I learned in Philly's 14th Ward about language, class and the interfaces of political power.


AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

Tagged as: voting, vote, obama, supreme court, mccain, minority women

Liza Sabater blogs at Culture Kitchen.