Are Black Democratic Leaders Finally Getting Over A Bout of Political Recalcitrance?

By

Dr. Sherman N. Miller

2/15/2008

With the black community going overwhelming for Senator Barack Obama, it was a matter of time before black super-delegates that are elected officials would start to fall in alignment with their constituencies. If the Black Democratic officials continued to ignore the will of their voters, one might expect some wholesale house cleaning by their electorate come November 2008. Surely the Republican Party is hoping that the Black Democratic leaders demonstrate recalcitrance against accepting the will of their voters in support for Senator Barack Obama and cast their super-delegate vote for Senator Hillary Clinton. This black leadership tomfoolery would offer Black Republican candidates an opportunity to morph from political octoroons to enfranchised candidates while undermining the great black support of Democratic candidates.  

            Senator Hillary Clinton is finding that yesterday’s black civil rights leaders’ allegiance to former President Bill Clinton is being trumped by today’s voter reality. Considering the US median age is roughly fewer than 40, the young people have little knowledge of the civil rights movement or the wicked values relished by yesterday’s white supremacist to foster racial segregation.  The white racial segregationists have maintained some whites-only enclaves but racial integration already may well have evolved into the national psyche where young voters no longer fall victim to race baiting politics.  A Democratic white politician recently shared that there is a definite philosophical shift afoot in the nation that is demonstrated by Senator Obama winning in states with very small black populations.

            I recently attended a retirement get-together for former executives and professions of a multinational corporation. In the table discussion, one white chap in his eighties, whose grandfather hid Confederate horses from General Sherman in the rural south during the US Civil War, commented that he saw a definite change in attitudes about race in the nation today. This person shared how in a Nineteen Fifties luncheon discussion he forecasted the present day positive race relations and his white peers thought he was crazy. He feels as the population over 55 disappears the attitude about race will improve a great deal more.   

            Will the Democratic Hispanic leaders in Texas now see value in encouraging their constituencies to support Senator Obama? Will Hispanics lose this historical moment by finding their vote that delivers delegates being partially trumped by the Texas black vote in the March 4 primary?  Should Senator Clinton lose Texas she might conclude that Senator Obama’s momentum is too great to continue the struggle. Hence, the Texas Hispanic vote may be the deciding vote in the selection of the next President of the United States of America.