Empty Threats: A History
Still taking the black vote for granted after all these years.
May 12, 2008--If Sen. Hillary Clinton somehow manages to wrest the nomination from Sen. Barack Obama, black voters, we are being told, are likely to sit at home or vote Republican.
But haven't we heard these types of threats before? Black Democrats have been warning for decades that their party will be in trouble if they keep taking the black vote for granted in the general election. Still others have warned that Republicans could steal a large number of black votes as a result. Based on recent history, black Democrats will huff and puff, then... stand in line to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, hustle around the country and exhort blacks to vote.
Let's take a trip down memory lane:
ELECTION, 1976
At a black political strategy meeting held in Charlotte, N.C., blacks lamented that Democrats take the black vote for granted while Republicans largely ignore it.
--The New York Times, May 8, 1976
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., criticized Democrats for taking the black vote for granted and Republicans for ignoring poor and black Americans.
--The New York Times, August 15, 1976
Final 1976 tally
Jimmy Carter, Democrat, 85 percent of the black vote (election winner)
Gerald Ford, Republican, 15 percent of the black vote.
ELECTION, 1980
[Rep. John] Conyers D-Mich. said it is obvious that [Sen. Edward ]Kennedy enjoys widespread support among rank-and-file black Democrats. "The defections in the Carter camp grow daily," he said, adding that it would be a mistake to take the black vote for granted.
Source: The Associated Press, Oct 31, 1979
Jesse Jackson said President Carter should not take the black vote for granted in the 1980 election and that the possibility of black support for GOP candidate Ronald Reagan should not be dismissed out of hand. "His bark is greater than his bite, judging from what he did in California," Jackson said of Reagan. "I do not want to reduce our options." He added that Reagan's choice of George Bush as his running mate shows some flexibility. "The idea that blacks won't vote for a Republican is inaccurate," Jackson said, citing black support of Sen. Charles Percy, R-Ill., and former Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass.
Source: The Associated Press, July 20, 1980
Maudine R. Cooper, the Urban League's vice president for Washington operations, echoed Jackson's warning: "We cannot be wed to any party or candidate."
Source: The Washington Post, August 9, 1980
Final 1980 tally:
Democrat Jimmy Carter—86 percent of the black vote
Republican Ronald Reagan—12 percent (election winner)
ELECTION 1984
"A further objective of Mr. Jackson's campaign was to serve notice that white Democrats should not take black votes for granted and that Republicans could not afford to write them off entirely."
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Empty Threats: A History
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View All Comments »EarthTone at 06/10/2008 9:22:27 AM
Comment:
[1] I am serially amused by the refrain from Republicans/conservatives that "we mustn't forget it was Republican Abraham Lincoln who freed them from slavery." It is hilarious that they need to look back to events that occurred over a hundred years ago to justify why we should vote for Republicans today. I guess a bad argument is better than no argument at all.
[2] The NAACP does have some value. Every 4 years, they produce the Presidential Candidates Civil Rights Questionnaire, which highlights the presidential candidates??? positions on civil rights and black advancement issues.
It's here: http://www.naacp.org/news/press/2008-02-01/index.htm
NOTE: Clinton and Obama responded to the Questionnaire; McCain dd not.
[3] The sad truth is this: the Republican Party has a Southern Strategy which uses racial polarization to get the votes of the white majority in the southern states. This was an explicit policy in the 60s and 70s, and it is an implicit policy now.
As long as the GOP is willing to use racial division to get white votes, I see no reason to vote for them, period.
I disagree with the thesis that Democrats take the black vote for granted. But at least, the Democratic Party wants my vote. Meanwhile, the GOP has cruelly calculated how to use fear of blacks to get white votes.
That makes this AA's voting decision quite easy to make.
EarthTone at 06/10/2008 9:20:55 AM
Comment:
[1] I am serially amused by the refrain from Republicans/conservatives that "we mustn't forget it was Republican Abraham Lincoln who freed them from slavery." It is hilarious that they need to look back to events that occurred over a hundred years ago to justify why we should vote for Republicans today. I guess a bad argument is better than no argument at all.
[2] The NAACP does have some value. Every 4 years, they produce the Presidential Candidates Civil Rights Questionnaire, which highlights the presidential candidates??? positions on civil rights and black advancement issues.
It's here: http://www.naacp.org/news/press/2008-02-01/index.htm
NOTE: Clinton and Obama responded to the Questionnaire; McCain dd not.
[3] The sad truth is this: the Republican Party has a Southern Strategy which uses racial polarization to get the votes of the white majority in the southern states. This was an explicit policy in the 60s and 70s, and it is an implicit policy now.
As long as the GOP is willing to use racial division to get white votes, I see no reason to vote for them, period.
I disagree with the thesis that Democrats take the black vote for granted. But at least, the Democratic Party wants my vote. Meanwhile, the GOP has cruelly calculated how to use fear of blacks to get white votes.
That makes this AA's voting decision quite easy to make.
Samantha T at 05/15/2008 11:51:43 AM
Comment:
Melissa - I'm not attacking people for being Obama supporters, I'm attacking people who would stay home rather than vote for Clinton were she the nominee (unlikely at this stage). It would be irresponsible and short-sighted given the state this country is in. I am not an Obama supporter presently and am disappointed that Clinton won't be the nominee, but I will vote for Obama come November because I recognize that it is imperative to get the Republicans out.