I Worked For Bruce Davis

In “Congress in Black and White,” Christian Grose discusses his theory of politics and the different methods of choosing a representative that will serve the majority and minority communities equally. He believes that the best way to choose a representative is based on the majority of the people within that community. For example, he states that the best person to represent the African American community would be another African American who can empathize with what the community experiences on a daily basis. He explains the two theories black majority versus black-influence districts. For example, the term white-majority has lost its emphasis over the year. Within California, you can

Additional factors, in contrast, appear to have been less strong in this election than one would assume. Estimates of voter turnout indicate that African Americans cast ballots at unprecedented rates in the 2008 presidential election. Barack Obama was considered the first Black major party presidential nominee, and this would be no surprise. This text is a clear example of African Americans being heightened with interest, efficacy, and a sense of racial identity due to the candidacy of Barack Obama the main factor contributing to the surge in Black voter turnout.

It is now 2017. African Americans are apart of the society of the United States. They are an equal contributor to the success of the country. Even after having an African American president, some White people fail to acknowledge to role the African American race has played in the progression of our country. Politics have been historically dominated by White males. Even though politicians are supposed to represent their region as a whole, not by each separate race, they still are one-sided. Ward composes a brief experience she had with a White politician, “Trent Lott took a whip as long as a car off his office table, where it lay coiled and shiny brown, and said to my one male schoolmate who grinned at Lott enthusiastically: Let’s show ‘em how us good old boys do it. And then he swung that whip through the air and cracked it above our heads, again and again. I remember the experience in my bones” (Ward 6). Despite the progress that the United States has made as a country, some people are stubborn and forever stuck in their ways. To have a whip in your

Reports about gerrymandering, the dividing of a district to give one political party a majority while concentrating to have an electoral advantage, is dominating the news. For example, the Washington Post Editorial Board wrote a piece on how federal judges delivered a blow to racial gerrymandering in Virginia (Editorial Board, 2014). Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District stretches from James River from Norfolk to Richmond engaged in racial gerrymandering and the panel of judges ordered state lawmakers to redraw the boundaries by next spring. They pack more blacks voters into black incumbent Rep. Booby Scott (D), which already had a majority black population and this left other districts “whiter and safer” for Republican incumbents and this raises many questions as many answers because it suggests the redistricting plays a huge role in affecting black

146). In 1989 many Blacks were elected under this paradigm including mayors, David Dinkins in New York, Norm Rice in Seattle, John Daniels in New Haven, Connecticut, Chester Jenkins in Durham, North Carolina, and Michael White in Cleveland (p. 146). Also, in that election Douglas Wilder became the first Black governor in Virginia since Reconstruction, and these successes lead many throughout the Black political arena began to adopt this “race-neutral” philosophy (pgs. 146-147). Transcending into the 1990’s Black scholars analyzing how political campaigns emphasizing the importance of racial disparities and barriers were polarizing to the white community, came up with strategies that was called “deracialzation” (p. 147). Proposing that to remove the element of racial politics out of a campaign would weaken the impact of the Republican Party’s traditional use of race as a way to play on the inherent racial prejudices of Whites, and revert to the coalition politics of uniting labor, liberals, Whites and Blacks under the same banner. Candidates using the “deracialzation” template exhibit behavior that in non-threatening to Whites, and avoid talking about issues that

However, Secretary Clinton must find ways to preserve this level of support. African American voter turnout had record highs of 65% and 66% in ’08 and ’12 respectively (Walter,1). While this turnout was a piece of a larger trend, the chance to vote for the first black President could have overinflated these numbers. Obama pulled down 95% and 93% of the black vote in the general elections, and Sec. Clinton must find a way to replicate those results. She will not have the support based on shared demographics that the president benefitted from. The secretary is a rich white woman and that demographic difference from her predecessor will require her to find different ways to connect to this voting bloc. Specifically, she will need to run a color conscious campaign, in contrast to the relatively color blind campaigns that the President ran.

How the republican party gain black-american votes, is more or less the same as the democratic party gained votes using their own strategies. As both parties have been influencing minorities, ethnic groups have been sought after as voting blocs and attracted by one or another political party based on agendas designed specifically for them (Zake and Gormly, 469–490). This offers insight on how strategies were used not just by the republican but also by the democratic party, this insight offers an opposing viewpoint of Brown that the Republican party was not the only party to use political strategies that were constructed to create diversity. There are many ways that ethnic groups and minorities have been part of political content, during the 1930s the Democratic Nationalities Division found itself engaged in political work even in the periods between the election campaigns and its task was to generate a long-term strategy for appealing to ethnic voters. It consisted of a person or two looking after foreign language affairs (Zake and Gormly, 469–490). The Democrats’ strategy was to put senators or congressmen as the leaders of these foreign languages sections and thus avoid conflicts and power competition among different leaders within the ethnic group. Doing this gives other minorities a sense of accomplishment. Going back to the republicans

Second, Clinton’s Black endorsements will sway the general African-American population to vote for her. Clinton’s strategic plan to use Black endorsements to her campaign’s advantage is shown in the aforementioned column, Key Bloc of Black Mayors to Back Hillary Clinton. Author, Perry Bacon Jr., writes: “Clinton has made courting African-Americans activists a key part of her campaign, from attending the annual gala for the Congressional Black Caucus to meeting with key figures in the ‘Black Lives Matter’ [movement]” (NBC News). It is essential to note that Clinton’s ability to “court” Black socioeconomic and political figures she has inevitably allowed her to received a large faction of their approval nationally. Consequently, these endorsements will ultimately persuade the general Black public to vote for Clinton because they are influence by the decisions of the nation’s Black leaders. African-American endorsements represent more than just fiscal support for Clinton’s campaign, rather it gives her the “she is one of us” Black appeal for her presidential

clearly says that “Kentucky is not ready for a black president”, the film also brought to the forefront of how divided the country, not only between black and white, rich and poor, or red and blue, but between the educated and the uneducated—a fact exemplified routinely by the incessant criticism of Obama's tenure at Harvard.

A little over two years ago, the Republican Party surprised me by electing its first African-American chairman. I would have never thought that it would happen and many had their own ideas why. Whatever the reason, that was now the case and history was made. Not being of this party, I can not speak directly to the affect he had on this party but what I can say is how much of his election made me begin to see both parties moving forward and America finally beginning to turn the page on race relations. I knew that we still have a very long way to go to finally putting race relations in our rearview mirror but it was a very big step and one that should be applauded. I looked at the Republican Party in a completely different light and even speculated

In Whose Black Politics?: Cases in Post-racial Black Leadership, Andra Gillespie argues that there has been a transformation when it comes to black leaders when looking at Generation X. Gillespie has created a three-dimension model. These typologies are what Gillespie calls “Third Phrase Black Politicians” in which is a “wave characterized by ambitus politicians with more moderate politics” (13). These leaders will not have as many racialized political views and movements like the previous generation such as the Civil Rights movement. Gillespie analyzes the different leadership types using a multidimensional model such as if the individual has crossover appeal, ties to the black establishment, and perceived trajectory. The typologies are broken down into eight different types such as the Ivy League upstarts, Local Kids Made Goods, Rebrands of their parents, Deracialized sequels, chips off the old block, New “Old standard Bearers, New Activists, and Rebels without a chance. This critical review will be to apply Gillespie’s typology to Harold Ford Jr., Artur Davis, Cory Booker, Marion Barry, Jesse Jackson Jr., Michael Steele, and Tim Scott, who are Black politicians that have similar and different backgrounds. To understand Gillespie typologies there must be an understanding of the multidimensional model that is use to analyze the typologies. In addition, Gillespie typology goes much deeper because it help us understand how sometimes to be successful you have to have both

The election of President Obama marks the most noteworthy political accomplishment for African Americans in the United States during the post-civil rights revolution, thus bringing about a change in the country’s social and political landscape that was steeped in racial discrimination since the founding of this great nation. Because social and political conditions are subject to constant change, President Obama’s

Choosing a candidate explicitly based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status might seem strange, but the concept of descriptive representation is deeply ingrained in our political norms: voters want candidates who share their experiences and their connections, not carpetbaggers. We see that in the Constitution: even the president must be born here to qualify for the job. The concept of being ‘one of us’ is almost intuitive (Mansbridge 1999). Substantive representation, or a representation of issues, is the idea that elected representatives should advocate for the issues that are important to their constituents (Griffiths 1960). As this paper will show, descriptive representation is often a crucial mechanism for substantive representation: for the African-American community, racial solidarity between a representative and their constituent is often the best indicator that the representative will serve their unique interests of the voters. My paper will explore the relative and correlative significance of descriptive and substantive representation for the political empowerment of the African-American community. First, I will examine the inherent benefits of descriptive representation; second, I will analyze the powerful connections between descriptive and substantive representation; third, I will address criticisms of the active pursuit of

Prior to the 1960s, rarely was there black representation in Congress. Putting aside for a moment the irony of this in a country that declared its independence under the banner of “no taxation with representation,” this posed a serious issue for the black community.

As an administrative intern for Battle Born Progress, I’ve developed a plethora of professional skills that have facilitated my understanding on how the political process works, particularly with campaigns. In the early part of my internship, I was learning the organizational structure of Battle Born Progress as a public relations firm. As a non-profit organization, Battle Born Progress seeks to strengthen the progressive community of Nevada through strategic communications and mobilization techniques in order to provide a fair opportunity for everyone to succeed. Since other organizations recognize the public relations value of Battle Born Progress, they will often times compensate Battle Born Progress in exchange for running their social media accounts. As an administrative intern, I was primary in charge of running social media for Battle Born Progress and its partners. Although the first couple of weeks were challenging, I became confident in my ability to effectively communicate the appropriate message to each of our partner’s social media accounts. Furthermore, since this was an election year, I was taught a combination of administrative and campaign skills. This paper will be examining the chronological order of my internship at Battle Born Progress from August of 2016 to December of 2016.