Some blacks shift from Democrats

The Wichita Eagle ^ | 07/12/04 | CHRISTINA M. WOODS

[nypokerface]

Shamin Rutledge grew up with Democratic values. But six years ago, she began to feel a conflict between the party's positions on abortion and homosexual rights and her personal values.

"The party just wasn't heading in a direction I was comfortable with," she said.

So she became a Republican.

Her decision placed her on the road less traveled by African-Americans, who overwhelmingly vote and identify with the Democratic Party. In the 2000 presidential election, for example, Al Gore received 90 percent of the African-American vote.

Despite the loyalty, political scientists and community members alike say there is increasing dissatisfaction among African-Americans with the Democratic Party. More are identifying themselves as independents or Republicans.

Where they're going

In 2002, 63 percent of African-Americans identified themselves as Democrats, down from 74 percent in 2000, said David Bositis, senior political analyst with the Joint Center for Political Studies in Washington, D.C. The center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that researches policy concerns of importance to African-Americans and other minority groups.

Ten percent of African-Americans identified themselves as Republican, an increase from 4 percent in 2000. The number identifying themselves as independent also rose, to 24 percent in 2002 from 20 percent in 2000. A third of those were ages 18 to 25.

Eugene Anderson, a former state senator and Democrat, became an independent nearly five years ago when he started taking political science classes at Wichita State University.

"I want to look at things from a perspective of not having any loyalty to either party," he said.

'The lesser of two evils'

The Pew Center, an independent public policy and political issues research group, found that the percentage of black Democrats who say "people like me don't have any say about what the government does" increased to 58 percent in 2002 from 34 percent in 1999.

The organization found that white Democrats' views were more stable.

"There is a lot of dissatisfaction among blacks with the Democratic Party," said Ron Walters, a Wichita native and a political scientist with the University of Maryland.

"The problem is they don't have much of an alternative and so what happens, generally, is they choose the lesser of two evils, which is the Democratic Party."

The Republican Party can stress hard work and conservative values but it hasn't been able to fight the perception that it is run by white, Southern racists, said Bositis of the Joint Center.

"The Republican vote is very much a white vote," he said.

Tied to civil rights

The Republican Party was founded upon anti-slavery ideals in 1854.

It is the party of President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves in the states that broke away from the Union.

In 1870, Hiram Revels became the first African-American appointed to the United States Senate and Joseph Rainey became the first African-American appointed to the House of Representatives.

Both were Republicans.

But it was the Democratic Party that eventually became known for pushing the civil rights agenda for African-Americans.

The economic and civil rights efforts of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s and the legislation passed during the Civil Rights Movement prompted African-Americans to change their political affiliation.

The tie has become psychological, Bositis said, and remains to this day.

Seeking their vote

With more than 15 million registered African-American voters in the 2000 election, the demographic is not one to overlook, political scientists said.

"One of the top priorities in my administration is to reach out to the African-American community and try to build lines of communication," said Mark Kahrs, Sedgwick County Republican Party chairman. "We are slowly doing that."

Although the Sedgwick County election office does not track local voter information by race, Kahrs said the number of minority participants in the Republican Party is growing.

"We're building it up at the grassroots level," he said.

Rutledge said she felt like she was all by herself when she changed her affiliation to Republican six years ago.

Then she learned that the Sedgwick County Republican Party helped launch a Wichita Black Republican Council in September 2003. Now she is among 40 participants.

Godwin Opara is a member of the council and a longtime Republican.

Opara said he feels more comfortable with the Republican Party, which he says values the family.

"The Democrats are taking the black vote for granted," said Opara, owner of Transtecs Corp., which manufactures airplane parts. "Nobody is going to take my vote for granted."

But Lottie Shackelford, the vice chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee, said it is the Democrats who push policy issues -- education, jobs and health care -- that more accurately reflect African-American needs. "We are fighting for them each and every day."

Jason Dilts, executive director of the Sedgwick County Democratic Party, echoes that.

"Even though African-Americans and Hispanics do vote for Democrats a lot, we want to make it very clear that their issues are very important with us. They are what this party is all about."

He also points to what he calls examples of solid African-American Democratic leadership: state Sen. Donald Betts Jr. and House Reps. Oletha Faust-Goudeau and Ruby Gilbert.

"They are all very popular and are working hard in engaging the community," Dilts said.

Raymond Davis Sr., a longtime Democrat, said the party stands for working people like him.

"The Democratic Party is for all instead of just one group," he said. But people should vote out of principle and not out of party affiliation, he added.

Nationwide, the Democratic National Committee is working through African-American churches, fraternities, sororities and community organizations to register people to vote.

The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, is aggressively targeting African-American independents and reaching the larger community through a nationwide tour spreading Republican ideals.

"We are working to make them willing to look at the Republican Party," said Tara Wall, press secretary for outreach for the committee. "And we will welcome them with open arms."

[normy]

There's no such thing as "African-American" needs, unless you actually think of them as "different", as the left does.

Good point. The Republican party should phrase positions like this.

The Democrats want to disarm black America

The Democrats believe in taking the hard earned wealth of black Americans and redistributing it to those who did not earn it.

The Democrats are for the slaughter of millions of unborn black children through abortion, robbing us of the next great generation.

Democrats believe in using environmental laws to stop black landowners from using their property as they see fit.

Democrats believe in turning the sovereignty of America to the Europeans in the UN making the freedoms blacks have fought hard to get,in jeopardy of being lost to faceless UN politicians.

[Sam the Sham]

I think that if the black community had fought for its own freedom and independence the way the early Americans did, then they'd champion self-reliance and the benefits of a limited government.

What do you mean ? Armed revolution ? Numerically, that was never a viable option.

[Rmack]

As a person of African descent living in America I must say that your historical ignorance of the social atrocities committed against blacks in this country is tantamount to the myriad of my black brethren who continue to blindly support democrats.

Now I agree that for the sake of our own sanity and sanctity we should forgive those whites for what happened. But as a logical, living and breathing creature I cannot turn a blind eye and pretend that my own government did not supported many of these "rebel" rousings.

Furthermore, to your point that blacks don't need special treatment and should pull themselves up by they're own boot straps, I agree. Nevertheless,we must remember the past lest we be doomed to repeat it. Often times those communities that the white supremacist destroyed were communities like Greenwood (Often Called the black Wall Street), which was an epicenter of "real" black progress and self-sufficiency. In essence, in the past whenever blacks attempted to make a life for themselves and exercise whatever rights they presumably had, groups like the KKK came and disenfranchised them to make sure that blacks remained the dregs of society. All done in the name of maintaining what was to them apparent white supremacy.

It's one thing to say get over it, yet an entirely different thing to say forget about it. Yes, in our country's not so distant past there was state sponsored terrorism. I have moved on, but I won't forget about it. This is not about whether blacks support democrats or republicans. its about admitting the truth about the past and moving on from there.

[vanmorrison]

Just once, I'd like to see a discussion on a thread dealing with this issue where black people would read the print before their eyes and ingest the point being made without trying to rewrite the material to fit their own jaundiced approach, setting up straw men, and arguing about things never even included in the original posting. Look at the stuff I originally wrote, READ IT, then make some sort of point relevant to the original post, not some hackneyed input and lamentation that supports the view that all blacks are incapable of discussing this issue "dispassionately".

It is laughable to throw out the Santayana quote that everyone uses, but few appreciate, about remembering history. Then, try REMEMBERING HISTORY! The facts are, millions of people around the world have suffered at the hands of Leviathan government, here and abroad. Mostly abroad! Nobody is suggesting that bad things haven't happened to black people. The point being made is that black people are not, and never have been, the ONLY people of any ethnicity to suffer at other's hands. NOT EVEN HERE IN THE US! Given this, it is ludicrous to assert, as some have here, that implementing the statist agenda currently espoused by the socialist/communist Democrats among us will lead to anything other than more misery and death, as these approaches have led to the misery and death of untold millions worldwide. Until blacks here begin to recognize THIS historical truth, as Garvey and King were unable or unwilling to do, but as Douglas and Washington were able to appreciate, then black people will continue to suffer REGARDLESS of whether their oppressors are WHITE OR BLACK!

"Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it." - Jorge Santayana

[Rmack]

"Just once, I'd like to see a discussion on a thread dealing with this issue where black people would read the print before their eyes and ingest the point being made without trying to rewrite the material to fit their own jaundiced approach[.]"

I'm sorry, but perhaps you have forgotten your own posts. My reply is not in contention with your political philosophy, which at this point in time is nebulous. I'm merely making a point that you and others like you seem to be remiss about. Your historical recollection is selective and you overlook the significance of the very recent past. The relationship between our own government and people of African descent in America has been unstable, regardless of political party.

"It is ludicrous to assert, as some have here, that implementing the statist agenda currently espoused by the socialist/communist Democrats among us will lead to anything other than more misery and death[.]"

No one ever made such an assertion as the one you insinuate. The "point" is that,naturally, blacks will gravitate toward the party who at least pretends to care about the past. The party who at least pretends to give them a voice. Instead of a party where people like you pat them on the head and say "Now now little Negro, lets leave the past in the past," just to relinquish any possible blemishes within your own agenda.

The problem is, conservatives like you knowingly/unknowingly insult the intelligence of blacks who do understand that big government will always treat them as second class citizens. Instead of telling the truth and saying that in the past the conservative agenda did not necessarily recognize or view the rights of blacks as a priority. You'd rather brazen it over. This is not a great approach if you're trying to reach an historically overlooked demographic. Thats all I'm saying.

[Bob]

Lyndon Johnson was out front taking credit for Civil Rights Legislation, but it was Republicans in Congress who passed it while Democrats mostly voted against it.

The democRATs didn't just vote against it; in the Senate, they actively filibustered against it.

Segregationists such as Orville Fauvus and George Wallace were democRATs, not Republicans. The only former Klansman in Congress that I'm aware of is Senator Byrd, a democRAT.

Some people just don't know jack about history.