by Sharon Maeda
There’s no such thing as a post-racial society, as was proffered when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. And, despite a recent increase in racial hate crimes, vandalism, and harassment of BIPOC communities, some things have changed for the better. We no longer have to wring our hands and hope for the best when a person of our own racial or ethnic group is not ready for prime time, but we feel compelled to vote for them out of ethnic solidarity anyway.
We can vote for people who we know have the integrity and commitment to further justice for our communities during these fragile times. We can vote for the person who most closely shares our values, who we can trust, who is endorsed by those we respect, and who we know will listen when we bring forward important issues, policies, and crises. No longer do we have to vote for someone who “looks like us.”
As a self-described political junkie, I learned long ago that supporting — or not — a candidate based on one community, one issue, or one statement is shortsighted. Part of our responsibility as voters is doing sufficient research to be confident the person we vote for has the integrity to do the right thing when under pressure or when totally unforeseen issues appear. Two years ago, who could have known that the struggles of women and our allies that were fought over 50 years ago would become issues again. From civil rights to a woman’s right to choose, we’ve been bombarded by major issues we thought had been legislated and secured long ago.
Locally, policies and programs related to education, gentrification, hate crimes, homelessness, and the Seattle Police Department — to name a few — will take twists and turns before elected officials and agencies implement solid solutions. We can never predict what issues will occur once the person is in office, nor how the person might succumb to pressures and vote in ways we could not have imagined. But…
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