cawacko
Well-known member
For context the author, Justin Phillips, is a black progressive. He regularly writes that if you complain about crime in SF and don't support defunding the police then you are a conservative. If you don't support reparations in SF then you are a conservative (a City with less than 7% registered Republicans). So to hear him saying anything negative about Democrats is pretty shocking.
I guess the argument in response to this is we have a two party system and the other party is worse, so suck it up and vote for us.
Black California voters feeling their votes don’t have power, and Democrats are largely to blame
A new poll shows a growing number of Black voters in California feel their votes don’t matter. How should the state’s Democratic supermajority respond?
Black voters in California are increasingly disenchanted with the political process, and a significant portion are cool on the Democratic Party, according to a new poll that should greatly worry the party.
In surveying 1,200 Black adults in North Carolina, Georgia and California, the Black to the Future Action Fund, an organization that works to increase Black political power nationally, found that almost 30% of Black voters in California either didn’t vote Democrat or split their votes across political parties. The figure was roughly 10 percentage points higher than in both Georgia and North Carolina.
California experienced the biggest decline among the states in Black voters’ belief that their votes have power, from 51% in August to 42% in December, according to the poll, which was conducted in December and released this month.
The results make sense. Black Californians have dealt with a decades-long wealth gap, make up about 40% of the state’s homeless population, experienced the most hate crimes of any racial group in 2021, and had the highest unemployment rate of any racial group in 2022, all while Democrats have held a near-unbroken majority in the state Legislature over the past five decades.
If Democrats want to ensure Black voters’ continued loyalty, the party has to stop making the group wait decades for the passage of critical Black-focused legislation, like the repeal of the racist, 73-year-old housing measure Article 34 in California’s Constitution. The measure, which lawmakers will try again to remove in 2024, makes it tougher to create affordable housing and reflects the state’s 1950s-era anxieties about Black people living in or near white neighborhoods.
The poll also reveals that Black California voters are worried about crime, though this does not necessarily mean the group wants an increase in the number of police. Democrats can show they understand these fears by making long-term investments in community policing and social services that reduce crime, and not padding the bloated budgets of police departments that continue to prove they, alone, can’t.
An argument might be made that Democrats can “buy” the votes of Black people by making multimillion dollar reparations a reality. Even if the Democrats succeed, it won’t prove they’re allies to the Black community; it will just serve as America rightfully fulfilling a promise it made to Black people 158 years ago.
Ludovic Blain, executive director of the California Donor Table, a statewide community of donors that invest in communities of color, told me that Democratic politicians need to disentangle themselves from corporate interests because “in California corporate interests are exactly contrary to Black community interests.”
“That means when dealing with housing, not listening to Realtors and building real housing. Not listening to the oil companies and actually protecting the environment. Not listening to the gig companies and actually protecting workers. Not listening to the police unions and actually investing in public safety,” Blain said.
It doesn’t help that Democratic candidates are also failing to even provide Black voters with the information they need.
Across the three states that the Black to the Future Fund polled, 42% of Black people who did not vote in the 2022 midterm elections felt poorly informed about the candidates. And 79% said no liberal or Democratic organization came to their neighborhood to gin up support for a candidate.
“When I was living in Oakland, there would be entire election cycles where nobody came to knock on my door, and I’m someone who is very politically engaged,” said civil rights activist Alicia Garza, the founder and leader of the Black to the Future Action Fund.
When it comes to the complicated challenge of making Black voters in California feel as though their votes can influence politics, Blain said more cities need novel approaches like what Oakland is doing.
Last year, Oakland passed a ballot measure to create “Democracy Dollars,” which are $25 vouchers that eligible Oakland voters will receive in 2024 to be used as contributions to the campaigns of their preferred candidates in races for city offices.
For Black voters who have witnessed how a small number of wealthy donors can influence political campaigns and their results, the program is promising.
Even a recent University of Washington study shows the concept increases voter participation, and advocates say this increase is largely in communities of color. So far, Oakland is the only California city to put the program in place.
Undoubtedly, Black voters in 2024 will once more be asked by Democrats to go to the polls to save America. I just hope that by then, the party will have given us a reason to once again do it.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea...lack-voters-democrats-california-17852657.php
I guess the argument in response to this is we have a two party system and the other party is worse, so suck it up and vote for us.
Black California voters feeling their votes don’t have power, and Democrats are largely to blame
A new poll shows a growing number of Black voters in California feel their votes don’t matter. How should the state’s Democratic supermajority respond?
Black voters in California are increasingly disenchanted with the political process, and a significant portion are cool on the Democratic Party, according to a new poll that should greatly worry the party.
In surveying 1,200 Black adults in North Carolina, Georgia and California, the Black to the Future Action Fund, an organization that works to increase Black political power nationally, found that almost 30% of Black voters in California either didn’t vote Democrat or split their votes across political parties. The figure was roughly 10 percentage points higher than in both Georgia and North Carolina.
California experienced the biggest decline among the states in Black voters’ belief that their votes have power, from 51% in August to 42% in December, according to the poll, which was conducted in December and released this month.
The results make sense. Black Californians have dealt with a decades-long wealth gap, make up about 40% of the state’s homeless population, experienced the most hate crimes of any racial group in 2021, and had the highest unemployment rate of any racial group in 2022, all while Democrats have held a near-unbroken majority in the state Legislature over the past five decades.
If Democrats want to ensure Black voters’ continued loyalty, the party has to stop making the group wait decades for the passage of critical Black-focused legislation, like the repeal of the racist, 73-year-old housing measure Article 34 in California’s Constitution. The measure, which lawmakers will try again to remove in 2024, makes it tougher to create affordable housing and reflects the state’s 1950s-era anxieties about Black people living in or near white neighborhoods.
The poll also reveals that Black California voters are worried about crime, though this does not necessarily mean the group wants an increase in the number of police. Democrats can show they understand these fears by making long-term investments in community policing and social services that reduce crime, and not padding the bloated budgets of police departments that continue to prove they, alone, can’t.
An argument might be made that Democrats can “buy” the votes of Black people by making multimillion dollar reparations a reality. Even if the Democrats succeed, it won’t prove they’re allies to the Black community; it will just serve as America rightfully fulfilling a promise it made to Black people 158 years ago.
Ludovic Blain, executive director of the California Donor Table, a statewide community of donors that invest in communities of color, told me that Democratic politicians need to disentangle themselves from corporate interests because “in California corporate interests are exactly contrary to Black community interests.”
“That means when dealing with housing, not listening to Realtors and building real housing. Not listening to the oil companies and actually protecting the environment. Not listening to the gig companies and actually protecting workers. Not listening to the police unions and actually investing in public safety,” Blain said.
It doesn’t help that Democratic candidates are also failing to even provide Black voters with the information they need.
Across the three states that the Black to the Future Fund polled, 42% of Black people who did not vote in the 2022 midterm elections felt poorly informed about the candidates. And 79% said no liberal or Democratic organization came to their neighborhood to gin up support for a candidate.
“When I was living in Oakland, there would be entire election cycles where nobody came to knock on my door, and I’m someone who is very politically engaged,” said civil rights activist Alicia Garza, the founder and leader of the Black to the Future Action Fund.
When it comes to the complicated challenge of making Black voters in California feel as though their votes can influence politics, Blain said more cities need novel approaches like what Oakland is doing.
Last year, Oakland passed a ballot measure to create “Democracy Dollars,” which are $25 vouchers that eligible Oakland voters will receive in 2024 to be used as contributions to the campaigns of their preferred candidates in races for city offices.
For Black voters who have witnessed how a small number of wealthy donors can influence political campaigns and their results, the program is promising.
Even a recent University of Washington study shows the concept increases voter participation, and advocates say this increase is largely in communities of color. So far, Oakland is the only California city to put the program in place.
Undoubtedly, Black voters in 2024 will once more be asked by Democrats to go to the polls to save America. I just hope that by then, the party will have given us a reason to once again do it.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea...lack-voters-democrats-california-17852657.php
