Early voting begins today.
And yet this age-old practice, taken for granted by some, and scorned by the powerful, remains the only real tool local voters have to shape their communities and compel progress for their families and neighbors.
In Orlando, or shall we say Orange County, the realities of everyday life reveal two communities, one black, one white – seemingly separate but joined at the hip nonetheless on so many issues.
So, why two communities?
History mostly. Orlando is still, in many ways a one-horse town of good ol’ boys and racist politics. Despicable, racially driven policies of Orlando’s City Hall and the abysmal legacy of Mayor Teresa Jacobs’ predecessor, Rich Crotty, have shaped the future of the area, to the tremendous advantage of white communities over black ones.
Black neighborhoods, ignored for years, show the legacy policies of Orlando/Orange County very well.
The neglected infrastructure, lack of beautification, and high crime in West Orlando is no mistake. These are terrible testaments to the intentions of folks like Buddy Dyer and his cabal of the well-connected and white. Like the famous scene in The Godfather, where a mob biggie extols, “they’re animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.” Orlando regulates despair and “keeps it with the dark people.”
As the 2014 election season swings into high gear, Orlando’s West Side voters are presented with a chance to fix some of the issues plaguing their communities, which is why they should go out and vote. Vote today, vote tomorrow.
Be heard. Turn out. Ignoring this singular opportunity only guarantees more of the same.
Especially vote on August 26. Vote as if your child’s life depended on it.
Because it does.
