Voting Blocs

This may be a Brooklyn race, but it should reverberate in Virginia. It seems the only white candidate running in the Democratic primary to replace the retiring black congressman, who calls the candidate a “colonizer,” raises some important issues for Democrats in general and Virginia Democrats in particular.

The Voting Rights Act addressed the issue of black representation by fostering a plan that has led to many districts being black majorities, and many in the black establishment feel those seats belong to black candidates only.

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.

Looking at the map of congressional districts today, Emanuel asked: "Are we at the point in the political process where you don't need a 70 percent district, but a 50 to 45 district, with the political capacity to be more competitive in surrounding areas, so that more Democrats can win?"

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.

In fact, drawing districts that are designed to give black candidates a leg up does a disservice to black interests.

[Black congressmen] are all serving in the Democratic minority. "Remember, the [Voting Rights Act] is about black voters, not black elected officials," {senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies David A] Bositis said. "And black voters are not having their interests represented, although there are more black members of Congress."

This brings up an even larger issue of how special interest groups can hold the Democratic party hostage. Many single issue groups demand fealty to their point of view and by doing so, fracture the Democratic Party. In this particular case, despite the changing demographics of this Brooklyn district, the attachment to affirmative action among the Congressional Black Caucus is so great that they are willing to destroy a candidate simply because he is white, which to many moderates, Democrats and Republicans alike, sounds like blatant discrimination. Genuflecting at the altar of pro-abortion forces who will not tolerate anyone who favors, say, parental notice, can hurt the party as can damning those who favor gay rights but not mandated gay marriages. We may be a big tent party but with lots of little teepees inside.

I believe there is still a role for affirmative action. I’m particularly supportive of it when it is a voluntary action by corporations, whose employees and customers would well be served by more black perspectives. And the charge that better qualified white candidates are losing jobs because of it rings hollow, as if judging a candidate is like a true/false exam. And I think the Voting Rights Act still has a role to play in preventing the kind of racial politics being played in Georgia, where the state is trying to require certain photo IDs for voters.

But eventually, the Democratic Party will need to figure out how they can respond to the legitimate concerns of moderates who think the mindset of some black politicians is doing the party far more harm than good.

If Virginia Democrats have any input into redistricting in 2010, they will need to face the issue of how to redraw the House of Delegates districts that are now primarily black. Would it improve Democrats chances to break up some of those districts to ensure more Democrats are elected, but perhaps fewer blacks?

Comments

[Bob]

Well, Barack Obama is probably the most popular Democrat on the 2008 landscape. But your point is well taken. There are still too many white people who won't vote for blacks, but how will we know that's changed? And meanwhile, how long must progressive people, including blacks, remain powerless to protect majority minority districts?

[Vivian J. Paige]

Didn't mean to imply that you said that. My take was from a combination of the linked article and your post.

Nor am I saying that only a black person can represent blacks. My primary concern is whether - in this day and age - how many black candidates could get elected in a district that is not a majority-minority one.

[Bob]

For the record, I never suggested that black lawmakers in Richmond are "out of touch with their constituents."

Re "the loss of any representation for blacks": I think we could go down a long list of white politicians who represented the interests of blacks very well. My point is if some districts were redrawn to enable more progressive Democrats to get elected, blacks would have a better chance of getting legislation passed that benefits them.

I'm not sure that we could make two Dem districts out of one black district, mind you. But if we could, aren't we better off?

[Vivian J. Paige]

This is a tough one. I still believe that we need majority-minority districts but I am concerned about those who are elected to represent them. In most cases, these people enjoy an incumbancy that lasts as long as they want to serve, since almost nobody will run against them. I fear that this gives them a false sense of security and is a real reason they are out of touch with the constituents. In an ideal world, these districts would have healthy competition on a regular basis, but that's just not going to happen.

Without these districts, I worry about the loss of any representation for blacks. It remains extremely difficult for a black candidate to win a majority white district. Look at Maryland and the fear of the Maryland Democratic Party that whites won't vote for a black candidate. This seems to be true at nearly every level.

In a perfect world, the color of the candidate wouldn't matter. We just aren't there yet.