The opening of the Democratic primary season took place in Iowa and moved swiftly to New Hampshire, two of the whitest states in the nation which don’t reflect national demographics, and are clearly unrepresentative of the demographics of registered Democrats. We are now approaching primaries in states which have larger black populations. If you pay attention to some of the (mostly white) pundits and prognosticators, the race is seemingly over before it has really begun, and before we get to any of the states with majority or a plurality of black voters.
Perry Bacon, Jr., who is black and writes for FiveThirtyEight, takes a look at the upcoming primary diversity. He lists six states, plus Washington, D.C., which are majority or plurality black, noting how many pledged delegates there are for each state. Georgia stands out with 105, Maryland has 96, while Louisiana and South Carolina each have 54. Other states outside the South that have large black populations: New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, and Ohio are over 12% black and will play a major role in the awarding of Democratic delegates. One interesting indicator of where black folks have a little power is the list of states where we have been elected to Congress, especially when contrasted against the list of states who have never had a black representative or senator.
Things are about to get interesting, and the squabble over black voters has begun, often without talking to anyone who is black. Black voters are a hot commodity to be analyzed, pandered to, wooed, deconstructed, and, from my perspective as a cultural anthropologist, still not understood. The adherents of candidates who are parachuting into the ‘hood, often never or rarely seen before by any of us, are ramping up the excuses and/or pointing fingers.
The blame game for why black voters aren’t showing candidate X more love in the polls was already underway, before Iowa and New Hampshire: We aren’t progressive. We are low-information voters. We can be bought. We are homophobic. We are in red states so why should we have an outsized influence on the eventual nomination, especially because we are only 14% of the U.S. population?
Other candidates tout their national poll numbers from “the blacks.” To be honest, I place very little faith in the polling of my black brethren and sistren, or in assumptions of where we will ultimately cast the majority of our votes.
Whatever the results are, the majority of black votes will go toward the candidate who is perceived to have the best shot at ridding us of Donald Trump. We know who the enemy is; we never lose sight of that. We do not have the luxury to be complacent about racism in the U.S.A. When I say “we” I speak of black voters. Yes, there are some of us who have said “fuck it, voting doesn’t do jackshit for us.” Yes, we also need to do outreach to get as many of those folks into the voting booths as we can.
I applaud efforts being made by people like rapper YelloPain, whose video targets the turned-off segment. I recently featured him in “'My Vote Dont Count' is a rap-video that every young person thinking about not voting must see.”
Spread the word.
A word of warning: I’ve seen certain folks on social media fix their fingers to blame us for Trump. If only more of “us” had turned out … yadda, yadda, yadda. Do not go there. We are not the problem. We know who elected Trump, Mitch McConnell, and company. We know who has suppressed, repressed, and gerrymandered our votes. We know that white folks—male and female—elected a monster … so if you point a finger at us, remember that three of them point right back at you.
Lest you think I exaggerate, listen to some black voices other than mine. For those of you who don’t follow Black Twitter, here’s a sample.
For a more fiery dose of blackness, try Propane Jane. Get your white asbestos jackets ready.
I know there are people prepared to lecture me, and attempt to teach me about their white candidate of choice, black history, and what their candidate has done for us. I’ve had it happen too frequently. Don’t go there either. The black history you bring up is a history I participated in, and not as an academic.
People have asked me how I plan to vote, and if I will vote. My momma would get outta her grave and come back to whip my ass if I didn’t vote. I’ll be voting. I’ll be paying close attention to the only polls that count: the exit polls. And I’ll vote like black women do.
Maybe you should pay attention to what we do as well.