January 6 was a big day for Georgia, as it was the first time that they had ever elected a black senator. His name is Reverend Raphael Warnock, a pastor and politician from Savannah who beat incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a runoff
-- Polly van de water, 6th grade
January 6 was a big day for Georgia, as it was the first time that they had ever elected a black senator. His name is Reverend Raphael Warnock, a pastor and politician from Savannah who beat incumbent Kelly Loeffler in a runoff. Warnock’s win came from the special election held after November's 2020 presidential election, where Georgia also voted democratically.
In Georgia, there are different rules around the election than in other states. If neither candidate has more than 50% of the votes then they will go to a run off. Because of this, the state held a special election for the senate and got the final results in January. Due to Trump’s claims that the election was stolen, more people voted for the Democrats in the runoff election than the original election. This was credited to the Democrats being frustrated by Trump’s lies and wanting to vote, and Republicans not trusting the election and voting less.
This was not only a big win for Georgia, but also it made it so the Senate had a perfect split of 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, letting Vice President Kamala Harris have the tie-breaking vote.
With the Democrats having control of the Senate, Warnock is planning to try to accomplish many things while in office. Some of Warnock’s priorities in office include voting rights, education, health care, and helping to get the pandemic under control. One of Warnock’s first priorities is helping pass legislation for $2000 stimulus checks to help with pandemic relief. But his main priority is to improve voting rights because, especially in Georgia, there has been a lot of voter suppression of black people since the Civil War.
The Senate has the power to make some of Warnonk’s ideas into legislation and with these ideas the Senate could make a big difference in voting rights not only in Georgia but around the country. For example, Warnock wants to make Election Day a national holiday so more people will have more time to vote on Election Day, they won’t have to work or take their kids to school. According to Warnock for Georgia, he has helped register hundreds of thousands of voters as the former Chair of the New Georgia Project. In the Senate, Reverend Warnock pledges to fight to ensure that every eligible voter can participate in our democracy under the American promise of “one person, one vote.”
As we all know about two weeks ago, a group of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Still, many of them came out unharmed and untouched. Whereas back in 2017, a group of peaceful protesters including Warnock were arrested as they protested the elimination of Obamacare and budget cuts proposed by Donald Trump. Now, when Warnock is welcomed into the capitol one of the things he is planning is to improve healthcare which is what he was protesting for in 2017.
Georgia has a long history of paying taxes to help with other states' healthcare while not having good healthcare for themselves, according to Warnock's campaign website, because they declined to expand Medicaid, healthcare for low-income people, only for political reasons.
Although Warnock is the first black senator for Georgia, the first black senator ever elected was Hiram Rhodes Revels, elected more than 150 years ago in Mississippi. In the 1800’s, unlike today, the Republicans were more likely to support rights for African Americans, led by Republican President Abraham Lincoln who signed the Emancipation Proclamation eliminating slavery. Unfortunately, due to large numbers of people thinking that black people being allowed to vote took power away from them, as said in an article by The New York Times, southern white people took away voting rights for most black people in the south. Ways they enforced this included literacy tests, poll taxes and using violence and intimidation. Black people only got their right to vote protected in 1964 due to the Voting Rights Act, and so, after the 1870s, the next black senator didn’t take power until 1967. Raphael Warnock is still only the 11th black senator to serve.
Because Georgia has traditionally been a right-leaning state, no one was expecting Warnock to be elected when he started his campaign. He has an unusual background for a senator. When he was a child living in Savannah, Georgia with his 11 brothers and sisters, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. He started this by being the youngest pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same church that Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr. had been pastors at, years before.
Churches have played a big role in African American history in fighting for justice. This has dated back to the time of slavery, when one of the only professions you could have as an African American was being a pastor. This was very important for many enslaved people, and Warnock wants to remember that. As a pastor, he has worked hard to ensure justice for everyone. In the election, Kelly Loeffler, Warnock’s opponent, tried using this fact against him. She accused him of having crazy and dangerous ideas because he has been fighting for racial justice. Other black pastors in his community were very offended by this because fighting for racial justice is an important thing for them and their work.
On the night that Warnock won the election, he said “Weeping may endure for a night,” quoting a popular psalm among Black churchgoers, “but joy cometh in the morning.” This quote shows that even if things are difficult, you should acknowledge that things can get better. President Biden used the same quote in his inauguration speech.
In Georgia, there are different rules around the election than in other states. If neither candidate has more than 50% of the votes then they will go to a run off. Because of this, the state held a special election for the senate and got the final results in January. Due to Trump’s claims that the election was stolen, more people voted for the Democrats in the runoff election than the original election. This was credited to the Democrats being frustrated by Trump’s lies and wanting to vote, and Republicans not trusting the election and voting less.
This was not only a big win for Georgia, but also it made it so the Senate had a perfect split of 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, letting Vice President Kamala Harris have the tie-breaking vote.
With the Democrats having control of the Senate, Warnock is planning to try to accomplish many things while in office. Some of Warnock’s priorities in office include voting rights, education, health care, and helping to get the pandemic under control. One of Warnock’s first priorities is helping pass legislation for $2000 stimulus checks to help with pandemic relief. But his main priority is to improve voting rights because, especially in Georgia, there has been a lot of voter suppression of black people since the Civil War.
The Senate has the power to make some of Warnonk’s ideas into legislation and with these ideas the Senate could make a big difference in voting rights not only in Georgia but around the country. For example, Warnock wants to make Election Day a national holiday so more people will have more time to vote on Election Day, they won’t have to work or take their kids to school. According to Warnock for Georgia, he has helped register hundreds of thousands of voters as the former Chair of the New Georgia Project. In the Senate, Reverend Warnock pledges to fight to ensure that every eligible voter can participate in our democracy under the American promise of “one person, one vote.”
As we all know about two weeks ago, a group of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Still, many of them came out unharmed and untouched. Whereas back in 2017, a group of peaceful protesters including Warnock were arrested as they protested the elimination of Obamacare and budget cuts proposed by Donald Trump. Now, when Warnock is welcomed into the capitol one of the things he is planning is to improve healthcare which is what he was protesting for in 2017.
Georgia has a long history of paying taxes to help with other states' healthcare while not having good healthcare for themselves, according to Warnock's campaign website, because they declined to expand Medicaid, healthcare for low-income people, only for political reasons.
Although Warnock is the first black senator for Georgia, the first black senator ever elected was Hiram Rhodes Revels, elected more than 150 years ago in Mississippi. In the 1800’s, unlike today, the Republicans were more likely to support rights for African Americans, led by Republican President Abraham Lincoln who signed the Emancipation Proclamation eliminating slavery. Unfortunately, due to large numbers of people thinking that black people being allowed to vote took power away from them, as said in an article by The New York Times, southern white people took away voting rights for most black people in the south. Ways they enforced this included literacy tests, poll taxes and using violence and intimidation. Black people only got their right to vote protected in 1964 due to the Voting Rights Act, and so, after the 1870s, the next black senator didn’t take power until 1967. Raphael Warnock is still only the 11th black senator to serve.
Because Georgia has traditionally been a right-leaning state, no one was expecting Warnock to be elected when he started his campaign. He has an unusual background for a senator. When he was a child living in Savannah, Georgia with his 11 brothers and sisters, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. He started this by being the youngest pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same church that Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr. had been pastors at, years before.
Churches have played a big role in African American history in fighting for justice. This has dated back to the time of slavery, when one of the only professions you could have as an African American was being a pastor. This was very important for many enslaved people, and Warnock wants to remember that. As a pastor, he has worked hard to ensure justice for everyone. In the election, Kelly Loeffler, Warnock’s opponent, tried using this fact against him. She accused him of having crazy and dangerous ideas because he has been fighting for racial justice. Other black pastors in his community were very offended by this because fighting for racial justice is an important thing for them and their work.
On the night that Warnock won the election, he said “Weeping may endure for a night,” quoting a popular psalm among Black churchgoers, “but joy cometh in the morning.” This quote shows that even if things are difficult, you should acknowledge that things can get better. President Biden used the same quote in his inauguration speech.