This opinion article is so telling and is what I have been stating for so long.
The Black voter is too often inclined to look past the key people who have the most impact on the government services that impact their daily lives the most and instead focus on their battle with "the National Republicans".
The article states that the Black community doesn't have much confidence in their local officials so they don't come to the polls and vote. I have pointed this out in the past that this is an example of a "Black no confidence vote":
- A hated Republican candidate will get the Black vote out en masse
- A Republican who is popular with the general public will have most Blacks voting for the Democrat to spite the Republican
- A failed Democratic incumbent will have Blacks not coming to the polls (see Ft Lauderdale)
- A popular Democrat - will have Black folks purchasing "limited edition plates" (see Barack Obama)
When I have made note of this in the past many ideological bigots have stated that this is an opportunity for the Republican opposition to come in and take the Black vote by offering a sound alternative. Yet they have failed because they don't value the Black vote.
This analysis fails substantially.
Such a scenario places the Black voter as a CONSUMER, WAITING for the right messenger to come along to cure our ailments. I reject this fully.
In South Florida and in St Petersberg, for example there are large swaths of Black communities that are struggling and suffering with inferior schools and the threat of crime. They are ALREADY being governed by the Democrats. Using the above orientation - the Democrats have not failed the Black community enough for there to be a mass movement to push them out of office and go in another direction. The Republicans have not shown up because they have given up, tired of getting beaten up - thus the community remains in the hands of the Democrats who don't deserve it. (Side note - in my recent research on Maxine Waters' 35th district of CA - I noted that in the past 2 elections the Republicans have not even bothered to run a candidate because for the past several elections prior they got only 10 to 17% of the vote. Either Maxine Waters is that good or the voters in these districts are that entrenched.)
It is clear to me that the "Black voter as a consumer" is a flawed approach. Instead the Black voter needs to be the OWNER OF HIS COMMUNITY and inclined to do what it takes to ORGANICALLY develop his own community. Thus the choice in who to vote for will radiate from the internal consciousness within. One can't deny that in most large metro areas where there is a Democrat and a Republican leading district adjacent to one another - the Republicans are seeking desperately to keep what is there and all too often the Democrats are seeking to "share the wealth" by getting the level of government one ring up to impose the taxation upon the other district that their local boundaries prevent them from accessing. It should be noted, however, that in northern New Jersey this is a Democrat on Democrat battle. The city of Newark is seeking to reach into its wealthier suburban neighbors to expand its tax digest. Thus exceptions do exist, particularly in Democraticly dominated states (NJ, MD).
In summary this "tuned out Black voter" is due to the lack of leadership on the local level. They have heard all of the prior promises from elected officials about what they are going to do for the community and now, having "heard it all before", they are not interested in listening. Once again I say that the prescence of a "single party domination" over the Black community does not in and of itself produce a state of bliss. It might be a sign of a community that has given up on the political process and the Democrats are able to clear the remnants of the community that do bother to vote.
The worst kind of "voter suppression" is where there is systematic action that makes the voter tune out to the entire political process and figure that some other means yet to be identified is the only way forward.
What is commonplace yet so strange about America, a bastion of freedom and democracy – and teacher of such to the world – is its people’s penchant to not be democratic.
While they enjoy freedom of the individual, they tend to eschew freedom of various groups, classes and ethnicities.
Democracy is a major American export, especially the assurance of “one man, one vote” and “free elections.” Yet the historic American civil rights movement glaringly showed the world our contradiction in terms.
And during eight years of “compassionate conservatism” served up by the Bush administration, the U. S. has been attacked, is still engaged in two wars, is loathed more than ever, and has created a worldwide economic meltdown.
Along came Barack Obama and his “audacity of hope,” and a rejuvenated American electorate catapulted him to the White House as the first African-American president.
Black voter registration soared, and in most places Obama got about 90 percent of the black vote. Lest we forget, the presidential election of 2008 is a stark reminder of how precious the very idea of true democracy is for us and for the world.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that President Obama gets out of the White House quite often and visits various parts of the country to rally people around his agenda. Obama understands that all politics is local, and he has consistently preached that we must organize from the bottom up, not the top down.
Anything and everything that emanates from the White House and Congress has to be implemented at the state, county, municipal, district and/or neighborhood levels – and in that order!
So when edicts, funds and proposed legislation come down from Washington and the people are not organized from the bottom up, accountability becomes the slippery slope to oligarchy, which is rule by a powerful few, including lobbyists, financiers, developers, politicians and criminals.
To our detriment, we Americans have developed a waning interest in local elections, which is confirmed by very low voter turnout. This apathy stems from at least two sources: There is very little camouflage to hide the incessant trickery and lies of many local officials; and bureaucratic red tape is too cumbersome and time consuming for those who would navigate the system.
For most black voters in Fort Lauderdale’s District 3 elections, there tends to always be a third and perhaps most important issue: The electorate knows of and does not think much of the candidates running. Some researchers may construe this consistent non-vote as mere apathy, but could the real statement of the non-vote mean a refusal to choose a lesser of evils?
In the Feb.10 election, only 1,820 people voted in District 3, out of 27,135 registered voters. For the March 10 runoff, with 18 of 21 precincts reporting at press time, 1,892 votes had been counted. Bobby Dubose, an insurance adjuster, won the District 3 city commission seat with 1,226 votes.
The last election in which former City Commissioner Carlton Moore ran and won was in 2003, and only 2,234 people bothered to vote. (In 2006, term-limited Moore was re-elected without opposition.)
Also, according to Broward County Supervisor of Elections statistics, since the March 1994 election in which only 953 people voted out of 12,314 registered voters (Moore won), there has been a consistent pattern.
Obviously, Fort Lauderdale’s District 3, with its majority black voters, has never been organized. And you can place a safe wager that there are many such majority black local districts across the length and breadth of America. Power or the lack thereof is always measured, and unfortunately for the residents of areas like District 3, they are rendered politically inert – powerless.
District 3 has got to get on the court, on the field of play. Remember Frederick Douglass’ admonition: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.”
Is there anybody out there who understands and is willing and able to spend the better part of the next three years going door to door, block by block, to homeowners and other civic meetings, churches, schools, “under the trees,” and to all the businesses, and with the right messages? And can that person also listen, and learn, and above all else be truthful?
Where are you? Step forward, for your time has come!
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