Good News, Great News, a Caution on Election Day for Black Youth Voters

In the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey by CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) at www.civicyouth.org, a comprehensive study of diverse American youth voters found that young African Americans are the most politically engaged among racial/ethnic group. Compared to other groups, African Americans are the most likely to vote regularly, belong to groups involved with politics, donate money to candidates and parties, display buttons or signs, canvass, and contact the media.

In a related analysis of voting patterns up through the 2004 elections, CIRCLE also showed that African American youth voters were the only group to have bucked the trend of declining turnout during midterm election years. Indicators for this year suggest that young Black voters' will continue to improve in 2006.

A separate study, by Young Voter Strategies, an organization affiliated with George Washington University, found that in the 2006 midterm season, young Black voters were the "most ready for change," according to a report by Black College Wire news service. In the study, 35 percent of Black voters ages 18 to 30 said that employment, the economy, and education and its costs weighed heavily for them.

However, the picture isn't entirely rosy. Both studies also found that many young African Americans have faced obstacles in exercising their right to vote, and many have little confidence that they can personally, meaningfully affect the problems facing their communtiies and families.

These conflicting issues -- increased political interest among young African Americans and a decreasing sense of their individual ability to affect change -- have made voter protection on polling day a high priority in the election season. Although the U.S. Justice Department announced that it would dispatch an unprecedented number of poll monitors across the country, other interested groups nationwide are mounting their own efforts. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is sending monitors to protect voters at areas surrounding HBCU schools, and placing an emphasis on protecting voters in the Gulf Region still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

For more stats and a link tothe full PDF report by CIRCLE, see the sidebars to interview with Senator Barack Obama in the first semester 2006 super issue of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN.