Being a Black woman in America is exhausting, especially during election season. Once again, Black women outperformed every other demographic at the voting polls, but this time, the results were earth-shattering. Donald Trump is the new President-elect of the United States; while this is a dream for some, it’s a nightmare for others.
With all voter fraud allegations put aside, voter turnout won him the election. Let’s go down the list: Black women voted for Harris at a drastic 91%, while Black men accounted for 77% of votes for Harris. On the flip side, white men accounted for 60%, and 53% of white women voted for Trump. Considering the history of racism and misogyny in this country, these exit poll statistics shouldn’t be a shock to anyone.
Here’s where things get a bit tricky for white women and non-black people of color in the U.S. After Trump was elected in 2016, white women nationwide were boiling with anger because of Trump’s anti-abortion stance. They claimed he was stripping their rights and setting women back decades. All of this sounds great until you remember that white women accounted for 52% in 2016 and 55% in 2020 when voting for Trump. This is beyond problematic for several reasons.
The past three presidential elections have been crystal clear examples of white women voting against their best interest. As a woman, regardless of race, why would you vote for a sexual predator who thinks it’s acceptable to grab women by their genitalia? That should’ve been a deal breaker in 2016, yet here we are. White women also have the habit of voting the way that their husbands tell them to. This has become so common that campaign ADs are now dedicated to it.
Voting this way three elections in a row is also a slap in the faces of Black women nationwide. For decades, white women have co-opted movements started by Black women and taken the credit. Voting rights, abortion rights, the Me Too movement, etc., have been hijacked and mishandled. In 2022, the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Within days, white women could be seen marching and protesting with women of other races.
When it came to this election, those women were not only silent, but they voted against the issue that could affect them most. This particular election is jarring because as soon as Harris was named the Democratic candidate, organizations like White Women For Harris came together to support and raise money for Harris’s campaign. Unfortunately, talk is cheap, and the exit polls showed their lack of support. Reckless behavior like this leaves black women to clean up the political messes of our white counterparts.
Just when you thought the results couldn’t get any worse, the 64% of Latino voters for Trump have something to say. I think this number caught everyone by surprise in the election, but it shouldn’t have. Cuban Americans are notorious for being conservative, but they aren’t solely to blame for Trump’s ascension into his second term. Argentinians, Venezuelans and a small portion of Mexicans also tend to lean toward right-wing conservatism.
Since his first term, Trump has infamously pushed for a wall to be built between the U.S. and Mexico. His thoughts and policies surrounding immigration are heinous and specifically target brown Hispanics. His racist antics don’t seem to bother his Latino supporters.
Growing up in a Haitian-American household, I can personally attest to the immigration disconnect with certain ethnic groups. As someone from Miami, Florida, I am not a stranger to Cuban culture. It’s beautiful and deserves to be shared in a positive light, but that’s very difficult when the politics within that community are so skewed.
Like my family, most Cuban immigrants came to the U.S. during the 60s and settled in South Florida. While a lot of Cubans were ridiculed for their accents and skin color, those lighter in skin color were able to assimilate easier. This moment in history may correlate to their disconnect with other immigrants. After decades, it’s easy to no longer identify with immigration or first-generation American status, especially when achieving proximity to whiteness is the goal.
Trump repeatedly said that he plans to host mass deportations of at least 25 million immigrants and eliminate birthright citizenship. This would impact millions of both documented and undocumented immigrants along with citizens. Doing this would do significant damage to the same economy that Trump supporters claim they voted for. In 2022, immigrants contributed $96 billion to social security, but they were not able to receive the benefits.
When talking about immigrants, hard labor and undesirable jobs are typically mentioned, but I think people need a new perspective. Immigrants can be lawyers, doctors, fortune 500 executives, etc. The amount of ignorance surrounding immigration is gobsmacking, and it must be painful to be so uneducated; are you not embarrassed?
There is no bigger elephant in the room than Palestine. The Palestinian genocide is one that has left people divided for generations, and it was a major key in this election. Harris’s position on it may have cost her the election. Throughout President Biden’s term, he has constantly stated that Israel has the right to defend itself, which left a lot of Americans with even more disdain for him.
Americans’ frustration with the government’s support and aid in the genocide cost Harris a lot of votes. When she inherited the campaign, voters immediately placed blame on Harris for the administration’s handling of Palestine. This frustration was increased when popular Palestinian creator Maya Ayooni used her platform to not only demonize Black voters but also discourage Americans from voting at all.
This caused tension between Black Americans and Palestinians instead of focusing on the real issue, which is the U.S. and Israeli governments. Black People and Palestinians have an allyship that spans back to the Civil Rights movement in America. Leaders like James Baldwin and Malcolm X always encouraged Black Americans to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, and that’s what happened.
For decades, these groups have maintained a mutual allyship rooted in the pain and suffering of oppression. All of this seemed to be thrown out the window when Ayooni and other creators started taking issue with Black voters who supported Harris. This is problematic for a slew of reasons.
To start, this genocide has existed for generations, and unfortunately, the events of Oct. 7 in Israel catalyzed more deaths in Palestine. This event brought new eyes to the matter, so it has been treated as something new instead of a centuries-long ethnic cleansing. Unfortunately, Palestinians and Black Americans have such a tragic history in common.
Black people received the right to vote in 1965, and we’ve held that right in a firm grasp. So, when people get on the internet and openly encourage people not to vote, it’s a huge slap in the face for Black Americans. Had it not been for the sacrifices of Black Americans in this country, POC wouldn’t be able to immigrate here and build new lives for themselves.
While pro-Palestinian creators were anti-Harris, I must ask, did you want us to vote for the other guy? In case anyone has forgotten, Trump has already been president; therefore, he has already given millions of dollars and military aid to Israel. Jill Stein was a popular pro-Palestine candidate, but considering that she wasn’t on every ballot in every state, that plan was a flop.
Condemning a vice president whose duties aren’t foreign policy and blaming her for her boss’s actions is very odd. Side note: how am I supposed to fight for the rights of others when the guy they elected is trying to take my rights?
I fear the relationship between Black Americans and Palestinians is shattered, and it will take a lot of time and healing to mend it.
This election has shown Black women that all we have is each other. It’s proven that Black women have carried this country on our backs since its birth, and we’re tired.
We can no longer bear the burden of others, and will no longer clean up the mess made by other Americans. Please direct any social justice concerns to that orange man and leave Black women alone.
Jemiah Clemons is a 20-year-old kinesiology junior from Miami, Fla.