Black voters urged to ignore myth, head to the polls after lackluster turnout last year
Ed Gordon, Maxine Waters, Jennifer McClellan, Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, and Marc H. Morial speak onstage during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation annual Legislative Conference National Town Hall at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
When Black voters stay home on election day, the results have major consequences, according to Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League.
Morial implored attendees at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference Thursday to eschew the myth that their vote does not matter.
Black voter turnout was more than 65% in 2008 when Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama became the first African American president. Turnout was similar when Obama won reelection four years later. And Democratic nominee Joe Biden also enjoyed Black voter participation of 64% during his campaign in 2020.
But in 2016, when Republican Donald Trump won his first presidential term, Black voter participation dropped to 59%. It remained the same last year when Trump won a second term against former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Black woman who was the Democratic nominee.
“We need to understand that in this country, politics and elections matter, and all this bulls— about politics and elections do not matter is the formula of these suppression campaigns,” Morial said. “We’ve got to not get caught in yesterday’s strategies and agenda and bring something new.”
With more than 100 panels and sessions, the state of democracy and federal actions impacting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, elections and voting rights was top of mind for conference attendees.
U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) said she took time out during a trip to the National African American Museum of History and Culture with her children this year to reflect on the sacrifices made for the right to vote, among other things.
“If that means that I have to give my life so that theirs [her children] can come true, so be it,” she said. “We all need to accept that this is a pivotal moment.”
Panelists discussed the mistrust, misinformation and unpredictability in Washington, D.C. and around the country.
Years ahead of the decennial census, Trump has pressed Republican-led state legislatures to redraw congressional districts in an attempt to hold the slim GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives during midterm elections in 2026. Several states, including Texas, Indiana and Ohio are discussing the issue.
Meanwhile, Missouri lawmakers recently passed a newly gerrymandered map of the state’s eight districts that Gov. Mike Kehoe has said he will sign this weekend. The change could give Republicans an advantage in a district held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat.
The NAACP challenged the process in court before the new map was approved. Other lawsuits seek to void the map because the Missouri constitution requires lawmakers to draw districts every 10 years after the census.
“The legislature rushed through a mid-decade redraw pushed by Donald Trump himself,” said U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), who co-hosted a panel on the judiciary. “Not because Missouri has asked for it, but because he knows he can’t win fairly.
“We need independent, transparent processes that put people before politics, and we need to stay organized because Trump and his allies are relentless, so we must be too,” Bell said.
Panelists acknowledged it will be difficult for Democrats to make substantial changes right now with Congress controlled by Republicans and the U.S. Supreme Court holding a 6-3 conservative advantage.
But the one constant mentioned dozens of times during the discussion: People should vote.
Christopher Bruce, policy and advocacy director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the proof lies in the numbers with about 90 million people who didn’t vote in last year’s election.
“If you are not in this democracy, what happens? Literally…it becomes a dictatorship,” Bruce said. “The democracy is set up for you to win. The question is, do you want to have that power to make this happen? And if you don’t, the people are going to take away your life all together.”
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) told attendees they have a responsibility to vote because of the blood spilled by their Black ancestors for that opportunity, which helped secure the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It paved the way for the election of 62 Black congressional caucus members as well as 50 Latinos and 20 Asians.
“We have a responsibility, an obligation, to make sure that we do exactly what they did. They marched on,” Green said. “The battle is not over. Yes, we are comfortable. Yes, we have nice cars, but don’t confuse comfort with liberty. Don’t confuse it with liberation. Don’t confuse it with freedom.”
This story was originally produced by News From The States, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Kansas Reflector, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.