Sunday Read: Women of color may decide the 2020 presidential outcome

There's probably nothing more frightening to a Trump-supporting white nationalist than a woman of color -- specifically, a woman of color asserting herself.
A recent study demonstrates that women of color voters are overwhelmingly concerned about the state of the country (75%) and believed that the stakes were too high not to vote in the 2018 election (88%). Importantly, a majority of women of color are paying close attention to the actions of their elected officials and want to see progress made on the issues they care about – including access to clean water, access to affordable health care, and ending racial discrimination.

The fact that  Donald Trump attacked the four freshman congresswomen known as The Squad, made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., four women of color, is no accident.

Instead of apologizing for his racist taunts, Trump doubled down as his supporters rallied to his call to send them back where they came from even though they are all US citizens, three of whom were born in this country.

It's apparent that the Trump-controlled GOP has chosen to ignore women of color despite  the presence of Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao in Trump's Cabinet, as Mark Short, Vice President Pence's Chief of Staff, pointed out as evidence of Trump's priority of diversity.

Black women have long been acknowledged as one of the most loyal and powerful voting blocs in the country, usually voting for Democrats. But women from other minority groups, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders, are just as influential and the Republicans and Democrats should not ignore them or take them for granted.

New  polling data demonstrates the growing power of Black, Latina, Asian American and Pacific Islander women voters. The research follows the 2018 midterm election where women of color voted at historic levels and helped vote in the most diverse Congress ever inculding a record number of women.

The study was commissioned by Intersections of Our Lives, a collaborative of three Reproductive Justice organizations: National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health; In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda; and National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.

“We thought it was critical to understand what motivated this powerful voting bloc to turn out and why,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. “What we found is that there is an intersectionality to our beliefs and that our collective experiences motivate us to demand that our elected officials act now for justice and equity for our communities.”

Conducted in English, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, and Vietnamese — the most-spoken languages in the country — the poll found that the 10 issues that respondents believe are most important for Congress to address include: 

• Ending racial/ethnic/cultural discrimination (62%)
• Ensuring people with pre-existing conditions can still access health insurance (62 %)
• Ensuring access to clean water (62%)
• Ensuring everyone has access to affordable health care (60%)
• 84% of women of color voters believe candidates should support women making their own decisions about their reproductive health.
• 62%of women of color voters say they will be watching their elected officials in Congress more closely compared to previous elections.Last Spring, the leaders of the three organizations met with lawmakers and their staff members in D.C. to advocate for policies that shatter the road blocks that impact the lives of women of color, who today number 63 million.

“We’ve begun briefing congressional offices about the findings in the report and the issues women of color want to see progress on,” said Choimorrow. “Specifically, Intersections of our Lives is focused on advocating for policies that ensure women can continue to have abortion access and affordability; advance sexual and reproductive health equity; end violence against women of color; protect Immigrant rights and health; ensure economic and environmental justice for women of color; and expand the right to vote to ensure women of color can have their say in our democracy.”

There are 63 million women of color living in the US today and over the next four decades the community is expected to almost double. This growing population is becoming an increasingly strong voice in the electorate, with post-election data demonstrating women of color voting at higher rates in the 2018 election than in past midterm elections. 

The key findings from the nationwide poll include:

What Motivated Women of Color to Vote

• 88% of women of color voters said the stakes in the 2018 midterm election were too high not to vote.
• 75% expressed serious concerns about the trajectory of the country, noting they were angry, disgusted, scared, sad or nervous.
• 74% of women of color voters doubt that the country will be safe for the next generation, with Black women having the strongest concerns.

Women of Color Were Concerned Their Vote Didn’t Count 

• 23% of women of color voters do not think their vote was counted accurately.
• 33% of women of color voters experienced an issue voting, such as being asked to show an ID to an election official.

How Women of Color Voted and What They Thought About the Candidates

• Three-quarters of women of color voters supported the Democratic candidates in statewide and federal races.
• One-in-five women of color voters supported Republican candidates in statewide and federal races.
• Women of color said that they voted for candidates because they felt a need for change and because the candidates reflected their values.
• 37% of women of color who voted for a Democratic member of Congress said their vote represented a need for change.
• 28% of women of color who voted for a Republican member of Congress did so to reflect their values.
• 74% of the women of color who voted for Democrats said Democratic candidates earned their vote. They did not vote for the Democrat as a reaction to or a rejection of the alternative.
• 71% of women of color voters felt satisfied with the candidates they had to choose from in the 2018 election. Yet they would prefer to see more women of color candidates and candidates acknowledging the issues they care about.

Although the poll is intended to inform elected leaders, the results are also valuable to funders of organizations that work with women, said Choimorrow. 

“This is really a way to speak out and be visible about how we as women of color are leading in terms of voter engagement and the role we’re playing in changing the course of this country, albeit we’re still smaller in numbers, but trajectorially we’re not going to stay that way. And we really believe that this is the moment to invest in women of color leadership,” said Choimorrow. 

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