One of the most vicious civil wars in human history are being fought with little to no bloodshed, and has reached a crescendo over the past 40+ years. This is the best way to describe the continual struggle between the Black man and woman.

In light of the well-publicized women’s march on Washington that occurred almost immediately after the presidential inauguration, it’s no secret that some of the most ardent supporters of this movement were Black women. It was quite an easy feat to gather legions of disgruntled Black women across the United States after the highly-heralded Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, because she represented what many Black women have deemed to be a symbol of a renegade woman who goes toe-to-toe with the “old boys’ club” — the boogeyman of an establishment better known as patriarchy here in the States.

The fanfare that Clinton received during this most recent presidential race from Sisters is merely a byproduct of the axe that they’ve had to grind with Black men for decades now. In many (not all) schools of thought throughout Black female society, the long-running narrative is that Black men have only served to be the bane of their existence, acting as this proverbial monster who breathes fire under the guise of harsh words for Black women, and whose immense stature represents a mechanism of immovable oppression that bans them from any upwardly mobile progress.

However, much evidence exists that proves otherwise. In a story that was featured on Black Enterprise last year, Black female business ownership has grown exponentially more than many other groups of people who own businesses. Sisters also sit among the most educated demographic in this country. To further elaborate on the topic at hand, the very term “patriarchy” was originally intended to define the man’s traditional role in the familial construct. It was not meant to be used as a term to be categorized with other words, such as white supremacy, racism, ageism, etc.

Although the aforementioned term served a neutral purpose to merely describe a gender role, it has been taken out of context, and has been misconstrued to portray men–in this case Black men–to be the oppressors of their women. In Black society, nothing could be further from the truth. For the sake of this topic, “patriarchy” as it is referenced by some women in today’s time could very well be used to describe the longstanding devices of neglect and oppression that white supremacist males have not only used against their women (look up the witch hunts of the Middle Ages, or King James’s disdain for women), but to all people on a global scale. This very reference of ‘oppressive patriarchy’ by Black women should be left with women in other racial groups, because it is clearly not a Black female plight.

With the large number of households led by Black women with no man in sight, key supervisory roles in corporate America occupied by Black women, and the super influential mainstream media’s hand in ensuring that the Black man is virtually useless in this society, we’d be hard pressed to conclude that the Black man has the wherewithal to keep his woman down in this country.

Black women are our mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and our best friends…our slaves and stepping stools they are not.

It’s Presidential election season, and like clockwork, the Democratic candidates are pandering for the Black vote with the same empty rhetoric that we hear every four years.

Hillary Clinton is on the campaign trail doing the latest negro dances like the Whip and the Nae Nae. And Bernie Sanders is surrounding himself with groups of Black people without actually committing to doing anything specific for Black Americans.

It’s no secret that many Black Americans are disheartened by president Barack Obama’s hateful neglect of the issues plaguing Black society. Consequently, this has cause many Black people to be disheartened by the election process in general.

History has shown, when people are not interested in participating in the election process, this is a sign of potential rebellion. Centuries ago in Europe, rulers were either born into political positions or appointed by small organizations into rulership. The general public did not elect the kings and queens. And whenever the general public became dissatisfied with their rulers, they simply rebelled. And oftentimes, these rebellions were violent.

When the United States was formed, the power elite wanted to prevent the “storming of the castle” mindset that could potentially overthrow the appointed leadership. So the general public was allowed to participate in an election process to give the impression that the popular vote elected a President into leadership.

So now, when people became dissatisfied with their leadership, they were now told that they shouldn’t be too upset because they were the ones who chose the leaders. The reality is, Presidents are selected by the Electoral College, and not by the popular vote. But it is still imperative for the general public to participate in the process, so they will not rebel against the people put into office.

In 2008 and 2012, President Obama received around 90% of the Black vote. And since he has been in office, there has been a government backed, and white supremacy fueled wave of violence and terror reaped upon Black Americans that has captured the world’s attention. And Obama, as well as the other Democrats and Republicans, have continued the political tradition of benign neglect when it comes to addressing the desperate needs of Black society.

Now its election time. The GOP frontrunner Donald Trump-whose extreme rhetoric has galvanized the white supremacist crowd- is being heavily promoted by media to scare Black voters into participating in the elections. Now Black voters feel that they have to make a choice between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders: two candidates who have not committed to actually doing anything specific for Black people. And Black people feel that they have to vote for the lesser of two evils because they are afraid of what will happen if Trump got into office.

The reality is, Black people should not vote for any of these Democratic or Republican frontrunners. If we are honest with ourselves,exactly how much worse would it be for Black society if Trump was elected? We have been programed into believing that the Democrats have treated Black society better than the Republicans. And both parties are dominated by white supremacy, and they have both maintained systematic white supremacy over Black people collectively.

When Bill Clinton was in the White House, Bill Clinton-with the full support and backing of Hillary, implemented some of the worst crime laws that targeted Black people and created a wave of extreme mass incarceration that is still plaguing Black Americans today. Barack Obama has sat in the White House and watched unarmed Black men, women, and children get  slaughtered by race soldiers who have infiltrated law enforcement. And not only has he not lifted a finger to do anything to thwart or address this, he called Black people “thugs”, for reacting to this wave of racial violence out of desperation and abandonment.

Black people need to understand that the Republicans and the Democrats and two faces on the same coin. Lets not forget:

*Ferguson prosecutor Bob McCulloch who allowed Mike brown to be killed with impunity was a Democrat

*Ohio prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty who allowed 12 year old Melanoid child Tamir Rice to be killed with impunity was a Democrat

*Chicago prosecutor Anita Alvarez, who has repeatedly protected race soldiers who kill Black people with impunity, was a Democrat

With all of these racial injustices under the watch of the Democrats, Black people still feel that there should be this blind allegiance to whatever Democratic candidate thats pushed in front of us.

And I say its time we say no..

In this 2016 presidential election, Black people should not vote at all. Because Black people are the only group of people who will give away their vote without requiring anything in return. Black people simply vote out of “tradition”. This is why candidates like Bernie Sanders will surround himself Black Civil Rights figures. because when this generation of Black people see Sanders with a group of people who “fought for the right to vote”, on a subconscious level, many of us feel an obligation to carry on this tradition.

But we need to understand when certain traditions are no longer practical and they actually work against us. Black people have been systematically mistreated in this country with the full backing and support of the government, non-stop for centuries. We have been enslaved, Jim Crowed, lynched, impoverished, miseducated, poisoned, mass incarcerated, etc, based on race. And these actions have been refined so that they are still carried out in more covert ways today. And Black people need resources specifically allocated towards us, to correct these white supremacist actions that have placed us in this position collectively. And voting for people who will not do anything to address these issues is complete insanity.

Hillary Clinton and her husband placed masses of Black men in the new slave plantations, which is the prison industrial complex. Many people don’t know that it is mandatory for prisoners to work in federal prisons. And the products created from this prison slave labor is sold on the open market. This is no different from antebellum slavery that occurred on the Southern plantations. So many Black people are weary about supporting Hilary in the elections.

But many Black people are gravitating toward Bernie Sanders. Yet when Sanders is asked about reparations, he has repeatedly shot that idea down. He has claimed that “reparations would be divisive”.  Yet other specific groups have received monetary and tangible resources from the government.

*It wasn’t “divisive” when Japanese Americans received reparations from being placed in internment camps in the US

*It wasn’t “divisive” when Jewish families got payments for the holocaust from the US

*It’s not “divisive” when Native American groups get billions of dollars in money and resources from the US

*It’s not “divisive” when Hispanic and gay groups are addressed and their specific needs are being met

Yet, when Black people who have been specifically disenfranchised, and disempowered by racially based laws and policies in every area of activity in our society, ask for the damage from these policies to be corrected, we are told that would be “divisive”.

This is why Black people should not vote for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. And obviously we should not vote for Trump. What we should do is leverage our vote by withholding our vote. If no candidate will commit to doing something specifically for Black people, then we simply should not vote for them. If Black people choose to vote, they should vote independent. Or Black people should vote in their local election where the popular vote has more of an impact.

Bernie Sanders has a tendency of using the “I’m going to help everybody, and Black people are included in that” type of rhetoric. That is not good enough.This is a trick bag that Black people were put in starting in the 1960’s with the whole “minority”  label. official pretend to  do things for Black people by giving things to “minorities”. But minority is such a broad term, Black people are never given the proper resources thats needed because the resources are given to “minorities” like  white women, Asians, white Hispanics, white gays, white handicap,etc, first.

Bernie Sanders is currently trying to appeal to the Black population by stating how he “marched with Dr. Martin Luther King”.  The thing is, Dr. King specifically stated he wanted reparations for Black Americans because we deserved it. So if Sanders is going to invoke the name of Dr. King yet dismiss Dr. King’s wishes for Black people, is disrespectful. And if Sanders is not willing to commit to allocating resources specifically to Black people-who deserve resources more than any group, then he should not get the Black vote.

As famed economist Dr. Claud Anderson has stated, Black people do not need anymore rights..We need resources. And if Black people support the Don’t Vote Campaign (by using the hashtag #dontvote) we can withhold our vote and leverage it to make politicians work for our support.

Because supporting people without requiring anything in return is the epitome of the slave mentality.

Tariq Nasheed is a New York Times Best-Selling author and critically acclaimed filmmaker. Tariq produced the hit documentary series Hidden Colors ( www.hiddencolorsfilm.com ) Follow Tariq on twitter @tariqnasheed