In this Harry Reid kerfuffle, relatively few seem to have considered the general paucity of Black folk from high elective offices. The suggestion that perhaps the general public at large might be more receptive to a light-skinned Black person than a darker-skinned one has been met with derision and denial across the country.
Hmm.
Has anyone considered the empirical evidence here? Quick - without Google - do you know how many Black people have won statewide popular elections for either Governor or Senator in American history?
Here's the list, in total:
- Edward Brooke (R) - MA, Senate
- Douglas Wilder (D) - VA, Governor
- Carol Moseley Braun (D) - IL, Senate
- Barack Obama (D) - IL, Senate, 44th President of the United States
- Deval Patrick (D) - MA, Governor
That's it, that's the list. 230+ years and that's the list. Maybe we have a better self-image than this, maybe a lot of us think that we've elected more Black folks to office than we really have, but the facts are the facts. And for what it's worth, none of them is exactly what you'd call "dark-skinned". (maybe Carol?)
Dividing people on race - and then on skin color - is perfectly absurd, but these divisions are very real. And like it or not, these things have a real effect on everything from employment prospects to interpersonal relationships to, yes, elections. And we can't keep denying our past and current problems on this frontier.