I think your analysis is pretty good, however, you are missing something.

When Obama or John Lewis say, “Go Vote” to a minority crowd, they are saying “people died to bring this right to you we didn’t have 50 years ago.” And yes, black Americans DO have a problem with young voter turnout in urban areas, as well as widespread American population. I lived within walking distance of my polling place, located “in a black neighborhood.” Every election, we have some of lowest voter turnout compared to whiter areas who mostly like DRIVE to their polling places. In two separate cities, I lived within walking distance.

This is the kind of code-switching African Americans do among each other. A white person may hear the command and think “well lots of minorities can’t vote because of voter suppression.” But black America has as many voter turnout problems as the rest of America. We are a reflection of America. Older black Americans will exercise that right regardless, while younger black Americans are more pessimistic about the experience, especially if they live in a red state that’s been red for generations.

Older black Americans are more likely to vote because they remember fighting for that right and because they saw an actual tangible change in their lives. It’ll take some time for younger blacks to do the same. There is a very large divide between younger blacks with a college education and poorer working-class blacks that most whites either forget about or don’t want to acknowledge because they believe all black people are in the lower-class.

So when I’m telling my niece to go vote when she complains about Congress because we directly choose our Congressmembers, I’m recognizing her apathy and I’m telling her she should educate herself on the progress (she didn’t know we voted directly for Congress, for example)

and get more involved to change things if she doesn’t like it. We more politically-active black Americans recognize that apathy and we are encouraging our brothers and sisters to push through that apathy because we are more powerful together.