African-Americans are the most loyal group in the Democratic Party. If you need any proof, look at the following "disappointment." African-American voter turnout was high. Some 13.2 million African-Americans voted--a surge of 3 million from 2000--and about 90 percent voted for Kerry.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-0411060172nov06,1,5014068.story?coll=chi-n
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That said, there are the rumblings within the Democratic Party regarding the feeling that African-Americans have been taken for granted. To be honest, I would be surprised if this wasn't the case, to a certain extent. In this world, when you are trying woo new people, you tend to not pay enough attention to those who already "love you", so to speak.
So here in the year 2005, what is the status with regards to African-Americans and the Democratic Party?
Well, the statistics above are positive. You can't do much better than 90%.
The problem has been turnout. Certainly, turnout improved significantly in 2004 among African-Americans, but this was true across the board. We need to be continually vigilant and proactive in improving this situation. The party has not sufficiently addressed the turnout issue in the past. We cannot rely on a registration drive leading up to an election. This needs to be a priority 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, EVERY YEAR. This requires making genuine connections to the African-Americans, not just as voters, but as active participants and leaders in the party at all levels. It requires consistent communication and effort.
So how do we do this?
Here are some ideas that I have
First, pandering isn't going to work. The community has heard it all before, and a lot of African-Americans probably don't vote out of this cynicism.
Second, listen before talking. The Democratic Party likes to go in and talk about what they are going to do for African-Americans. It may help to know what THEY think are the problems first. And they want to be involved in the solution.
Third, don't treat African-Americans as a special interest group. Treat them as people - first, foremost, and always. They're your friends and allies. And they will return the favor.
Fourth, be honest. They may not always agree with what you have to say, but they will respect you.
Fifth, understand the role of the church in the African-American community. I am the liaison to the NAACP for the Gregg County Democratic Party in Northeast Texas, as well as an active member of the NAACP. Both the President and Vice-President of the local NAACP chapter are ministers. All of the meetings are held at a Baptist church and begin and end with a prayer. Most of the members are churchgoers. For the record, I am not a Christian; I am a Hindu. But I have no issues with the role of the church in the organization because I think that in this case, it is a very positive influence.
Sixth, it is important to realize that many African-Americans have a perception (which is many times a reality) that the Democratic Party wants their votes, but are unwilling to yield any power or influence to them. This is a big problem that I as an Indian-American have observed in the party. I serve as the Treasurer/Precinct Chair for the Gregg County Democratic Party, and am thankful to my County Chair for the opportunity to serve as a Democrat - plain and simple. I am not naïve enough to believe that that this opportunity exists for all minorities within the party. There have been times where I have encountered other Indian-Americans in larger metropolitan areas who have relegated to just working within the Indian-American community. I have noticed this with other groups as well - including the African-American community. Quite frankly, a lot of these people are far more talented than I am, and it saddens me to see that they are left on the sidelines to a certain extent. The point is, we need to get African-Americans and other groups involved at the highest levels of our party in terms of influence. Don't get me wrong. It is happening. But it still needs to improve significantly.
Seventh, as Tip O'Neill said, all politics are local. Howard Dean gave a nice speech at the NAACP Convention this year. But at the end of the day, this is one speech - to one group of people. The key for the Democratic Party is to be continually involved with the African-American community at the local, grassroots level. This, in my view, is where we having been dropping the ball. We need to be engaged on a personal basis.
In closing, while I think we need to improve, we should also recognize our successes. LBJ signed the civil rights act. We set the conditions in motion for African-Americans and other minorities to serve as legislators at the local, state, and federal levels - as well as other prominent positions. The 1st African-American governor was a Democrat. The 1st Asian Governor was a Democrat. Bill Clinton had the most diverse administration in history, and became the most popular President among African-Americans, hands down, ever. He was able to make the connection that I talked about in this diary. And we have had an African-American DNC Chair in Ron Brown. There is much more to be proud of as well.
That being said, self-congratulations should not be the rule of the day, either. When Cornell Belcher was named polling director for the DNC, many hailed the appointment because he is African-American, and he was in a prominent position. Well, it is a prominent position, but is this really news from the color standpoint? We have already had an African-American DNC chair, so the color line has already been crossed. I just assumed that Howard Dean named the best person for the job that he could work with. That should be the significance of the appointment. If we are crowing every time a minority gets a prominent person in our party, well, we have a lot of work to do.
Hopefully, I haven't offended anybody in this diary. Race can often be a contentious subject, but I think a dialogue is important. As an NAACP liaison and member, I will try to practice the above tips myself, and hopefully, we will have great results. I will keep you posted.