By Any Means Necess
Voter Registration Among ftfrican-
Americans: A Target at (INC
By Chistopher A. Owens
congressional elections, the black voter
With the most important presiden- turnout in North Carolina was higher
tial election in recent history in less than than in many other states. Overall voter
a month away, African-American orga- turnout across the country, however,
nizations have combined efforts not was on the rise while North Carolina
only to register
voters but also to
educate people on the
issues and candidates.
To combat the
enemy of low voter
registration among
African-Americans
“We want to educate people
about voting and the impor
tance of voting. We want to
educate on the candidates and
platforms in general. ”
, the\ /M]
had been stagnant over the
\last decade.
The number of African-
Americans nationwdde who
voted in 1998, approximate
ly 932 thousand, was not far
from the total population of
rican-Americans in the
Black Student Movement, in conjunction
with the NAACP, Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Incorporated and Kappa
Alpha Psi, Incorporated, have organized
several initiatives to get as many regis
tered voters on campus as possible,
with African-Americans as their main
target.
LaVar Smith, a senior at UNC-CH
and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha,
explained the involvement of his frater
nity in the voter registration movement
on campus.
“One of the national programs
that each chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is
mandated to do is a voter registration
drive. The point is to educate the com
munity on voter registration and on the
election. Sitting in the Pit during prime
hours is also a part of our agenda.”
Statistics show that in the 1998
VOTE!
state at that time.
Frank Ford of Kappa Alpha Psi
said of his organization’s influence in the
drive, “we are sponsoring a forum on all
the candidates with the NAACP. We’re
trying to
register as
many peo
ple as pos
sible and
get black
people
involved.
As college
students,
we need to
know what
xxxxx
xxxxx
is going on because we are next in line to
take over this country.”