African Americans and Political Parties

Historically, it seems the Democrat party has been "home" to African-American voters, at least since the days of the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt. Yet, party leaders seem somehow loath to aggressively designate African-American voters. Some party leaders (unidentified in Frymer) "argue for downplaying the African American agenda and focusing on the white median voter" (Frymer 44).

African Americans may not be aggressively sought after because they don't vote in the same large numbers that white Jewish voters and senior citizens do. I see proof of that in the recent California recall election. While efforts were made by Jesse Jackson and others to get out the African American vote, these voters did not turn out in large enough numbers to keep Arnold Schwarzenegger from winning.

It seems reasonable that there are African Americans who wield political and economic power. Colin Powell, though not really liked by white conservative Republicans, is one example. So is Justice Clarence Thomas. And, so, to a lesser extent, is the Congressional Black Caucus. But, what Frymer calls "The Capture of Black Interests (40), is not a priority for many party officials who, according to Frymer, base their prioritizing on their own racial attitudes. Their major objective is to elect their party's candidates, especially the winner-take-all Presidency. To do that, party leaders will have an incentive to target the moderate voters occupying ideological positions roughly equivalent to the two major partiers" (30). If this is so, Frymer seems to assume that African American voters are not moderates. This brings up questions that needs some answers: Are African American voters generally predisposed to the status quo? Do they generally vote Democratic because their parents and grandparents did? And, further, is there any way to encourage and increase the numbers of black voters?

Frymer is basically looking at the partiers and African Americans from the parties' viewpoint. However, there ought to be someone- or a number of expert someones to determine what it is that turns so many black voters off? Is it just the fact that they feel their votes are meaningless? Is it that they still do not understand the responsibility of citizenship? Frymer refers to "racial cleavage" (28). I would rather that someone discussed considering African Americans not as a racial minority, but as part and parcel of America, with equal opportunity for all. People still remember that during Bill Clinton's run for the presidency in 1992, the sign in the campaign offices read "It's the economy, stupid!" There is little reason, given current economic conditions for what we can well consider America's "underclass"- man of them black, as caring about who wins or who loses, because they sense (based on their own experiences) there is little difference. We are still considered by many politicians as disaffected.

REFERENCE:

Frymer, P. Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition inAmerica Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press