Democrats and Republicans Continue to Ignore Black Voters

By Raynard Jackson
NNPA News Wire Columnist

Another election cycle, another year of Blacks being sold out by their media-appointed leadership.

Why am I the only one who seems amazed at how Hillary Clinton is so ostentatiously pimping Black folks for her own personal gain? Clinton has spent more time in the Black community in the past three weeks than she has in her entire adult life and has invoked the name of “Obama” more than the sum total of all Blacks collectively.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), like the lapdogs that they are, have almost uniformly endorsed her candidacy; all the media-appointed civil rights groups and individuals have either outrightly or tacitly endorsed her.

Groups like the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP), the NAACP, the National Urban League are nothing more than sycophantic supporters of all things Democratic.

I have a few questions for these groups that have blindly sold out the very Black community that they claim to represent. Can anyone name me something specific that Hillary has done for the Black community in her more than quarter of a century in public life? Why has Hillary, the self-avowed feminist who is married to the “first Black president,” not publically demanded Obama nominate or even just consider nominating a Black female to the vacant Supreme Court seat? Why is it that the media-appointed Black leaders are just happy Hillary shows up to meet with them and take photographs?

Isn’t it amazing that she never addresses the high unemployment rate in the Black community? Isn’t it amazing that she never discusses meeting with any Black entrepreneurs? Isn’t it amazing that she never discusses Black-on-Black crime?

All the Blacks she meets with make their living off the negative pathologies prevalent in the Black community. If the Black community actually started solving problems like unemployment, teenage pregnancy, poor schools, etc.; how and where would the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the CBC get their funding or justify their continued service in the United States Congress?

Observing Hillary’s interaction with the Black community, one would conclude that all Blacks are involved in some aspect of the criminal justice system. As shocking as it might seem to liberal Democrats, most Blacks have nothing to do with the criminal justice system; but yet that seems to be all that she talks about relative to Blacks.
Will she ever address how under Obama, the continued existence of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) is in doubt?

The average Black voter has no allegiance to Hillary and the Democratic Party; this is why I am so frustrated with the Republican Party.

The average Black voter is open to Republican solutions to Black unemployment, stronger enforcement of housing discrimination laws, school choice, civil and voting rights legislation, etc.

The Republican Congress must begin to engage with Blacks on substantive policy issues. Republican presidential candidates must begin to discuss Black entrepreneurship, school choice, and racial disparities with an eye towards proffering solutions.

We already know that Hillary and the Democrats will use fear to try to get Black voter turnout up. They know they have nothing of substance to say to motivate Blacks to vote Democrat, but they also know that Republicans are totally inept when it comes to engaging with the Black community.

Democrats will use the usual mantras: Republicans want to suppress the Black vote, they want to repeal civil rights laws, they want to build more jails for Blacks, etc.

Of course, none of these accusations are rooted in fact.
Republicans will reflexively go to all the liberal Black conventions (NAACP, Urban League, etc.) in their bizarre attempt to prove they are not racist; but they never demand any concessions from these groups like they would from a White group.

I have constantly advised Republicans to refuse to speak to any Black conventions unless they agree to put Black Republicans on their various panels throughout the week of their meetings. To my astonishment, their response is, “We can’t do that. We need them more than they need us.”

Let me interpret that statement for you. They are afraid to play hardball with Black groups because they “may” be called racist by the liberal media.

I am amazed at how much of the interactions Republicans have with the Black community is out of fear of being labeled a racist, as opposed to engaging with the Black community based on a set of shared values and interests.
Between both political parties, there have been close to twenty presidential debates; and no substantive discussion on the Black unemployment rate, the decline of HBCUs, or Black entrepreneurship. Why?

Black media, especially Black newspapers, are totally invisible in the presidential debates in both parties. Both parties are tripping over themselves with Hispanic media and addressing issues specific to that community; but with Blacks, not so much.

This despite the fact that Blacks vote at a much higher percentage than Hispanics and Blacks have a much larger voting age population (VAP).

Both parties fear Black people. The Democrats fear that Blacks won’t turn out without Obama being on the ballot; Republicans fear Blacks won’t vote for a Republican. Both are equally wrong.

Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC is an internationally recognized political consulting, government affairs, and PR firm based in Washington, DC. Jackson is an internationally recognized radio talk show host and TV commentator. He has coined the phrase “straticist.” As a straticist, he has merged strategic planning with public relations. Visit his website at: www.raynardjackson.com.

PHOTO CAPTION: Raynard Jackson says that he is amazed at how much of the interactions Republicans have with the Black community is out of fear of being labeled a racist, as opposed to engaging with the Black community based on a set of shared values and interests.