Black Political Zone

What are black voters going to do? (Note: It is my belief that if we had gotten Howard Dean in office, which would have given the Democrats a swift kick in the butt, we wouldn't be in this situation, but I digress). We have a Democratic party that does not respect our vote, yet whose policies overall are better for us. On the other hand, we have a Republican party whose poilcies are horrendous for us, yet who now are running black candidates who support their policies (such as backing the Iraq War, being anti-affirmative action, being pro-big business, etc.) to secure some black votes.

Michael Steele, an African American Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland embodies this Catch-22. We wish the Democrats would support us, we have even worst things to say about the Republicans, so the Republicans are basically asking us why don't we just support something new---a black Republican candidate? Media moguls and entrepreneurs such as Russell Simmons and Cathy Hughes have jumped on board to support Steele. Mike Tyson and Don King have also given their support, although I'm not sure whether their support helps or hurts. Note that all four are among the wealthiest Americans and are business-people, so it's not surprising that they would jump onboard to back a Republican candidate.

Clearly, supporting Steele won't help. What is needed though is the support and development of more African American progressive candidates who can shake up the Democratic party. Perhaps the rise of candidates such as Deval Patrick and Barack Obama will help in strengthening the pipeline. What are your creative ideas?