I have a friend who thinks he’s figured out Black folks predilection for voting for black candidates. He believes that black folks vote for black candidates because they are black. That’s it. No mystery, or political theory behind it. Sure he cites several polls detailing the overwhelming support President Obama received from black voters during the 2008 election.
But his theory is antiquated, based upon an old-time, monolithic group thinking mentality. All he’s done is herd black people into stringent race camps– which reinforces the idea that blacks are preoccupied with race and skin color–thereby perpetuating the victimization stigma. (For the record– I don’t know for a fact that this is his exact thinking, but I know it can’t be far off.) Let’s take a look at a recent example of how this line of thinking is myth more than fact.
On Tuesday Alabama democrats had an opportunity to make American history, by nominating the first black American to run for governor. Artur Davis, a democratic congressman representing a majority black district sought the nomination. In his campaign, Davis tacked hard to the right, flouting his more conservative stand such as voting against health care reform, and openly refusing to ingratiate himself to the civil rights establishment in Alabama.
In other words, Davis began campaigning for the general election before he actually had the nomination. Davis made an effort to appeal to white voters in the state–without regard to what his own constituents felt– and without regard to the issues they cared about.
Davis was resoundingly defeated by Ron Sparks, Alabama’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. Ron Sparks is also white. Here’s the point: In Alabama, blacks did turn out at the polls–but they did it not to elect a black candidate–they did it to choose a progressive one. Artur Davis proved in his campaign, that he no longer cared about the issues affecting the lives of his constituents by voting against health care. His black constituents recognized this, and demonstrated their power to choose someone they felt articulated their values better. Blacks chose a more progressive candidate who was not black. The meme that blacks vote solely based upon race and not issues is erroneous.
Let’s get back to the Barack Obama narrative. Yes blacks overwhelmingly supported Obama during his campaign. But Obama did not have much support from the black community at the start of his campaign. In fact, Obama was assailed by a few less enlightened people that he was not black enough. How do you account for the dichotomy of thought in this case? How do you summarily come to the conclusion that since he was black, black people will automatically vote for him– even though they not only supported Hillary Clinton early on–they refused to even acknowledge his blackness? Which is it? Ta-nehisi offers this great take:
The point isn’t that black voters are never tribal, it’s that they are no more tribal than any other group voters. Indeed, by necessity, they are often less tribal. Everyone remembers Barack Obama sweeping up the black vote against Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primary. No one remembers John Kerry doing the same to Al Sharpton in 2004.
A majority of black people support progressives. They identify with issues and ideology that best reflects what they believe, not what they look like. Black people aren’t sheep, and they don’t practice identity group politics anymore than any other group does. Does that mean they are immune to race politics? Of course not. The example above on President Obama proves that clearly. But instead of relying on the old, false narrative many conservatives champion, peel the layers of the onion. You’ll find that blacks are more driven by issues they care about, more than the skin color of the candidate speaking about them.
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