Sister, Soldier, Voter: Tapping Into the Hidden Vote of the Black Military Woman

[JustAnotherGen]

Black women are the fastest-growing population across all branches of the armed forces, so why won’t politicians talk to them?
By: Jason Johnson
Posted: May 26, 2016

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2016/05/sister-soldier-voter-tapping-into-the-hidden-vote-of-the-black-military-woman/

The reality is that today’s military is younger and more diverse than at any point in American history—and it’s being driven by African-American women. Perhaps it was the recession, or post-9/11 patriotism, but as of 2011, black women are the fastest-growing population across all branches of the armed forces, and they vote. Campaign 2016 will turn on a frothy mix of gender, race and foreign policy issues, and it’s about time campaigns realized that black female military voters could tip the balance

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Skipped to:

In other words, black women in the military make up the largest group of minorities employed by any branch of the federal government. Imagine if the FBI were 31 percent black women, or the Department of Education. If the Environmental Protection Agency were 31 percent African-American women, I suspect that residents of Flint, Mich., wouldn’t have to rely on celebrity water donations to bathe their children safely.

Yet efforts by presidential campaigns of the two major parties to capture these voters have been almost nonexistent. Bernie Sanders is head of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and has done nothing to address black female veterans. Donald Trump can’t go five minutes without talking about how much he “loves” veterans, but he’s said nothing about the fact that 20 percent (pdf) of all female military veterans are black. Or that, according to a 2013 report by the Congressional Black Caucus, 45 percent of homeless veteran women (pdf) are African American.

Symbolically and numerically, campaigns are leaving votes on the ground by not addressing the needs of black female active duty military and veterans. Consider that active duty military and veterans vote at higher rates (pdf) than the civilian population, and African-American women already had the highest voter turnout in the last two presidential elections. This fact becomes all the more salient when you consider that swing states like Florida, North Carolina and Virginia have the highest concentration of active and retired military voters. Beyond the numbers, imagine the positive symbolism and press coverage of a Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton or even Donald Trump doing a panel with a group of black female veterans discussing pressing issues for 2016.

I didn't realize black women were 53% of the of women in the military. I find it interesting that we make up make up the largest group of minorities employed by any branch of the federal government.

I wonder if people who think black people 'in general' are stupid for voting for someone other than their candidate feel the same way about these women if they are not supporting their candidate?


Hopefully these women can Bring Donald Trump to heel. They have to see he just wants to go to war and get them killed.

[brer cat]

1. I would love

to see a panel discussing the issues with these women!! What an opportunity lost that it hasn't already happened.

Thanks for bringing this info here, JAG. I had no idea black women made up over half of the women in the armed services.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. I didn't know that either

I've posted before about the military studying the 'mental and emotional strength' of black women to see if it could unlock pathways to PTSD survivors. Those articles are out there.

Perhaps - eh? They've just decided to fill the military with us and avoid the studies altogether?