A New Black Power

"We are a racial minority in a country where racism is a fact of life, a country that was founded on economic and imperialist racism. Taking this into account and adding it to the fact that our issues are regularly put on a back burner, I believe that it is not out of order to send out a call for the formation of an African-American interest group, or maybe a political unit, that would bring our issues, and others, to the forefront of American political discourse." -- Walter Mosley, A New Black Power

I watched the State of Black America convened by Tavis Smiley in Houston this past February, and was impressed by the number of people who were in attendance eager to acquire knowledge and tools to deal with complex issues that plague the black community. However, I was somewhat disappointed that there was no real discussion about political strategy or leveraging the “black vote.” Granted, the format didn’t really allow for in-depth discussion given that the number of panelists required everyone to speak in sound-bites, but nevertheless I was surprised that no one broached the subject because it has been an ongoing source of frustration for African Americans for some time now as articulated by Mosley:

"Most black Americans have been Democrats for at least the fifty-three years that I've been alive. What have the Democrats done for us in all that time? We have the lowest average income of any large racial group in the nation. We're incarcerated at an alarmingly high rate. We are still segregated and profiled, and have a very low representation at the top echelons of the Democratic Party. We are the stalwarts, the bulwark, the Old Faithful of the Democrats, and yet they have not made our issues a high priority in a very long time.

Why should we be second-class members in the most important political activities of our lives? Why shouldn't the party we belong to think that our problems are the most important in this land?"

It’s infuriating to me how some so-called liberals smugly declare that black people have nowhere else to go when they are confronted with the slightest hint of any disaffection for the Democratic Party. They totally misread us as pointed out by The Black Commentator in an article about the Sharpton presidential campaign:

"Black loyalty to Democratic Party structures has been misinterpreted as inertia--a racist conclusion that implies laziness of thought and action. This false reading of African American motives and intelligence has led whites in the Party--and some Black operatives--to miscalculate the cumulative effects of the savage compromises that have been foisted on Black Democrats since Jimmy Carter's "New South" term in the White House. Assuming that Blacks will "stay" simply because they have nowhere else to "go," national Democrats refuse to understand that Rev. Al Sharpton's support derives from deep anger and heartfelt disappointment, not with Trent Lott and the White Man's Party, but with them. Sharpton is dismissed as a mere showman, in effect relegating Black voters to the status of an Apollo Theater crowd on amateur night. The expectation appears to be that Sharpton and his supporters will make a lot of noise, attain emotional release, and return meekly to the fold.

The Democratic Party and its consultants grossly underestimate Black capacity for decisive action, ignoring the sea changes that have swept over the Black body politic in the past."

Indeed, some black people believe that the primary victory of Cardin over Mfume in the Maryland senate race is a direct result of the party abandoning Mfume:

"A lot of Black professionals feel like we've supported the Democratic Party and they've given us nothing in return," said Gary Stern, a Baltimore attorney. Stern, who spoke to the AFRO at the Mfume Campaign's after-elections gathering at the Hippodrome, said the Democratic Party, while willing to accept the Black vote, has not been equally willing to support African Americans running for top positions in the state. Stern particularly alluded to the party's failure to fully support Mfume, who was the first person to announce his candidacy for the Senate seat left open when longtime Maryland Sen. Paul Sarbanes, decided to step down.

"There is resentment in the Black community about how the Democratic Party treated Kweisi, they treated him second class. They should have come out as soon as he announced he was running and said, 'This is our man, we are supporting him,'" Stern said and added, "When you're riding the bus it's fine but when we want to drive the bus, they send us to the back."

Although the resentment is real in Maryland and across the United States, it’s not bad enough to vote for republicans. Folks will simply stay home, according to Matthew Crenson, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University:

"Nationally, however, despite any dissatisfaction they may feel, African Americans will likely not make a mass migration towards GOP candidates, Crenson said. Instead, they may simply fail to appear at the polls.

"The African American vote nationally has been taken for granted by the Democratic Party. But, the Republican Party has moved so far right that it would take African Americans with very rare attitudes to desert the Democratic Party," he said. "Black voters dissatisfied with the Democratic Party really have no way to go so they will simply drop out. I think it says that the Democratic Party is going to have to work hard this time to get the African American vote."

Robert C. Smith, a political science professor at San Francisco State University, said that while the Democratic Party has been increasingly inclusive of African Americans among its leadership ranks, the hovering cloud of dissatisfaction and disillusionment among Blacks may stem from the lack of any real policies to change their everyday lives."

I don’t know what’s going to happen in November 2006, but what I do know is that black people will have to start engaging in the political process in a way that hasn’t been done since the 50’s and 60’s or the tears shed and anger expressed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will be little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. The old guard of leadership has to make room for young people and toss aside antiquated notions of who a leader should be and how they should look and whether or not they’re acceptable to the mainstream. Harry Belafonte talks about the mask:

"…many black people still live out…the facade of the minstrel. We wear a mask. Much of what we say and what we do is done in metaphor, and done with subtext and other meaning, because we have not had the best of experiences when you go straight to the heart of the problems in this country, because this nation becomes so punitive when it hears the truth about us."

I say it’s high time for that mask to come off.

Peace.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

| | | | |