“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
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The election of Melanie Collette matters.
The County of Cape May, NJ was founded in 1685. Long governed by a Board of Chosen Freeholders (now County Commissioners), no Black American has ever been elected to the Board, until now.
On the evening of January 4th, 2024, important history was made as Melanie Collette, an accomplished woman of color with a long history of political involvement and public service in Cape May County, was sworn into the Board of County Commissioners. Melanie was a member of the Cape May County Chapter of the NAACP for many years and served as the local organization’s Political Director.
Melanie Collette enjoyed a fair and open process in seeking her party’s endorsement and in doing so advanced to become the first Black candidate to win election to the County Board. It seems this would be an occasion for progressive organizations to trumpet the success of their mission in a county that they have often claimed to be systemically racist. A county they claim blocks Black residents from political and economic opportunity.
Yet, few on the left have even publicly acknowledged Ms. Collette’s historic victory in November nor the monumental occasion of her swearing in.
Why the silence regarding historic progress that really matters?
Because the only thing that “matters” to the Left is blind allegiance to the approved narrative.
Melanie Collette has committed a cardinal sin against the Cult of the Woke. Melanie has dared to be…a Republican. Melanie has dared to campaign on the virtues of faith, family and patriotism. Melanie has dared to call for enforcement of the laws required to promote a civil society, rigorous standards in education and personal responsibility. Melanie has dared to live her life striving towards a country where people of every race are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Since 2019, Cape May County and its dark red, Republican electorate has elected their Legislative District’s first Black Assemblyman, Antwan McClellan and reelected Antwan by huge margins, two times. Melanie Collette’s election reaffirms the voters’ commitment to looking beyond skin color to the quality and qualifications of political candidates.
The rise of a growing cadre of free-thinking, Black Republican elected officials, committed to our founding principles and striving towards a colorblind society, erodes the Left’s historic dominance of the Black vote. Therefore, they must turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to any progress on racial equality that threatens their power, their control, their precious narrative.
When speaking the truth threatens the powerful. Silence becomes the only thing that matters.
