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[Angelus Errare]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...cratic-party-best-represents-their-interests/

A new survey by the Black Women's Roundtable and Essence magazine suggesting that's the case was the basis for a lively debate Wednesday at the Congressional Black Caucus annual conference.

Dozens of women packed into a ballroom at the Washington Convention Center to hear results of the annual "Power of the Sister Vote" survey. The most surprising finding was that the percentage of black women who said the Democratic Party best represents their interests had dropped 11 percentage points, from 85 percent to 74 percent, since last year.

"I think it's great," Ashley Allison, a senior adviser to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said of the finding about black women's attitudes toward the Democratic Party. "I think black women are saying, 'I don't owe anything to anybody except myself.' "

Laughter and applause erupted when a presenter read this finding from the survey: 93 percent of black women said they do not believe President Trump is addressing issues important to them.

This is the third survey by the Black Women's Roundtable and Essence, a popular lifestyle magazine geared toward black women, and affordable health care was again the top issue for respondents. The survey, taken in July, is based on feedback from 1,247 women. Because respondents were a self-selected group, as opposed to a random sample, the results are not representative of black women across the country.

But the findings do mirror the discussions among black women involved in social and political activism, who have been critical of the party's focus on white voters who supported Trump.

"Black women have been the most loyal supporters of the Democratic Party, through thick and thin," said Avis Jones-DeWeever, an adviser to the Black Women's Roundtable. She said the party has focused more on wooing back "white male voters who have not supported the Democratic Party for 50 years" rather than "watering the garden in your own back yard."

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), who dropped in on the discussion, told attendees that they should pay attention to the "values" espoused by political candidates and elected leaders to help decide which party best represents their interests. She also cautioned that in some jurisdictions, people registered as independents are not able to participate in primary elections. "We don't want to lose out," she said.

In an interview outside the panel, Jackson Lee said the party was right to listen to the voices of "those who were pushing them ... the same people that probably voted for Sen. [Bernie] Sanders, who were saying, just don't leave them out. It's not a replacement." She added: "But let me say this: Democrats would do well to listen to the standard-bearers of the party, and that has been African Americans ... African American women, our friends in the Hispanic community. ... These are the standard-bearers."

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton got 94 percent of black women's votes in last year's election, the highest of any group of voters. In June, a group of black women penned an open letter to new Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez noting that he had met with other constituent groups but had yet to hold a session with black women.

Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said she was pleased that 98 percent of the survey takers said they were registered to vote. But she was concerned that so few of the respondents, 5 percent, cited "expanding voting rights" as a concern, given ongoing efforts in states led by Republicans to enact stricter voter ID laws and other policies that restrict voting.

Clarke blasted Trump's "election integrity commission" as "a sham whose end goal is to push voter suppression efforts."

"I'm concerned that this is an area where maybe we've gotten a little too comfortable. This is an area in which we need to be vigilant," Clarke said. "If they take away our right to vote, we lose everything."

 

[Shaanyboi]

Kodos said it best. "Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

You're going from getting nothing to getting less than nothing.

 

[Slayven]

She said the party has focused more on wooing back "white male voters who have not supported the Democratic Party for 50 years" rather than "watering the garden in your own back yard."

Telling the truth is shaming the devil

In June, a group of black women penned an open letter to new Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez noting that he had met with other constituent groups but had yet to hold a session with black women.

Holy shit.........I have no words

 

[Skellig Gra]

Kodos said it best. "Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

You're going from getting nothing to getting less than nothing.

I find it hard to believe things can get worse than they currently are for black women. This administration is rock bottom. They have more leverage now than ever.

 

[Ponn]

At least some are getting it, let's see how quickly this is shoved under the rug to continue the quest to court the mythical "white moderates".

 

[Sinfamy]

Keep attacking Nina Turner that'll help.
Also keeping Keith Ellison out of the DNC chair was a terrible idea, Perez does nothing to mobilize the progressive base.
And it costs Democrats, it shows in the funding, normal people don't want to donate when their party is associated with people like Perez instead of more grassroots leaders.

What do you care, you don't even like black people lol

That's a bold claim.

I think what Nina has to say resonates with the Democratic base far more than someone like Pelosi or Schumer.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Keep attacking Nina Turner that'll help.

Lol.

But of course

I swear some of you are Turing Test AIs

 

[eBay Huckster]

Keep attacking Nina Turner that'll help.

yeah i actually will keep attacking Nina Turner for grandstanding while her own state has two black women in federal office (who i've gladly voted for in every election i've been eligible for) doing more across the board, thanks

in any event, not detecting any lies in this OP. the party ignores its demographic base at its very real peril

 

[zelas]

But she was concerned that so few of the respondents, 5 percent, cited "expanding voting rights" as a concern, given ongoing efforts in states led by Republicans to enact stricter voter ID laws and other policies that restrict voting.

Sigh.

 

[StoOgE]

No lies detected.

The party needs to learn a lot of lessons from 2016, but failing to support your base is a huge mistake, and right now there is a rub between certain white voting blocs and Black Lives Matter, and I certainly hope that the party comes out on the correct side of history here.

Throwing in as a less bad version of the Republican party isn't going to cut it when it comes to dealing with gun control and criminal justice reforms. One of the worst outcomes of the 2016 elections was the re-militarization of police forces and the total and complete lack of serious work towards criminal justice reform and gun control.

And that isn't even getting into disenfranchisement, lack of any focus on rebuilding crumbling infrastructure in cities and creating upward mobility. White America wants the police to protect the "good" neighborhoods from the "bad" neighborhoods spilling over, and if going after white male votes means stepping onto the wrong side of history it's a huge mistake not only politically but ethically.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

Myself and many others here have said this is what was going to happen.

Throwing your most loyal voting blocs under the bus for white folks that don't anything to do with your party or your platform isn't a winning strategy.

 

[IsntChrisL]

Good. Parties shouldn't feel comfortable getting votes by default. They should feel the need to fight for those votes.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Lol.

But of course

I swear some of you are Turing Test AIs

lmao!

 

[Tarydax]

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton got 94 percent of black women's votes in last year's election, the highest of any group of voters. In June, a group of black women penned an open letter to new Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez noting that he had met with other constituent groups but had yet to hold a session with black women.

Wow, fuck Perez.

 

[Gaogaogao]

I find it hard to believe things can get worse than they currently are for black women. This administration is rock bottom. They have more leverage now than ever.

so now that they dont vote democrat, trump would be more likely to get a second term

are you sure that wouldnt be worse for black women? lets find out

Spoiler

no really lets not

 

[sphagnum]

Good. Every voting bloc should do this, in fact.

Ideally the Democrats will be forced to push past this false divide between social and economic justice and go HAM on everything.

 

[Shaanyboi]

I find it hard to believe things can get worse than they currently are for black women. This administration is rock bottom. They have more leverage now than ever.

So then where do these voters go? Because the democrats which have fully taken advantage of and neglected these women is also depressingly the closest thing to a foothold they had. And clearly it wasn't much of a foothold.

Democrats splintering like this isn't going to benefit anyone.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Straight up backbone (in more ways than one) of the party

Keep attacking Nina Turner that'll help.

What do you care, you don't even like black people lol

 

[Slayven]

so now that they dont vote democrat, trump would be more likely to get a second term

are you sure that wouldnt be worse for black women? lets find out

So then where do these voters go? Because the democrats which have fully taken advantage of and neglected these women is also depressingly the closest thing to a foothold they had. And clearly it wasn't much of a foothold.

Democrats splintering like this isn't going to benefit anyone.

People get tired of being thrown under the bus and blamed for shit.

 

[Skellig Gra]

so now that they dont vote democrat, trump would be more likely to get a second term

are you sure that wouldnt be worse for black women? lets find out

Spoiler

no really lets not

So then where do these voters go? Because the democrats which have fully taken advantage of and neglected these women is also depressingly the closest thing to a foothold they had. And clearly it wasn't much of a foothold.

Democrats splintering like this isn't going to benefit anyone.

They sit out the election most likely. They don't need to fall in line when no one is doing a damn thing for them.

Trump was only half wrong with his "What do you have to lose?" BS. He was right that democrats ain't doing shit for the black community. He was wrong in that he is actively making things worse.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Democrats aren't going to be doing anything for anyone while they keep getting destroyed in elections.

 

[Spoiled Milk]

One of the worst outcomes of the 2016 elections was the re-militarization of police forces and the total and complete lack of serious work towards criminal justice reform and gun control.

I know Sessions has reversed a lot of Holder's and Lynch's work but can you explain how the 2016 election affected the discretionary spending of police departments?

 

[Azuran]

The Democrats are too busy trying to get the on-the-fance moderates to vote for them. They have no time for anyone else.

The US needs a real left-wing party that maybe will actually listen and care for the plight of minorities.

 

[lenovox1]

Kodos said it best. "Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

You're going from getting nothing to getting less than nothing.

94% percent of black women still voted for Clinton, so we're not seeing an influx of Stacy Dashs, thank God.

I think we're seeing the same trend we see in other demographic groups: young people are becoming more disillusioned with the traditional party system. That comes down to marketing and outreach.

 

[Linkura]

This should be embarrassing for the DNC. Of course they probably will not give a single fuck until it's far too late.

 

[Guess Who]

Kodos said it best. "Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

You're going from getting nothing to getting less than nothing.

so now that they dont vote democrat, trump would be more likely to get a second term

are you sure that wouldnt be worse for black women? lets find out

Spoiler

no really lets not

has it occurred to either of you that “vote for us or else” is a pretty piss poor campaign message and is in no small part exactly why people are disillusioned with the dems, or

 

[ShdwDrake]

So then where do these voters go? Because the democrats which have fully taken advantage of and neglected these women is also depressingly the closest thing to a foothold they had. And clearly it wasn't much of a foothold.

Democrats splintering like this isn't going to benefit anyone.

Grow a spine man. They are using an opportunity to point out a real issue and your all "but let's curl into a ball and suck our thumbs!"

 

[Mutant]

Tom Perez was a mistake.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

It's a bit difficult to do much of anything when you're getting crushed in the mid-terms, let alone losing the electoral college.

Tom Perez seems to be fucking up though, and I fucking hated seeing Dems trying to appeal to Republicans in 2016, even propping up Reagan. It may be just bullshit for votes, but I still couldn't stand it.

 

[Gutek]

If you don’t come out to vote against Trump, you’re part of the problem.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

I find it hard to believe things can get worse than they currently are for black women. This administration is rock bottom. They have more leverage now than ever.

I mean, not all black women live in abject squalor or something. Plenty of ways things could get worse. I know you're coming from the right place, but I think this rhetoric has a shade of Trump's "What the hell have you got to lose?" mind set to it.

At least some are getting it, let's see how quickly this is shoved under the rug to continue the quest to court the mythical "white moderates".

I'm a Bernie fan (obviously) but his rejection of identity politics is bothersome. All politics are identity politics.

 

[lenovox1]

The Democrats are too busy trying to get the on-the-fance moderates to vote for them. They have no time for anyone else.

The US needs a real left-wing party that maybe will actually listen and care for the plight of minorities.

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the US party system works on the federal level. 100% of all Democrats are not going to represent your ideals. You're elected representative does that. And that representative creates or is involved in coalitions. And those coalitions make laws.

Again, a huge marketing problem.

 

[Linkura]

Tom Perez was a mistake.

Not picking Ellison was a mistake for sure. Would not have happened under his watch. But instead we get another establishment leader for the DNC who is up to the same old bullshit that cost the Presidency.

 

[cameron]

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton got 94 percent of black women's votes in last year's election, the highest of any group of voters. In June, a group of black women penned an open letter to new Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez noting that he had met with other constituent groups but had yet to hold a session with black women.

Good job, Perez...


Article covers most of it, but here's the survey PDF: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4058012/Power-of-the-Sister-Vote-Report.pdf

 

[Gaogaogao]

has it occurred to either of you that “vote for us or else” is a pretty piss poor campaign message and is in no small part exactly why people are disillusioned with the dems, or

now that we know what "or else" actually means, are you sure?

 

[StoOgE]

I know Sessions has reversed a lot of Holder's and Lynch's work but can you explain how the 2016 election affected the discretionary spending of police departments?

Military surplus sales from the federal government are back on. I mean, it's not like the situation was sunshine and roses under the Obama admin, but there was a slow steady chipping away and it seemed like a Clinton admin would continue the work towards criminal justice reform being a front and center issue.

It's just really unsettling how little attention these issues are even getting any longer. Trump has done LOTS of fucked up shit in his first 9 months, but these issues seem to be getting the least amount of press, and I think it's because lots of Dems are afraid of how BLM is polling, which is some spineless bullshit. I think lots of Ds may think (without saying) that Hillary pushing so hard with the Mother's of the Movement and BLM support may have helped push white voters towards Trump's race bating, and so they are just not going to highlight these issues and talk about economic anxiety more.

 

[sangreal]

While I get where these women are coming from, and Sheila Jackson Lee is especially on point as usual, I think it is premature to read too much into the party falling over themselves in a doomed effort to appeal to bernie and trump supporters. It's a natural reaction to the shock of Hillary losing -- despite her extraordinary (and largely successful) efforts to court black women. I think this phase will be short lived. Hopefully before 2018

 

[Suikoguy]

Not picking Ellison was a mistake for sure. Would not have happened under his watch. But instead we get another establishment leader for the DNC who is up to the same old bullshit that cost the Presidency.

Did Ellison meet with them?

He is co-chair right?

 

[collige]

Turns out "you gotta vote for us to keep the GOP out at all costs" stops working after a while. Who woulda thunk it

 

[kirblar]

has it occurred to either of you that “vote for us or else” is a pretty piss poor campaign message and is in no small part exactly why people are disillusioned with the dems, or

Keeping a white supremacist out of the WH not being enough to motivate people to vote, is a large part of why we have Trump, yes.

 

[sphagnum]

It's a bit difficult to do much of anything when you're getting crushed in the mid-terms, let alone losing the electoral college.

They can at the very least put out longshot bills to show their base what they want to do once they regain power. They should basically do what Bernie did with his single payer bill - nobody believes it will pass, but the 2020 hopefuls jumped onboard to prove their cred, and now single payer has a big surge of momentum in the party.

Keep opposing and trying to block what Trump does that harms minorities, but also scream from the rooftops about what should be done.

 

[Suikoguy]

Turns out "you gotta vote for us to keep the GOP out at all costs" stops working after a while. Who woulda thunk it

You did not read the OP did you? and just made up your own narrative?

Good job!

 

[StoOgE]

Not picking Ellison was a mistake for sure. Would not have happened under his watch. But instead we get another establishment leader for the DNC who is up to the same old bullshit that cost the Presidency.

Perez was one of the most liberal members of Obamas cabinet, and Ellison is the co-chair of the DNC. This is not an Ellison/Perez issue. This is a DNC issue, and it's not because Perez is establishment.

Lots of Ds have decided that Hillary's close alignment with the Mother's of the Movement backfired with racist lean-D voters in the midwest and cost her the election.

 

[Fhtagn]

Because respondents were a self-selected group, as opposed to a random sample, the results are not representative of black women across the country.

Isn't this bit really important to highlight before making any generalized claims?

 

[sangreal]

They can at the very least put out longshot bills to show their base what they want to do once they regain power. They should basically do what Bernie did with his single payer bill - nobody believes it will pass, but the 2020 hopefuls jumped onboard to prove their cred, and now single payer has a big surge of momentum in the party.

Keep opposing and trying to block what Trump does that harms minorities, but also scream from the rooftops about what should be done.

Bernie's single payer bill was the dumbest political move in a long time. We'll be fortunate if this purity test doesn't cost us the ACA

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

If it were anything other than a 2 party system and if the other party was anything less than real life bond villains I'd say good for them but alas

 

[Apt101]

Good. Every voting bloc should do this, in fact.

Ideally the Democrats will be forced to push past this false divide between social and economic justice and go HAM on everything.

This is where I stand. Many people criticize the DP for only focusing on their base and not catering enough to swing states and rural voters, and cite that as being the reason Hillary lost and seats in Congress were lost. Then you have this group claiming that the DP doesn't cater to their base enough.

Both of these are true IMO. The democrats need to just straight up push their agenda across the board. Social and economic, standing up for their base while demonstrating to those outlying voters ("rural", etc) why their platform is superior - which would be easy, as GOP policies demonstrably do not work for the average American of any stripe.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Kodos said it best. "Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

You're going from getting nothing to getting less than nothing.

This dogshit is exactly why the democrats are getting dueced.

Been loyal like shit as a voting block to democrats and they've taken us for granted.

Republicans dobt give a fuck because they know we will never vote for their crazy asses.

Democrats don't give a fuck because they know they got our vote on lock.

It's just anecdotal but my wife, mother, sister, sister in law all black women struggling to keep supporting the democrats. They ain't voting republican but shit the way it is ain't working for them.

 

[Blader]

Keep attacking Nina Turner that'll help.

The idea that Nina Turner speaks for all black women solely on the grounds that she herself is a black woman is fucking ludicrous.

Most Democrats -- black, white, male, female -- have never even heard of Nina Turner.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

The idea that Nina Turner speaks for all black women solely on the grounds that she herself is a black woman is fucking ludicrous.

Who is saying this?