DNC Chairman
Howard Dean's comments, as reported in
this San Francisco Chronicle story, that Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party," have generated tons of interests. While the comments of longtime Democrat and Def Jam founder
Russell Simmons, as reported in
this New York Daily News story, that: "When it comes to reaching out to poor people and minorities, I think there's no enthusiasm on Howard [Dean]'s part, while [RNC Chairman] Ken [Mehlman] shows a real willingness to listen," have been largely ignored.
The fact that African Americans are finally getting the Democrats
and the Republicans to pay attention to us, and finally move from giving our issues lip service to taking action, is a great development.
What Blacks are doing is no different that what the "moral majority" or "religious right" has done for years. And we'd still be ignored until election season, had we not continued to complain about being taken for granted.
As I see it, the challenge for Black people now is to keep up the pressure on both parties and make them compete for our support. We've got to leverage our votes to get policy changes that benefit our people.
My sincere hope is that Chairman Dean and the Democrats hear what people like Russell Simmons are saying and stop taking Black people for granted. Instead, Dems at the national, state, and local level should use this season as a time to mend fences with Blacks who are concerned about the direction of the party, and build bridges to those who've already gone over to the other side.
I don't think Dean gets it yet, but he is trying. His comment that: "We're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the type of people we are. But that's not enough. We do have to deliver on things: jobs and housing and business opportunities," shows he is listening. But that has to translate into action.
Why hasn't Dean moved to support well-qualified African American candidates running for office who find themselves challenged by lesser-qualified white candidates? Kweisi Mfume shouldn't have a primary challenger in his Maryland Senate campaign; Michael Coleman shouldn't have a primary challenger in his Ohio Gubenatorial campaign; Charles Sanders shouldn't have a primary challenger in his Ohio 2nd Congressional District campaign; and Mark Mallory shouldn't have a primary challenge in his Cincinnati Mayoral campaign. But these highly-qualified African American candidates all find themselves challenged in primary battles by white Democrats. Why?