Stay at the top of the political game

America has a very competitive society. The system of private enterprise encourages citizens to become entrepreneurs. There is considerable incentive to be the best and defeat all competitors. The Market Basket conflict between Demoulas family cousins indicates that serious competition can occur even within families. Their competitiveness placed the future of the 73 store grocery chain in jeopardy. There is some question as to whether blacks are attuned to such intense commercial competition.

Nonetheless, blacks are very competitive in sports. Any NFL professional football game indicates that African Americans are highly competitive on the gridiron. While they constitute only 12.5 percent of the nation’s population more than half of the players will be black. This disparity is also true for NBA basketball games. The athletes earned their jobs through talent and not from affirmative action. There are also several other areas where blacks are extremely competitive.

Now blacks are becoming very competitive in politics. For the first time in history blacks won the political super bowl in the November 2012 presidential election. The percentage of registered black voters going to the polls was higher than any other ethnic group. This occurred despite long lines and other impediments imposed by conservatives to discourage black voters.

Like true competitors, the affluent conservatives have not rolled over and accepted the emergence of black political power. They have tried to change the rules in several states to mitigate the impact of the black vote. Among the most restrictive changes are the requirement for official voter ID cards and the elimination of early voting dates. Civil rights lawyers have fought back with challenging lawsuits.

Every citizen should understand what’s at stake. In America there are two sources of secular power: wealth and votes. Those who control the wealth have no intention of passively permitting the voters to overturn their plans and policies. Every election, therefore, becomes a philosophical battle of wits. Fortunately, all of the affluent do not share a uniform, conservative perspective, so political views will be diverse.

By voting every time the polls open, African Americans become players in this political competition. The black vote is now a bloc too big to be ignored. Continued assurance that blacks are certain to vote will encourage promising young members of the community to step forward to provide ideas and leadership to benefit black progress. Be sure to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4 for community solidarity. Become a player.