Dear Arab Americans, Don’t Vote

Dear Arab Americans,

Being an Arab American can seem like a paradox in itself for some, we have become our own people’s enemies. Our tax dollars go towards ‘liberating’ our homelands, our leaders choose to put in place policies in place that work against us and other communities isolated by the institution.

Don’t vote for leaders, don’t vote for policies, don’t vote for the next person who will put in place policies that affect your daily life. Don’t vote for the next person that will effect the lives of your loved ones living abroad. You shouldn’t vote if you believe your opinions have no value and your vote doesn’t count.

Don’t vote if you don’t want to change the broken system put in place that’s been fostering detrimental corruption and destruction for centuries. Don’t head to the polls if you don’t give a damn about the system that has a major say in how your community operates. Don’t vote if you don’t mind being in-debt for the rest of your life all for a college degree. Don’t vote if you think protesting in the streets alone will solve civic problems. Don’t vote if you believe the only way a system can change is if total chaos ensues.

Don’t vote if you have no need to for equal and quality healthcare. Don’t vote if you don’t see the need to improve the criminal justice system. Don’t vote if you’re content with police brutality protected by an prejudice justice system. Don’t vote if you’d don’t mind seeing the growth the prison industrial complex rather than the development of the educational system. You shouldn’t vote if you think voting is nothing more than choosing between two evils.

Don’t bother heading to the polls if you ‘didn’t ask people to die for your right to vote’. Because they died for a chance to  make a change in the country they live in, and while it might not come easily; it doesn’t come from not participating in the democratic system. Don’t vote if you can resonate with the sense of discontent your family living in un-democratic Arab states have to no choice but to endure. Don’t vote if you don’t recognize the hard work and dedication of community organizers working to actually bring change your neighborhood and solve the problems truly affecting the every day lives of constituents.

Don’t vote if you believe that a country can’t be changed by the people, don’t vote if you wish to just continue to complain about how there is no change and not voice your complaints through a platform that is actually required to listen. Don’t vote if you truly don’t care about the country you live in.

WE SAID THIS: You should also check out Don’t Date A Successful Arab Woman.