2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)Dear white progressives: Stop telling black people how to vote [View all]
Janessa Robinson
We are now in the midst of the 2016 presidential election, which means both parties are pandering to their bases as well as to unlikely voters who may be swayed to their respective sides. Although its early, this election cycle has already been dominated by questions of which candidate will garner the black vote, as if black people are monolithic. Given that thousands of black people are currently leading a social justice movement across the nation that the media has dubbed the Black Lives Matter Movement, the black electorate appears to be at the forefront of politicians minds.
There is a history of black communities voting Democrat that is, when we are actually allowed to vote, as we were historically targeted for explicitly racist disenfranchisement in the 20th century and felon disenfranchisement in the 21st century. During the 20th century, the Democratic Party was well known for instituting anti-black policies in the South such as Jim Crow, poll taxes and literacy tests. Since then, the Democratic Party has shifted its image to racial indifference, while the Republican Party picked up its racially hostile characteristics.
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/21/dear_white_progressives_stop_telling_black_people_how_to_vote/