I voted early this time around. Why? Because I didn't want to be in the thick of a COVID crowd on Election Day. Instead, I braved tropical storm weather without an umbrella and stood in line OUTSIDE for over an hour. Socially distanced... and soaking wet.
But I was happy to do so. Why? Read on...On Election Day, my 6-year-old daughter asked me, "Who did you vote for?" I quickly responded with a lesson on civics rather than my candidate preference (or lack thereof). I told her that political parties are like clubs.
"Julia, if you like the color Galaxy..." [Galaxy has been her favorite self-titled color for about a year now--a mix of deep purple and dark blue.]
"No, the rainbow, Mommy!" She replied.
"Ok, you really like the colors of the rainbow, but I REALLY love the color purple. Pretend like we both want to convince everyone we know that they should join our club if they really like the rainbow or really like purple. That's similar to a political party. The candidates try super hard to convince people they will represent them the best for what people really care about," I explained.
"Cool!" Her 6-year-old mind was working. I could see the gears turning! "I just thought it was like a birthday party."
If only she knew Kanye ran for President as the Birthday Party candidate. That would be lost on her right now. Ha!
"Julia, do you know why I get so excited about voting? I vote every possible chance I get because 100 plus years ago, I wouldn't have been able to as a woman. Did you know women haven't always been allowed to vote?"
"Yep. And African Americans also weren't allowed to vote," she said.
"That's right, sweetie. And I am so thankful for the people who lived before us who worked incredibly hard to make sure all African Americans and all women had the right to vote. Because we're all equal," I said.
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Did you know that even though women were granted the right to vote in 1919 via the Nineteenth Amendment, the federal government left it up to the states? The women's suffrage movement in South Carolina began in 1898 and the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1919; however the Nineteenth Amendment wasn't fully "accepted" or ratified until 1969. That's only 19 years before I was born, y'all. FIFTY-ONE years ago. South Carolina "sorta" accepted the Nineteenth Amendment, yet passed a law excluding women from jury duty. So Carolina ladies were not treated equal under the law until FIFTY years after the amendment was passed at a federal level.
Now, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were approved and ratified by Congress in the 1866-1870 timeframe. This granted citizenship for U.S. born or naturalized persons and voting rights to everyone (well, except women), respectively. Not perfectly complete, but it basically took a century for South Carolina to get its act together to give all citizens the right to life, liberty, and happiness...
The least I can do is vote for those who I think are the best options to ensure our state and country can move forward in unity and respect for one another. You may think your one vote doesn't count, but as we know from this very divisive election, every vote truly does count!
Some say, "Keep America great." I say we should push America to greatness through liberty, equality, and justice for all.
