Injustice in America’s Voting System

My project needed to be done because many people these days don’t even realize that there is voting discrimination because it doesn’t affect them. They have this mindset that it is easy to vote when that is truly is not the case. I want my audience to realize what is really happening right now and understand the struggle some people have just because of the color of their skin. I want them to recognize the privilege they have and acknowledge that they have to help do something about it. I think those facing discrimination will benefit from it because more people will start recognizing their struggle and possibly more action taken on these injustices they face. Honestly, before this assignment, I had no idea how I felt about my topic because while I did know that racial injustice in the voting system was real and happening right in from of our eyes. I had never realized the magnitude of the situation in a more in-depth-perspective as I have been able to throughout the course of my project. I chose this project because of the recent elections which were still fresh on everyone’s mind and I wanted to do something we as young adults could understand because of our involvement in elections. Working on getting the information and reading up on statistics opened my eyes to how vastly the numbers and percentages differ from what I had thought of them to be. This project became very important to me because it taught me a lot about how our country is and that the preconceived notion of what it is supposed to be is just not true. This idea of it being the Land of the Free when a majority of people are oppressed here for merely the color of their skin, how they talk, and just because they are different. It cemented the ideas of all the readings we had been doing throughout the course and allowed their messages to be fully understood in my head. This reminded me of the ted talk by Chimamanda Adichie and her take on “The danger of a single story” because many of us don’t see the other side if we are on the majority. It’s not knowing what it is like to be a minority and the issues they face every day for being them. That is a danger of a single story as when you only have one side to the story you tend to overlook the bad. This theme of Power & Representation is immensely present as my project highlights the injustice distribution of power between races and the lack of representation of minorities in our votes. Who you see voting isn’t all you can get because statistics show that there is a huge amount of eligible voters that don’t vote pertaining to reasons oftentimes regarding the racial injustice they have been subjected to. So, this idea of America is the place of freedom of speech and just living is false when looking at the reality of what our country subjects people of color and minorities just to cast a vote.