Posted by Kevin Robinson on November 20, 2020 · 1 Comment (Edit)

Spear–phishing is a targeted attempt to steal sensitive information such as account credentials or financial information from a specific victim, often for malicious reasons. digitalguardian.com

In this specific case, the victims are African Americans and other people of color. The sensitive information is their casted vote. Targeted Attacks of accusations of improprieties and fraud are the shade that the current presidential administration is attempting to cast upon large blocks of minority voters in Philidephia, Metro Atlanta, and Milwaukee. 

The demanding of recounts of targeted African American jurisdictions, especially Milwaukee County, is meant to overturn the county’s votes, which handed a defeat in Wisconsin to President Trump. The turnout of these voters reversed the outcome of the 2016 election in which African American voter turnout was down. Voter I.D. laws over the decades have disproportionately affected minority communities in many other states along with Wisconsin.

 As a result of these laws and a simple lack of enthusiasm for either candidate in 2016 we saw sweeping changes in the number of voters. After peaking in 2016, Black voter turnout dropped by a record number seven points in 2016. The Black voter turnout in 2008 was 65.2% while White voter turnout was 66.1%. In 2012 it exceeded the White voter turnout 66.6% to 64.1%. In 2016 Black voter turnout was 59.6 % compared to 65.3% for Whites. The Milwaukee Independent. 

In light of another drop in Wisconsin’s African American vote in 2020 because of the pandemic, most of the statewide uptick was due to mail-in voting. Historically, Blacks are less likely to use mail-in ballots. The actual fraud is in the sleight of hand performed upon the democratic system after the 2020 election through attempts to overturn the vote of American citizens. This is absolutely unheard of in a modern democracy. This is more of a tale of some medieval monarchy.

After the first and only two-term African American President and the contrary chorus of cries of “we want our country back,” the great white hope’s” political equivalent arose. It could have been any one of the dominant culture. However, this particular candidate leaned into the birther movement introduced in the 2008 campaign that professed that Barak Obama was born in Kenya, therefore disqualifying him from being president. The eventual 45th President took it to a whole new level. In the process, he inspired many aggrieved white voters who abstained from the voting process for many years.

Comprehensive cultural issues, demographic changes, and buried racial animus have all crystalized through the last four years to this point of breaking of the foundation of America. One cannot help but remember that the original sin African Americans were only three-fifths of a person. Gerrymandered into human obscurity, black people and other people of color forever would seem to be victims of the whims of the overseer as to if they were aloud rights or not. 

“When maps do not represent the people, all Americans lose out because democracy loses out. But, as in so many other areas, it is Black voters who bear the most severe consequences of gerrymandering. In some cases, it is literally a matter of life and death.” – Julie Kirschenbaum, The Brennan Center for Justice

Both political parties have a history and are guilty of voter suppression and disenfranchisement. The Republican party is the current occupier of this role. The new Democratic administration will soon be on the clock, and has much to do concerning marginalized communities or they’ll face the same judgment that rests upon the prevailing one.

All Americans must awaken to the notion that this spear-phishing attack though aimed at people of color, will pierce every corner of the American Dream unless all speak up in a resounding voice of one people “Building the Bridge Together” over the systemically embedded racial divide.

Kevin Robinson Executive Director of Accord1