It was, I thought, a guaranteed win. Former mayor Yvonne Johnson was the first black mayor in the city and we as a nation had just elected the first black president. Surely the city would pull out another win, right?

Unfortunately I, along with many others, thought incorrectly. Not only did the mayor not win, but she also lost by a margin so small, one can only wonder what happened. That’s when everything became A&T’s fault. “Aggies should have” done this, “A&T could have” done that, or “this is why black students” don’t know this. WAKE UP. This loss is not our fault. If anyone, it was the mayor herself who did her in.

Here is what I mean; I have not personally seen the mayor set foot on campus in the last two years other than for the candidate forums that were held a few weeks ago. If it was not a major event with other politicians, she wasn’t there. Don’t believe me? Let’s look back together.

Convocation-nope. Coronation-nada. Opening ceremony for freshman-no mayor. ANY of our home football games-still no mayor. Pep rallies, campus debates, forums, or safety programs-no, no, no, and no. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think she used a different campaign sign. Hey, wait a minute. That’s it she didn’t actively campaign!

It’s not A&T’s fault Yvonne Johnson lost because she didn’t actively seek the votes A&T would have undoubtedly given her. I think that she, along with so many others, felt that she had already secured “the black vote” and didn’t need to do much of anything. Which would explain why she only placed one ad in the paper this year.

Now I got up on Election Day, went to my new polling place, voted and came to campus. In fact, I missed part of a test just so that I could vote (sorry Dr. Reyes) because I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to do it later. However, I didn’t consider the fact that the people who voted for the mayor previously had already graduated.

I didn’t think about the 2000 or 3000 new faces on campus that really didn’t know who Yvonne Johnson is. It didn’t really dawn on me that she wasn’t at the Pep Rally, where she could have easily found the 955 votes she would have needed to win out of a crowd of 7000.

Too often, politicians undervalue the power of the vote of black people. And too often black people as a whole undervalue themselves. Only 18 percent of the entire city of Greensboro voted last week. Less than 50 people actually voted in the Memorial Student Union polling place. That’s including the tens of thousands of people who live around campus, and the few thousand students, that could vote there.

In a county of over 449,000 people, only 80,000 actually voted. That, ladies and gentlemen, is pitiful. If you are going to blame anyone for this loss Greensboro, blame yourself.

Is it important that students are politically aware? Absolutely. But realistically, many students who just voted in the elections of the President haven’t yet re-registered in their new polling areas and many still like to vote at home. That’s the same at any college. It pisses me off to the utmost when people make A&T the cause of everything.

Did A&T want Yvonne Johnson to win? Absolutely. But that’s not what happened. Now let’s try to make the best of a really…special situation.  

• Dexter Mullins