National Association of Social Workers

From the President

Voting Makes a Positive Difference

By Gary Bailey, MSW

In this election year, as the issues are debated, many of which relate to basic human rights, I feel strongly that it is our responsibility as professional social workers to mobilize both ourselves and others across the nation to participate in the coming election. For me, voting is more than just a political activity — it's a personal responsibility.

Although the 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were intended to provide African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities the right to vote, many states devised insidious methods to prevent them from doing so. Activities such as literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses were used to keep African Americans from voting. Others misinterpreted, in court, the amendments guaranteeing our right to vote and used the outcome to prevent us from taking advantage of this essential freedom.

So, when the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed, codifying federal protection that guaranteed all African Americans the vote, my family along with many others indeed celebrated. Before this, approximately 23 percent of African Americans in the U.S. were registered to vote. After 1965, the number of registered African American voters jumped significantly, to more than 60 percent. Currently, irregularities in voting in some state and local elections, including poll cleansing and disenfranchisement, are activities that NASW is opposed to, because these activities deny people the right to vote.

I was 10 years old in 1965 and remember clearly the day President Lyndon Johnson signed the act. In my family, voting has always been serious business. We have always cherished our right and responsibility as Americans to participate in our nation's electoral process. Year after year, my parents worked the polls, hosted meet-the-candidate events in our home and encouraged our friends and neighbors to vote in every city, state and federal election.

Now, I am urging all professional social workers and others to become involved and not sit out this election. We need to register people to vote and make sure they get to the polls on Nov. 2. In the future, we also need to run for local, state and federal office.

NASW PACE endorsed John Kerry for president, along with many other candidates for positions at every level. Our goal as social workers is not to tell people who to vote for, but simply to get people to the polls so their voices can be heard.

And because more people vote in presidential election years than at any other time, it's also our responsibility as politically conscious professionals to urge all people to vote in every election. It is our duty to educate everyone about the potential power of local elected officials to make positive changes in communities, particularly for those people most frequently left behind by our society.

Positive change is what social work is about. NASW's mission statement says that improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities is our ultimate professional goal. There are numerous ways for this to become a reality: working one-on-one with individuals, mobilizing our communities to participate in election processes and unifying our profession to better use our strengths in the coming decade.

With an exciting year ahead of us at NASW and an exciting election coming up in November, please join with me and professional social workers across the U.S. in "getting out the vote." Never has our advocacy, our energy and our dedication to social integrity been more critically needed than it is at this moment. Never has social work been in a better position to make a positive difference in the lives of all Americans.

So encourage your friends, neighbors, families, colleagues and clients to make their way to the polls on Nov. 2. Together, we can create a better world.

To contact Gary Bailey: president@naswdc.org

From September 2004 NASW News. © 2004 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.