MaMaB:
I did voter registration with my organization this weekend as well, and I have to agree with you...the African-American turnout was depressingly low. We had a pretty good turn-out overall, but many of the brothas and sistahs seemed totally disinterested. They passed our table by with barely a glance; when we asked, "Sir/Ma'am, are you registered to vote?" they would just mumble a "yes" and hurry on, or not answer at all.
Actually, we didn't get the "who cares about voting/what difference does it make?" reaction from the African-Americans, but from the white folx. A white woman answered us with, "Yes I am registered, but it doesn't matter because I don't vote anymore." We were all perplexed. We said amongst ourselves, "Why not?"
Anyway, it was just depressing to see how many people (white, black, Latino, whatever) were so disenchanted with voting and participating in government.
My two cents...
BrandNubian
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"We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the
dove, a tough mind with a tender heart."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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