Election Day is November 3, 2020
I was in first grade when I was first taught about voting in the United States. My teacher, eyes gleaming, looked at our small, wondrous faces and explained how every adult in the US went out and voted on Election Day. I later learned about voter turnouts and such, but I remember thinking at the time about what an interesting concept voting was. How one person could decide their future. My teacher painted a pretty picture, explaining what an honor it was to be able to vote and choose how you wanted your life to move forward. As I went through my years in school, I learned again and again about voting. Each year, it was painted as one of the most honorable things one can do for their country. As I grew older, my information about voting grew too. I learned about how everyone secured their rights to vote, and before that, the right for the US to be its own democracy. But the most common theme I learned throughout the years was a chance to move the US forward. I never heard or learned about purposefully voting to move the United States backward, to a time where everyone was not considered equal. To a time where only the privileged could ever dream of being something big.
I am 14 years old now, unable to vote and to try to move the United States forward. In four years, I will finally be able to vote. But right now, I am urging everyone 18 years and older to vote. Yes, voting is honorable and one of the best things you can do for your country. But stripped down to its very base, voting is your absolute right. Rain or shine, pandemic or no pandemic, war or no war, your right to vote should always be secure, not to benefit a politician or political party, but to benefit you and your future. Right now, it feels as if the US is moving backward. You may call me young and unknowing, and you may even choose to not acknowledge what I am saying. But I am seeing the terror four more years of our current President of the United States may bring upon us. Voting for him is not only four more years of him in the White House, of him being able to use his power to try and take away what should be your untouchable rights, but it is also voting for your next Supreme Court Justices. As of right now, LGBTQ+ rights, BIPOC rights, women’s reproduction rights, and more are in the hands of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ensures that the Supreme Law of the Land, or the Constitution, is always upheld in the United States. If Donald Trump gets to choose your next Supreme Court Justices, there is no telling of the havoc that will rain upon us. You have seen him rush Justice processes in a grab for power. Just recently, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the highest court in the land, a week before Election Day. LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace are secured by the Supreme Court as of right now, but with closer and closer votes, there is no telling what Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Justices will undo. Roe v Wade is being heavily targeted, and if Donald Trump is appointed for another four years, more conservative Supreme Court Justices will follow. They threaten the right for a human being to decide what to do with their body. They threaten the right of LGBTQ+ security, especially in the workplace. They threaten not only BIPOC’s human rights, but also their right to live in the United States safely, securely, and happily. The United States I have been taught and come to know would never do such horrendous things. The United States I have come to know is a huge supporter of equality for every single person. The matter of someone’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. isn’t seen as an issue or hindrance, but rather as a beautiful part of them. Their human rights should always be not only secure, but upheld. All of the people mentioned above are human, and deserve, at the very least, basic human rights.
With the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, I would also encourage you to vote with the knowledge of the racial injustice currently happening in the US. An injustice that has been happening for decades, systemically and otherwise. This racism does not bring the United States forward. How can we claim to be the United States when our own people are divided on something as simple as skin color? I can tell you how skin color doesn’t make a difference in a person’s personality, intelligence, or value. I could explain how everyone deserves to be equal. But you already know that. And you are either fighting for these rights that still have not been put in place in 2020, or you are choosing to stay blind and unaware. With this in mind, I urge you to vote toward an anti-racist United States. Not a nation that is simply not racist, but instead, one that is anti-racist. There is a stark difference between these two terms. Not being racist means exactly that. Being anti-racist is striving to be not racist. It is striving for change, to close the gap between people. It is pushing for unity and equality. So when you vote, I strongly encourage you to vote for a candidate that can take us toward the path of an anti-racist United States. I encourage you to vote for a candidate that will ensure equality for all.
So I, a 14 year old woman of color, urge you to go out and vote. I urge you to vote for the United States' future. I urge you to vote for the US to move forward, not backward. I urge you to vote, not only to secure your future, but mine as well. For all the children whose futures hang in the balance. I understand that voting is not easy this year, and I urge you nonetheless to send in a ballot via mail, and if not by mail, then by dropping off a ballot at your designated polling location. If you are unable to vote, please encourage those who can to do so. Come up with a voting plan for the smoothest voting experience. You don’t have to listen to me, in fact, I encourage you to do further research on your own, if you haven’t already, and form your own opinions. I encourage you to not only take advantage, but to enact your full right to vote for the United States' future. But most of all, I hope that you will vote on Election Day, November 3, and when you do, you will think of the lives that could be in danger with another four years of Donald Trump.