On June 16, 1964, three young men traveled from New York City to Mississippi to register African Americans to vote. Within a week, they were dead.
I was 15 when these men — James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman — were murdered. I understood how voter suppression in the Jim Crow South aimed to silence Black families like mine. I understood that voting had power, and that power scared people.
Voter suppression is something selfish, insecure politicians do when they want to stifle the voices of people they feel threatened by. For decades, restrictions in the election system have resulted in systematic discrimination of communities of color, keeping Black and brown voters, especially those in rural communities like mine, away from the polls.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ended literacy tests, poll taxes and moral character tests, but voter suppression still exists in our democracy. This election cycle, those in power are using the U.S. Postal Service to disenfranchise people like me and the people I care for by complicating — or preventing — the option of mail-in voting. I refuse to let that stop us.
As a home care worker, I provide essential physical and emotional care that allows parents, grandparents and loved ones with disabilities to live at home with independence. It’s hard work that requires specialized training, compassion and patience, but it’s what I love to do.
Many of my clients struggle with mobility and sometimes can’t get out of bed unassisted, let alone get to their polling places. My job is assisting these clients with bathing, dressing and toileting, as well as getting to and from appointments — basic tasks they can’t do on their own. In my rural community, limited transportation options and distance keep some clients confined to their homes.
It takes time for anyone to get anywhere around here, but for my clients who need mobility assistance, a 30-minute trip to the polls could take three hours. Many buildings aren’t ADA compliant. Ballot machines aren’t always accessible for those with limited mobility. The pandemic has complicated things even further because my clients are most at risk of contracting covid-19.
For home care workers, getting to the polling place can be just as complicated. Our schedules are often unpredictable because our clients need us when they need us. Caring for multiple people on Election Day leaves little time to cast my own vote.
Furthermore, the risk we face contracting the virus and passing it to our families, our clients, and our communities is already elevated due to a lack of PPE, a lack of affordable health care and no paid sick days. Now, in order to exercise our right to vote, we must do so knowing the consequences could be deadly.
In 2020, no one should have to fight this hard — let alone risk their lives — to vote.
Voting by mail is so important. For so many people, regardless of their circumstances, the right to vote depends on the ability to cast a mail-in ballot. But President Trump doesn’t see it that way. He sees a core group of voters who have the power to vote him out of office. That group of voters includes home care workers — the majority of whom are people of color — and our clients who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
Throughout my life, I’ve seen what the power of the vote can do. Growing up, I saw voters bring an end to Jim Crow. Coming of age in the Vietnam era, I fought alongside my peers, demanding the voting age be lowered from 21 to 18. Now, I’m joining home care workers united in my union, Service Employees International Union, to demand respect and justice for our workforce and our clients.
That means implementing increased voting options that are safe, accessible and inclusive so that everyone — no matter who they are, where they live or the color of the skin — can cast a ballot.
As Americans, we have both the right and the responsibility to vote. That’s why every election, local or federal, I honor the legacies of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman by educating and mobilizing voters. This year, I’ve phone banked with my union and joined other community members to talk with people outside a local barber shop about their voting plans. So far, we’ve registered 25 new voters outside the shop.
Sometimes all it takes is a small conversation to remind someone that their vote matters and that with our ballots, we have the power to bring about the changes our country so desperately needs.
A pandemic might keep people away from their polling places, but it can’t stop people from voting. Millions of people have already cast their votes, and we need to make sure millions more can do the same in whatever way they can. Our lives depend on it.
Francis Adams, a Washington County resident, has been a home care worker for more than 20 years.
