The Complexity of Society

Sometimes I look around and realize the lack of depth that some people hold is truly beyond my belief. I don't fully understand how people can believe that life and society is just black and white. People, life, society are complex, they're intricate. we can’t simply run one analyzation on the world around us because its forever changing and altering. I came to this thought in a Campaigning and Elections class that I share with a young Colombian, homosexual republican is who more outspoken than I. In this particular class the discussion was based around the electoral college. I voiced my opinion on how I saw it to be a bit sketchy, how it could lack representation, and how could turn into an elitist decision. He then goes on a short rant about how anyone could be an electorate and all you had to do was apply... as if things were just that simple. As if one could gain a position of such importance and influence while disregarding the elites, if there any. One couldn't possibly be so blind to ignore their own intersectionality. If you're not a standard white male, then other aspects about your person must be considered like your race, your sexual orientation, your gender. These are real things that play a real role in our society. No matter how much one thinks these don't effect us in our everyday lives they do. If we were meant to be color blind, if we were meant to live in a conformist state then we would all be the same, but of course, we are not. Therefore we can't ignore the things laid out before our very eyes.

When we think about things like voting in the presidential election, we act as if the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections have been "normal". I have noticed that a lot of times in my classes, my professors don't acknowledge these three elections in a special regard. We breeze over the fact that for the first time in American History we have had a Black president. A Black President. For the first time in American History we had a woman as a presidential candidate nominated by a major party. These are historical anomalies and they're brushed over in our intellectual discussions in class. Why are we not talking about the surge in Black voters due to the first time in the 242 years since the United States had been “discovered” that Black Americans finally had someone who looked like them that they were able to elect. For the first time in history women had a chance to put another woman in office. Why do we choose to act like race and gender wasn't major factors in these three elections? I find it to be ignorant.

If you have a motivational candidate, young black people, but more specifically black women, will turn out in higher numbers and will change the course of the election and ultimately, black women could be key factors in every election. This is something that we saw in the Alabama Senate race in 2017. Black voters combined accounted for about 30% (women 18%, men 12%) of the total voters while white voters accounted for about 65% (women 30%, men 35%). Jones was able to secure well over 90% of the total black vote where about black women voted for Jones. We can see that with the help of black voters, Jones was able to secure his win. Why can't we do this in every election? Simply because in a society that chooses to ignore race and gender at certain moments and there are laws are based off those things. For example, felony disenfranchisement laws prevent about 6.1 million felons from voting which accounts for about 2.5% of the total U.S. population where only about 58% of the people participate in voting. If we break down that data with race taken into account we find that about 28% of people restricted from voting are Black people. That is enough to swing close elections and enough to raise the voting participation. Enough to have kept certain Republican leaders from maintaining their positions. Some states restrict felons from voting while they’re incarcerated, some have restrictions for those on probation or parole. Then, there are 12 states that refuse to restore the rights of felons even after they are released. These states alone account for almost 45% of the total amount of disenfranchised voters. 1 in every 13 Black people are disenfranchised while in some states like Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, 1 in every 5 Black people are disenfranchised. Only 1.8% of non-Black populations are disenfranchised while its almost 8% for the Black population. Modern voter disenfranchisement is one of many ways black people have been historically blocked from full participation in society.

My point goes to show that things are not always as simple as they same. Society is not just black and white. We have to think about things in a deeper manner. Identities matter in our society and play a major underlying role. Society much like life consists of layers. It consists of half opened doors that are just waiting to be opened to unleash new secrets and discoveries. It’s ironic to say, but society is simply complex.