Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 11-6-20

Page Four
Nearly 600,000 Cast Ballots During Early Voting Period
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Early Voting in Hillsbor- ough County began on Mon- day, October 19th and ended on Sunday, November 1st. During that two-week period, 596,072 residents visited an Early Vote Site or voted by mail.
The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections web- site showed that on Monday, November 2nd, 63.80% of Hillsborough County voters had cast their ballots.
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Supervisor of Elections website, there are 934,346 residents who are
registered to vote. Of those who participated in the elec- tion, 272,116 voted in person, and 323,958 mailed in their ballots.
Voter Breakdown
The website shows that 150,918 Democrats voted by mail and 98,166 voted at one of the Early Voting Sites.
According to the website, 92,803 Republicans voted by mail and 109,209 voted at one of the Early Voting Sites.
An additional 80,409 vot- ers not registered with either party voted by mail and 64,741 voters in the same party voted at one of the Early Voting locations.
Racism The Day After The 2020 Election Is Over
BY ROGER CALDWELL
When this article is pub- lished, it may be too early to declare a presidential winner in the race for the 2020 elec- tion. Or, maybe it is very easy to declare a winner because the Democrats or the Republicans have won by such a large ex- ceeding margin. It definitely matters, but systemic or insti- tutional racism will still be a major challenge with very few solutions, and policies after the election.
Everyone in the news media is talking about voter suppression and the intimida- tion of the election with many White supremacist organiza- tions and groups. In 2020, it would appear that these egre- gious activities would not take place after 100 years of an Ocoee Massacre in 1920.
The ironic thing about America in 2020, White su- premacist organizations are in- timidating Black and minorities around the country with guns at certain ballot lo- cations. The more things change in America, the more they stay the same.
On November 2, 1920, Election Day, a White mob at- tacked and killed 30 - 50 African Americans’ in Ocoee, Florida, because they had worked and registered to vote. “In Orange County, as well as the rest of Florida had been po- litically dominated by South- ern White Democrats, since the end of Reconstruction. But, in the weeks leading up to the presidential election of 1920,
African Americans throughout the South were registering to vote in record numbers. Dur- ing this period, the Ku Klux Klan was having a revival and warned the Black community that not a single African Amer- ican would be permitted to vote,” from Wikipedia Diction- ary.
On Election Day, African Americans were met with re- sistance, and some Blacks re- turned with shotguns. The Whites surrounded Julius “July” Perry’s home and he killed two of the deputized members of the mob. Sam Salisbury was a police chief in Orlando, who was injured in the attack on July Perry’s home, and reinforcements from the Ku Klux Klan and other whites in the surround- ing area were called in. This larger group burned down businesses and homes of the Black community in Ocoee Florida, and lynched Mr. Perry.
“After White residents ter- rorized all the Black residents to leave following the Mas- sacre, Ocoee would remain an all-White sundown town, a dangerous place for Black peo- ple after dark, until the late 1970s, and early 80s,” says re- porter Monivette Cordeiro of the Orlando Sentinel.
Systemic discrimination and racism that everyone in Florida acts as thou it does not exist, and no one wants to talk about it. When Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Florida walking down the street in 2012, by a neighbor-
hood watch volunteer, he was found innocent of all charges of murder.
The legacy of lynching is still a reality in 2020. When the police are able to kill a Black Man, George Floyd, and the community is watch- ing, something is fundamen- tally wrong with the system. When Breonna Taylor is killed by police in her Louisville home, and only one officer is charged with shoot- ing in another apartment, something is wrong.
While more African Amer- icans and people of color have been elected in Central Florida, and around the country, racism is still an issue. Orange County has elected its first Black mayor, Mayor Jerry Demings, and things are changing, but are things mov- ing too slow?
Black Lives Matter – Black Vote Matters – and your vote is your voice. But the questions in this election are - will the Black vote be suppressed, and what happens to racism after the election? There are more overt White supremacist groups, who are preparing for war, to take their country back.
Today, Ocoee looks like any suburban community outside of Orlando, and everyone is al- ways smiling, and wishing you a good day. But 50 years ago if you were Black, you were not allowed in the city after sun- down. Racism is still a reality in America, and a smile could still turn into a violent en- counter with White people with guns.
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2020