Maynard Jackson, former Mayor of Atlanta, was pushed out of the running for the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Charles McCall was abandoned by the Party in his run for the Governor of New York. Both of these men had the opportunity to break barriers for the country and for the Democrat Party, and they were not supported.
There are two Black women of distinction in this Party's past. Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisolm attempted to break the barriers of their race, gender and party by running for the Presidency. Maybe the time wasn't right for these women, or for any woman for that matter, but they were treated badly by their party.
Two men have made somewhat serious bids for the Presidency, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. In a country as diverse as this one, these are not the faces of unity no matter what race you are.
The Congressional Black Caucus has been in existence for decades and what leaders on a grand scale have they produced? At best their members are considered fringe by the party they have supported in lock step for forty years. Rep. John Lewis should be much farther along in the leadership and Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. should have been the new voice of the House of Representatives, but they were not taken seriously.
For some reason, Blacks have been the most loyal voting group for the Democratic Party and what have they gotten in return. They have been "dissed." Even Black Democratic strategists will tell you off the record that you see a lot of Democratic candidates at election time but after 95% of the Black vote is delivered, their issues are pushed to the side.
Now I do not want to see a shift of that magnitude to the Republican Party, but I do think that Blacks would be better served if the Democrats had to work for their vote and the Republicans thought they had a chance.
On November 6, 2000, John Lewis said, "Even though I am a partisan, Blacks would be better served if parties had to earn their votes."
Let us look at the record of the Republican Party. Lyndon Baines Johnson thanked Republicans for the passage of the Civil Rights Act and The Voting Rights Act. Richard Nixon started affirmative action and Ronald Reagan signed into law the holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 10 years on the political scene, J. C. Watts has risen to higher places of power in the Republican Party than any Black Congressman on the Democratic side of the aisle. We have known of Colin Powell's political affiliation for less than 10 years and he is now the highest ranking Black man to ever serve a President of the United States.
Bill Clinton did not have a single person of color in the 7 positions that were closest to him in the eight years he was in office. Over 20 people filled those positions and not a single person of color was in that group.
George W. Bush was confident in the abilities of Condelezza Rice and Colin Powell. So much so that they are the faces that he shows to the world to represent our interests at home and abroad.
Some will say that Rice and Powell are tokens. Look at their qualifications. Can you really say that any successful person, Black or White, has benefited from someone that believed in their abilities?
The Democrats have a problem with race. If they want an honest discussion on race, then "bring it on." The better solution would be that Black people and the rest of us need to make both parties answer for their racial politics.
Martha Zoller is the host of WDUN AM 550's The Martha Zoller Show. You can see her weekly on Fox 5 Atlanta's The Georgia Gang and frequently on CNN and The Fox News Channel.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/2/183163