The Lack of Voters in the African American Community
             There are many problems in the African American community such as drugs, violence, and poverty. Many blacks live in area of town where it is considered to be an unsafe place to live and raise our children. Most of us take the hand we are dealt instead of doing something about it, because we feel there is nothing that we can do. We sometimes wonder how can we make a difference in our communities, or in what happens in the government. I am here to tell you that the best way to make a difference is to be a registered voter.
             When you are a registered voter you have the power to make things happen I your community, schools, workplace, and even state. Yet, many blacks do not vote. It is a sad and crippling fact that many blacks are not even registered to vote. The right to vote in our country is fundamental to securing other rights. As a nation of people who fought so long and hard to have rights, I do not understand why we, in the African American community would not exercise our right to vote. In a poll, taken on December 1, 2003, the state of Louisiana had 2,783,671 registered voters. Out of that number only 819,469 of those people were African American. The city of Baton Rouge had 246,647 registered voters and out of that number only 88,010 were black.
             This is a problem, to me, because for so long we were not given the right to vote. In 1966 the Supreme Court ruled that every citizen had the right to vote in every election. Up until then blacks were made to pay a poll tax, a tax levied on adults in the community, before they could cast their vote. If they did not have the money they did not vote. Many
             of our ancestors died and were beaten to give us the right to vote. Another reason this is a problem is because I have seen many people in the black community sit back and complain about the problems the community is facing. I feel you shouldn't complain if you are not goin
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