Ask Auntie Pinko
May 15, 2003

Dear Auntie Pinko,

I heard recently that 40% of African-Americans who took a poll thought the Democratic Party takes them for granted. What can we do to reassure African-Americans that we take them seriously?

Scott
Kentwood, MI

Dear Scott,

Auntie Pinko is not African-American, and while I appreciate the spirit of enquiry (and the trust in me) that your question represents, I would respectfully note that posing this question to a white person may be illustrative of the whole problem African-Americans perceive with the Democratic Party. Why don't we ask them? And, more importantly, why doesn't our behavior show that we have listened to the answers they give us?

And, most importantly of all, since African-Americans vote Democratic in overwhelming numbers, what is this we/they thing about? The fact that one of our most important voting constituencies still feels like a "they" within a "we" is a BIG red flag.

However, that said, I took your question to African-American friends, and discussed it with them. I'll try to accurately distill what I've heard from them in my answer to you. And I will also include a few of my own observations, which I hope my African-American readers will not think too presumptuous of me.

One thing to pay attention to right off, Scott, is that number: forty percent. While it represents a very substantial segment of the African-American poll respondents, and is thus worthy of serious consideration, it is also clear that some segment - perhaps a majority - of African-American respondents did not feel that way. This should give us one key insight - African-Americans don't all think and feel alike. There is plenty of difference of opinion in the African-American community about how our government should approach issues of taxation, national security, the economy, and other key issues.

Certainly, there is a considerable consensus among the African-Americans with whom I discuss politics, that a key priority for Democrats should be advancing policies that will make American cities safe and pleasant places to live, without compromising the civil rights of minority populations. And there is considerable consensus that any Democratic approach to solving America's economic woes should involve policies that improve both the quality and availability of jobs.

But even within those areas of consensus I heard plenty of differing opinions about how to achieve the goals. So Auntie Pinko doesn't think that the key to making African-American voters feel invested in the Democratic Party depends solely upon issues or policies.

What I did get an earful about was two words: inclusion and respect. There is a definite perception that when African-American communities and neighborhoods identify leaders (which often happens at the local election level) those leaders have considerable difficulties getting accepted as leaders in the broader sense. They are still seen as "African-American" leaders. Fine for representing the old African-American neighborhoods and all, but not necessarily leaders of all of us.

The African-American community has had a great deal of experience with leadership that transcends race, and they are clearly committed to it. They have accepted, and even embraced, white leaders elected under the assumption that they will advance the well-being of all their constituents, regardless of race. The African-Americans I talked to now wonder when the white majority will reciprocate by trusting African-American leaders to advance the well-being of all their constituents, regardless of race.

The Democratic Party has not done much to encourage and/or model this kind of trust.

We can't change this overnight. But we can certainly help the process along by taking pro-active steps to open leadership positions within the Party at all levels, and to actively recruit African-Americans of a wide range of ideological viewpoints to fill them. By not letting any one leader "speak for" the African-American community, we can make it necessary to actually get to know, and consider the interests of, the whole range of African American communities.

We have made a good start, and many of my African-American friends acknowledge this - but they also point out, quite rightly, the disgraceful lack of African-Americans in the US Senate, in statehouses across the country, and in senior Party office at the state and national level. Given what an important segment of our Party African-Americans represent, we can do better, and we should. Thanks for raising the question, Scott!