When I registered to vote for the first time, I registered as a Republican. Not the typical choice for an African American. At the time, I didn’t understand why it was so uncommon. Most of the Black people I knew were church going people. So I didn’t understand why they didn’t see the importance of voting for the traditional family and against abortion. The historical paths of the Democratic and Republican parties play a huge part in that. The video below explains it better than I ever could.

It still seemed worth being something of an oddity to be on the side of pro-life and pro-family. Until this year. What should have been obvious became glaringly so this year.

I’ve said that I have never felt more Black as I have this year. The first event that startled me out of my slumber was the protests in the wake of the George Floyd. It wasn’t the death which was awful to watch. It was the response. Every person that justified his death was an assault on my sense of justice. Every person who refused to even say Black lives matter was a personal betrayal. If you can’t say Black lives matter for any reason, I felt you were standing with those who didn’t think it was true. And it hurt. That’s not why I left the GOP.

President Trump is also not the reason I left the Republican party. Trump only represented for me a symptom of a larger problem. Just like the death of George Floyd was only a symptom. So many things bothered me about his election. I heard so many viable Republican candidates in 2016. I heard them masterfully state why Trump would be an awful president. Then one by one, I saw them endorse him. Not because he was best for America, but because he could win. I felt that no one endorsing him had any integrity and didn’t deserve to be president either.

Those hands still grasping for power in a second term for Trump have further divided America. Please don’t take my words as a vote of the Democratic party. I’ll get to that in a bit. Rumors of the big steal started before the first vote was cast. I love a good conspiracy. The big conspiracy would have to have included the poll workers to the clerks of court to the secretaries of state to the courts (of numerous states) to the Supreme Court (including many Republicans and Trump appointees). People in whose best interest would be to back the conspiracy did not. People who heard evidence the American people never will, did not find it compelling. Like a jury, looking at the available evidence, I couldn’t get behind it either.

The Republican Party is the party of White supremacists, White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis. I have not said that all Republicans are a part of these hate groups. These people feel comfortable in the Republican Party. Should I, as a Black person, feel comfortable in a party where White supremacists, White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis feel comfortable. It should have been glaringly obvious that I shouldn’t. This is why I left the Republican party. Furthermore, I don’t think any person should be comfortable in a party that these people call home. This should have seemed a no-brainer. It shows how much we’re willing to overlook for our pet issues. Until the Republican Party unequivocally denounces these hate group and declare that they have no place in the Republican party, each of us should reconsider as I have if this is a party we can continue to be a part of.

I know no one cares that I left the GOP. There are no tears in the upper echelons of the party. Many of you who bothered to read this far probably don’t care either. The point of this post is that now is the time to think about who we want to stand with. Many people reading this don’t agree entirely with either major party. Many of you have seen the machinations of both parties who are largely concerned only with remaining in power. We’ve been told that a vote against a major party or for a lesser know party is a vote for the greater evil. It’s just not true. We have four years to research and support and advocate for a party that more closely aligns with our values. I assure you our young adults are doing just that. Find a conservative party. Find an environmental party. Make the current two parties have to earn our vote. Let’s remind the politicians that “we the people” have the power.