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May 9, 2013
It's Official - Black People Made History Out-Voting Whites in 2012 and Black Women Surpassed Everyone
Melanie L. Campbell speaking during a Black Women's Roundtable briefing at The White House
Washington, DC - Melanie L. Campbell, president and CEO of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (The National Coalition) and convener of Black Women's Roundtable issued the following statement in response to a U. S. Census Bureau report released yesterday finding that about two in three eligible blacks (66.2 percent) voted in the 2012 presidential election, higher than the 64.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites who did so. This marks the first time that blacks have voted at a higher rate than whites since the Census Bureau started publishing statistics on voting.
Campbell said, "Let me first say it's a great day in America for Black People - especially Black women. It is extremely gratifying to see Census data that reinforces what we already knew: despite rigorous systematic efforts to suppress our vote, Blacks voted at higher rates than whites in 2012. Black women outdistanced every demographic in America and made a difference in the outcome of the election.
"Given the enormous challenges facing our community, The National Coalition's Board of directors, members and affiliates are proud to have played an integral role in a historic turnout. Working in partnership with A. Philip Randolph Institute and other coalition members, our Black Women's Roundtable unified women in our communities to help us organize, educate, mobilize and protect the Black vote in 2012. Black women delivered in a powerful way.
"Fifty years after the historic March on Washington - when the Black vote was suppressed across the country - there is no better tribute to the leadership of A. Philip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Dorothy I. Height and other civil rights leaders.
"So, today we celebrate the power of the sister vote as we continue to organize and mobilize to push our elected officials to act in our best interest."
