Download Political Issue Ethnicity and Elections

Political Issue Ethnicity and Elections
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The results of the 2006 mid-terms and 2004 elections tell us a great deal about the political
attitudes of American citizens.
What happened in the elections?
The Presidential election showed a continued strong relationship between African Americans
and the Democratic Party. 89% of African Americans voted for the Democratic candidate,
John Kerry.
The results were closer for Hispanics, with Kerry taking the majority, but only 55%.
The House of Representatives now contains 42 African Americans (all Democrats incidentally)
22 Hispanics (all bar four, Democrats) and seven Asians.
If we take the crude measure that 12.3% of the American population is African American and
12.5% is Hispanic, we can see under-representation going on.
In so far as the House of Representatives is concerned, the trend is towards more minority
representation.
The Senate is a different matter. Since 1788, there has only ever been one
African American elected to the US Senate at any one time.
Senator Barack Obama is the only African American in the new Senate and
there are only three Hispanic members.
This is not to say that racial issues are not important in the Senate.
Why the lack of representation?
The standard response to this is “apathy” due to many minorities living in poverty. It is a fact
across all capitalist democracies, that the poorer you are, the less likely you are to vote, far
less stand as a candidate in elections.
In the USA, if you are a minority, you are more likely to be poor, hence the lower voter turn
outs. There has always been a conservatism by American political parties in their choice of
political candidates.
Even for minor office in the states, it takes money to run for election. Money follows money.
People and organisations will back candidates who look as if they will win.
Traditionally, if you are white and male your chances of winning are so much the better. White
voters, the majority racial group, like a white face to vote for. But things are changing.
Redistricting: Majority/minority districts: Gerrymandering
Under the federal Voting Rights Act, US states are required to draw up voting districts which
give “minority groups an equal opportunity to participate in the political process” in order to
“elect representatives of their choice”.
This means that where a state has districts where a minority group e.g. African Americans
makes up a majority of the local population, election boundaries need to be redrawn to create
so-called “minority-majority” districts.
During the late 1980s, under President George Bush senior, the US Justice department
ordered states to carry out “redistricting”. In other words, create electoral boundaries that give
ethnic minorities a greater chance of being elected.
This assumes of course that voters will vote according to their race i.e. a black voter will vote
for a black candidate. Following the 1990 census, redistricting throughout the USA increased
the number of African American and Hispanic majority districts.
States such as Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia elected black
Congressmen for the first time in living memory.
Unsurprisingly, redistricting is controversial. In a similar way to the debate over Affirmative
Action, it is argued that this well intentioned policy, rather than overcoming racism, actually
increases it.
It assumes that only a black representative can represent black people.
It assumes also that these black/Hispanic voters are all the same and have the same
interests. In a sense it builds a racial divide into the political system.
Supporters claim that if it wasn’t for redistricting there would never have been the numbers of
minorities elected. Until there is greater equality in visible, high profile role models, to
encourage minorities to take part, redistricting is a necessary evil.
Participation
The stereotype of the black gangsta youth caring little for politics still has a strong basis in
fact. There are many thousands of blacks (males especially) who take no interest in voting.
In a different way, there are Hispanics who are new to the USA, either legally or illegally and
voting in elections is at the margins of their concerns. However, things are changing.
The voting “irregularities” (some would say cheating) in Florida in 2000 where thousands of
black voters were prevented from voting were a wake up call to black pressure groups. It may
have been a particular protest against George W Bush, but turnout by African Americans was
far higher at this Presidential election than any other.
Redistricting may have played a part too. Studies have shown that where a minority candidate
has a chance of winning, turnouts by minority voters go up.
The Unity 04 Campaign did a great deal to increase voter registration among
African Americans. Alongside notable celebrities such as P Diddy, the Unity 04
Campaign organised voter registration at churches, barber shops and college
campuses.
Phone banking and direct mail information supplied by sympathetic black
businesses allowed Unity 04 to target African American households. Car rides to the polls and
media campaigns on black radio and newspapers helped to get the voters out – almost 9 out
of every 10 for the Democrats.
Why do so many African Americans continue to vote Democrat?
There are strong historical reasons for the loyalty of African American voters to the
Democrats. JFK’s War on Poverty and his condemnation of racism kicked the boll rolling in the
‘60s.
The Democrats and President Johnston support for civil rights, along with
Republican opposition made the Democrats the “natural” party for black voters.
In the modern era of focus groups, target seats, key states and swing voters, the
Republican party has done its sums and realises the black vote just isn’t worth
wooing. White voters are much more likely to vote.
The Republicans have a solid grip of the South and the Middle American states.
This is despite, and more likely because of a sizeable black presence in the South. White
voters feel that if they don’t turn out and vote for a low taxing Republican, a high taxing,
possibly black but certainly pro-black, Democrat will get in.
The Republican Party has been getting whiter. Ok, so Condaleeza Rice is Secretary of State
and if Colin Powell ever ran for President, chances are he’d win and become the first black
President. A Republican one at that.
But white voters know that minorities use public services (buses, housing, schools) more than
they do. They support a party that will tax them less.
White male voters do not benefit from affirmative action and will support candidates who
oppose it. White voters feel that social problems such as crime and drugs are “black”
problems.
They will support a party which gets “tough” on offenders. African Americans get the message,
from overwhelmingly white, male Republican candidates that the Republican Party is not for
them.
So, 9 out of every 10 African American voters vote Democrat.
What about Hispanics?
The situation with Hispanics is a lot more fluid. While Kerry won the majority of the Hispanic
vote, in states where Hispanics were the key to success, (Florida, New Mexico and Nevada),
Bush won.
Hispanics are clearly much more likely to vote Republican than African Americans. Why?
For a start, there are bigger differences within the Hispanic population than the African
American. The Cuban professional in Miami has little in common with the minimum wage
Mexican dishwasher.
George W Bush also has been pro-active in winning Hispanic hearts and minds.
He claims to have Hispanic blood (they’re all at it now, so does Mariah Carey!)
and his promise of an amnesty for illegal immigrants was for many, proof that he
supported the American dream for everyone, not just white males.
Hispanics also did not go through the civil rights era together. They have arrived in America as
individuals, looking for their own individual American dream. There is not the “them and us”
attitude which many blacks feel towards Republicans.
Normalisation?
As always in Modern Studies, society moves on. Just because 90% of African Americans
support the Democrats doesn’t mean they always will. The good student can see that not all
African Americans are gangsters or criminals.
There is a growing black “middle class”; people who have benefited from university education
and affirmative action. They can afford a house in the ’burbs.
They want good schools for their children and want crime tackled just as much as the white
population does. Surely some of these people will behave like “normal” middle class voters
and vote for a party which reflects their economic self interest?
The Republican Party itself would like to have the votes of the “vanilla suburb” blacks but it
issn't critical whether it tries too hard.
The First Past the Post voting system, despite redistricting, rewards parties with a
concentrated base of support. The Republicans concentrated support is with the white
suburban middle class.
The Republicans almost unanimous opposition to affirmative action sends out a message to
black voters that the party is anti-minority.
While some minorities oppose affirmative action, most feel that racism is still a powerful force
in American society. Support or opposition to affirmative action has become a coded message
about whether a party is sympathetic or not to a race’s plight.
Segregation of the races is not just limited to housing, although this appears to be growing
rather than decreasing. Race permeates every aspect of American life. American teenagers
listen to different music, broken down by racial lines.
They wear different clothes, according to racial lines.
Sport too has its racial codes. The criminal justice system appears to punish “black” crime,
especially drug abuse more severely than white crime.
In this context, where the races “do their own thing”, it is hardly surprising that voting
Democrat is, like playing basketball or listening to rap music, something African Americans do
without even thinking about it. And even more when they do.
Student Activities
What evidence is there of continued support for the Democrats among black voters?
Why is this the case?
Why are ethnic minorities less likely to participate in politics?
What impact has redistricting had on American politics?
Why is it controversial?
Why are Hispanics more likely to vote Republican than African Americans?
In what ways does racial segregation remain a feature of American life?
Analysis
"The 2004 election results tell us that race is a crucial influence on voting in US elections"
Discuss.