The Democratic Party would be nothing without their strong base of Black voters, especially Black women. Election after election, Democrats take the turnout of Black voters for granted, the most dedicated group of the factions that make up the Party. Black voters made it possible for Joe Biden to be President. Black voters helped Democrats sweep the runoffs for two Senate races in Georgia, which gave Democrats the majority in the Senate. Black votes won enough Districts to allow Democrats to maintain control in the House of Representatives.
Many, if not most Black Democrats, were born into Democratic families. That wasn't always the case. Some Republicans point to the allegiance a majority of Black people have to the Democratic Party as being on the "Democratic Plantation." They might not be aware Black people once voted in even higher numbers for Republicans. Republicans can accurately point to the founding of their Party being deeply rooted in the abolition of slavery. There were decades of racial progress associated with the Republican Party from their inception in 1854 until their gradual decline, starting with the Compromise of 1877. Republicans share the blame for ending Reconstruction and looked the other way for almost a century of Jim Crow.
What Republicans still like to refer to as the "Party of Lincoln" has become the Party that will do anything to win an election. That was true in 1877 and is more so today. All the things they allegedly stood for, small government, fiscal responsibility, and moral integrity, have been set aside for trying to win at any cost. Not fairly, mind you. It seems the only tactic they have left is to keep those opposed to them from voting under the poorly disguised veil of voter integrity. They are attempting to prevent minorities (especially Black people) from voting in large numbers to win with a minority of voters. The Party of Lincoln is using racist tools to accomplish what they could not otherwise. They are left with appealing to a rotting base of mostly aggrieved white people who feel a loss of entitlement because their advantages are slightly reduced, though not nearly gone.
You might be asking, how did the Party founded on ending slavery become the home of bitter white people who used to be Democrats? The Democratic Party, especially Southern Democrats, were supporters of enslaving people. They were the Klan and all they represented. They were responsible for and supportive of lynching Black people, suppressing their votes, preventing their education, and denying them fair housing and good jobs. There was no good reason for a Black person to be a Democrat until they became the better option.
People think white bigots began leaving the Democratic Party during the 1960s during the Civil Rights Era, but the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were just the last straws. Democrats started moving to the Republican Party before 1948 when Harry S. Truman integrated the armed forces. The Voting Rights Act was a reaction to the brutal beatings on national television of peaceful protesters at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The integration of the military followed the lynchings and beatings of Black veterans, including Isaac Woodard, returning from serving their country overseas. Dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party sent many white people to the Republican Party, where they were happily accepted. It was then that Black voters started becoming Democrats. They didn't leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left them. Replacing them with the white evangelicals that propped up enslavement, the Black Codes, and Jim Crow, as if all that was God's will.
“What next? Free them, and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not. Whether this feeling accords with justice and sound judgment, is not the sole question, if, indeed, it is any part of it. A universal feeling, whether well or ill-founded, cannot be safely disregarded. We cannot, then, make them equals. It does seem to me that systems of gradual emancipation might be adopted; but for their tardiness in this, I will not undertake to judge our brethren of the South.” — Abraham Lincoln
You can see that neither Party has been all that good to Black people. Even Lincoln-era Republicans against enslavement wanted to ship enslaved people off to Liberia or Central America at war's end. They might have wanted to end enslavement but didn't want the freedmen and women as their neighbors. At their best, Republicans didn't want us around at their worst, which arguably is now. They don't want Black people to vote, have good jobs, health care, and equal housing, and they want over-policing our neighborhoods and sentencing disparity.
Not to say Democrats have a sterling record. Their record of late is markedly better. At their worst, they killed Black people to keep them from voting or disrespecting a white woman. They were for enslavement, capital punishment, and keeping us illiterate and poor. But when they had chances to enact legislation to promote true equality. They always chose not to, without regard to their reliance on Black voters to put them in power.
I'm not saying at all that Republicans are a viable option. They don't even pretend to be concerned about the issues important to Black people. Right now, they are busy enacting legislation all over the country to suppress our voters and reduce our voting strength. They'll cede us a limited number of Congressional Districts and pack the bulk of Black voters into them. We'll have some representation but no power. Name the top elected Black official in the Republican Party? If you came up with a name, they have no real control within the Party. You might have said Senator Tim Scott (SC). He recently headed up the Republican side in negotiations on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Those talks fell apart because a Black face didn't mean he could pull white Republican Senators along with him. His main job as a Republican is to give them cover by saying, "America Is Not a Racist Country!"
I once worked for a grocery chain that will tell you they're the leading grocer in the Southeast. They indeed are, but only because nobody else is trying hard enough. They way too often violate health and safety codes. They say their top priority is "premier customer service," but their actions show they value profitability more. Their break rooms are full of exhausted workers, struggling to keep their bodies and minds from breaking under strain. For Black people, the Democratic Party is like that. We give the Party our all; in return, we get as little as they can get away with giving us.
There are Black people in positions of leadership within the Party. We even had a Black President for two terms. Does any of that translate into Black power? It may mean that James Clyburn can affect legislation to bring the bacon home to his District. It also meant he had to support the Party's choice for the nominee for President. In the same way, his support turned around the Biden campaign when it was floundering. He stuck a dagger in the backs of Kamala Harris and Cory Booker to ruin their chances.
Black people are far better represented in the Democratic Party than they are in the Republican Party. But does that make a bit of a difference? The Democratic Party is standing by while Republicans rob Black voters of their strength. Democrats invented voter suppression, so they know it when they see it; they recently controlled the Senate, the House, and the White House. They could have done something about it but lacked the will to do so. After the 2022 mid-terms, they lacked the power.
So what do Black Democrats do? Most of their options only benefit the Republicans, who are the worst option—refusing to vote hands elections to the Republicans. Voting for any of the existing third parties does the same thing. It's time for us to elect representatives willing to do our will or replace them. The 2024 election may give Democrats the Presidency and both houses of Congress again, but what will that mean?
We have elected officials in the Party, both Black and White, who are more concerned with their reelection than representing the people. If they focus more on archaic traditions like the filibuster than accomplishing our goals, find someone willing to do what it takes. If they are ready to stand by and let voter suppression and redistricting wipe out our voting strength, they need to be voted out. Republican officials are afraid of being primaried by someone to their right.
Democrats need to get rid of those unwilling to support the people's agenda. Joe Manchin wasn't doing any good as a Democrat in West Virginia. He’s now an Independent who leans Republican. It's time to replace him with someone who will. If Democrats ultimately lose the seat with a different candidate, what have we lost? Looking at you, too, Kyrsten Sinema.
When I initially wrote this, Democrats were fighting amongst themselves to reduce the spending that was part of Joe Biden's infrastructure bill in hopes it would pass. One of the first things Democrats cut was some of the spending headed toward HBCUs. Black colleges and universities have received disproportionately less government funding than their primarily white counterparts. States have restricted their funding to Black colleges, and deferred maintenance on their campuses is a way of life. Rep Alma Adams is trying to block those spending cuts, but what will she be able to do alone?
Whatever you may think of Republicans, they are maniacal in trying to push their agenda through. Whether it be voter suppression, blocking abortion, or cutting taxes for the rich. They never waiver from pursuing their goals without regard for who it hurts. Democrats are wishy-washy, especially when it comes to the needs of their Black constituents. Like that grocery chain I mentioned. They may be the best option, but only because nobody else is trying.
The two options I see for Black voters are either taking charge of the primary process or ousting any elected official unwilling to support our causes. Republicans cast out those reluctant to get on board. Democrats keep nominating and electing those whose votes differ little from Republicans. The second option is to create or join a third party. Imagine a third party not already bought out by the rich and powerful, especially if we could ally with other traditionally Democratic voters like Hispanics or Asians who also see little benefit from voting blue. The risk is always that if a third party pulls almost exclusively from Democrats, it will help Republicans win. The status quo is that Republicans win, or we belong to a Party that acts just like Republicans.
When the Republican Party was formed from nothing in 1854. It only took six years before they elected Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President. We've seen how little it took for causes like the Tea Party to take over a Party. Why can't a righteous cause sweep through or replace the Democratic Party? The things they are willing to let stand are unacceptable. There are Black leaders within the Party who will fight change tooth and nail. If they are unwilling to lead to achieve the goals of the Black voters that put them in power. They should get the hell out of the way or be replaced.
My current criteria for any candidate is renouncement of the proposition that the election was stolen from Trump. If a candidate believes this but won't shout it out I have no use for them. I'll be voting my conscience.
@William F. Spivey
Dear Mr. Spivey,
Ralph Ellison made a similar argument in his 1952 novel The Invisible Man. West Virginia has no chance of sending a Democrat to the US Senate because it's such a red state. It will likely take years for the Democratic party to rebuild after the disastrous Joe Manchin.