White Democrat Finds Resistance From Black Voters

[msgadget]

(I'm a few days behind on my reading - this article is from 7/6) I haven't had to think about it before but I assume that as the composition of neighborhoods change, so do the outcomes of elections. Why, then, is it a 'bad' thing for blacks to be hard to beat in certain districts? And, why are Democrats the ones complaining about it? The obvious answer? It's harder for the Democrats to insert their chosen candidates in such seats. But, beyond that, is this complaint from Emanuel stunning only to me? Have the Democrats stepped so completely away from what the Republicans refer to as 'special interests' that they will be the ones who oppose extension of the Voting Rights Act? Perhaps I'm missing something and, if I am, please explain it to me.


White Democrats Find Resistance from Black Voters

David Yassky has a solid résumé, lots of campaign cash and plenty of ideas for improving the slice of Brooklyn he wants to represent in Congress. In another Democratic stronghold, he might be the runaway favorite.

But in New York's 11th District, Yassky's candidacy has touched off a controversy about race and turned a sleepy primary contest into an emotionally charged debate over minority political representation. The 11th District is one of the dozens of majority-black seats created in the aftermath of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. And Yassky, unlike his three primary opponents, is white.

...

In the past 3 1/2 decades, the number of black-held House seats has increased fourfold, from 10 in 1970 to 40 today, a byproduct of the Voting Rights Act's intent to improve black participation in politics. Black House members hold senior status on committees including the tax-writing Ways and Means, the Judiciary and the Homeland Security committees. And the Congressional Black Caucus is an influential force within the Democratic Party.

But some Democrats have come to recognize the downside of these majority-black districts. For instance, they can spark racially polarized politics, pitting blacks against other minorities and whites, particularly as the districts become more gentrified and ethnically mixed.

...

In a 2001 special election before redistricting, Forbes narrowly defeated a black state senator, L. Louise Lucas, 52 percent to 48 percent. In 2002, after the boundaries were redrawn, Forbes won his seat with 98 percent of the vote. This year, when Democrats are positioned to possibly take back control of the House, Forbes is running unopposed.

Provisions of the Voting Rights Act, including a section related to legislative districts, are due to expire and are being debated in Congress. Some Southern lawmakers have protested extending special safeguards that apply to their states, but civil rights advocates assert that allowing the provisions to expire would be highly risky in light of recent cases of voting rights violations.

In fact, some want more protections for minority communities. In a February speech, Owens endorsed an idea called "power sharing," which recognizes "the necessity of minority participation in the decision making process," a step beyond the current laws that protect minority rights.

But some Democratic strategists have begun to question whether strict adherence to a 40-year-old model of minority-dominated districts could be hurting the party in the long term. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said that at one time it made sense for the courts and state legislatures to carve out majority-black districts to break racially discriminatory practices, primarily in the South.

...

The rapid transformation of urban areas could force Democratic and civil rights leaders to rethink minority districts, voting rights experts say. A combination of gentrification, immigration, intermarriage and a migrating black middle class "means that race just doesn't have the power that it once did, in these kinds of settings," said Edward Blum, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute who has written extensively about minority districts.

cont'd here:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501752_pf.html

[bliss_eternal]

1. Interesting article...

Thanks for posting it, Ms.g! :hi:

My thoughts on the article:

While I think that in some instances race is becoming a less prevalent tool in terms of garnering votes for candidates, unfortunately race and issues around race are still very much a part of our lives and should not be ignored in the grand scheme of a democratic candidate's platform. Do we really need to remind the article's author of the way the bush admin. was able to create divisions within the black community in regard to gay marriage?

For interracial couples, there are still some parts of the country where they couldn't (and shouldn't) dare to try to reside, as life would be a living hell for them. I recall an article that was linked through the interracial and multicultural support forum (from GD) about an ir couple that was so terrorized my mistreatment in their town, they were forced to relocate.

The events of Katrina and the aftermath were very much rooted in race and class (despite what many on DU would like us to believe).

It only takes a major controversy around anyone of color to see how much race still has a bearing on societal conditions today. One only needs to consider the arguments here on DU around the confederate flag, what is or is not deemed as bigotry, Cynthia's situation in Florida with the cop/security guard, Katrina, King Kong or the way the news rarely (if ever) encourages national man-hunts for missing and (sometimes pregnant) women of color.

[msgadget]

2. Great points (as usual), Bliss

I can't help but agree with you. What strikes me about the article though is the lack of faith party 'leaders' have in the electorate.

I firmly believe a voting district will vote and elect based on its composition. If an area has truly become more integrated a white candidate has just as good a shot as a black one. The problem probably lies in those districts that are still 'gentrifying'. That is, those districts where people of more ample means are buying up and restoring housing while a population of lesser advantaged folk remain. This article says to me, "We're afraid we won't be able to insert our line-straddling centrist in these districts for the folks who matter, the ones with the money." It also says the democrats don't like black people! I'm kinda kidding, of course, but they sure as hell ain't embracing no black causes and their attention seems to be more on video games and churches than on homeboys. I guess I read the article with that bias...

[itzamirakul]

3. It never ceases to amaze me that it is always and only black people

who are asked to consider accepting someone of a different race to represent them even if they are in a majority in that district. We are always expected to be the understanding and accepting ones.

See how fast a black candidate would last in Bensonhurst or Howard Beach or some sections of Brooklyn. Oh, I know...the rare case of a black representative in a white community occasionally arises...RARE.

Sure Yassky has a lot of money. He is well-funded by a cabal of special interest groups who are not even remotely interested in including a black special interest group. He hasn't even lived in the district until just recently. This is just another way of dividing the community.

The group that funded him also funded Hillary's amazing takeover of the Democratic Senate Seat in NYC, a city where she had NEVER had residency. Her allegiances are pretty damned obvious. She is a great RW Senator.

As far as Emmanuel is concerned, he is a tool of the DLC which is as much a tool of the Republican Party as you can get and still call yourself a Democrat. He sickens me. According to some articles I have read, he shows absolutely NO respect to the Congressional Black Caucus.

I don't donate to his group, the dccc, any longer because I have connected the dots. I really would like to expound on this farther but I have been warned that I will be dropped from du for such postings, so there are some things you will have to figure out for yourselves before it is entirely too late. Either that, or learn how to go along with the power group because this is a real global takeover. Black interests won't mean a thing when this is complete a few years from now.