Six Keys Categories African-Americans Can Sway the Vote to Either Party CONTINUED from PAGE 1 About Black Life in America
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Page 2 ~ THE VILLAGER/September 9, 2016 THE COMMUNIQUÉ www.theaustinvillager.com Six Keys categories African-Americans can sway the vote to either party CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 about Black life in America. “You live in your pov- erty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs,” he has argued to Black voters. While he usually speaks to mainly White crowds, Detroit itself is 83 percent Black. A look at how African-Americans will help deter- mine whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is elected the 45th president: ___ DEMOCRATIC BLOC In the decades since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 widely enfranchised African-Americans, they have be- come a reliable Democratic bloc. President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, won at least 95 percent and 93 percent of the Black vote in his two COURTING THE BLACK VOTE - In this March 5, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential victories, sending Republicans to historical lows among candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with African American ministers, in Detroit. In the decades since African-Americans, according to exit polls. the Voting Rights Act of 1965 widely enfranchised African-Americans, they have become a reliable In Detroit, Republican candidate Mitt Romney Democratic bloc. President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, won at least 95 percent won barely more than 6,000 votes out of more than and 93 percent of the black vote in his two victories, sending Republican to historical lows among 288,000 cast in 2012. Ronald Reagan notched 14 per- African-Americans, according to exit polls. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) cent of the Black vote in 1980, then slipped to 9 per- cent in 1984. The high mark for GOP nominees since Jaime Harrison, South Carolina’s first Black Demo- future.” Democratic politicians have ruined inner cit- was Bob Dole’s 12 percent in 1996. Polls this year sug- cratic Party chairman, says the party attracted Afri- ies, he says. The Rev. Mark Burns, one of Trump’s top gest Trump could fare worse than Obama’s opponents. can-Americans when President Lyndon Johnson signed African-American backers, recently distributed a car- ___ the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act and toon depicting Clinton in blackface. Burns later apolo- STEADY, CONCENTRATED Great Society programs — then cemented long-term gized. Blacks comprise between 12 and 13 percent of loyalty by defending that legacy he says offers Blacks “What the hell do you have to lose?” Trump has eligible voters (about 226 million), a relatively constant “an opportunity for a life closer to the promise of ‘all asked — delivering his pitch to an overwhelmingly share in recent decades. (Hispanics and Asian-Ameri- men are created equal.’” White audience. cans have driven overall non-white population in- Too many Republicans, Harrison says, answered Michael Barnett, an African-American, and chair creases.) with “so many dog whistles” intended “to exploit ra- of Florida’s Palm Beach County GOP, praises Trump for Until Obama’s historic run, Blacks hadn’t matched cial divides.” He pointed specifically to Reagan’s quips raising uncomfortable questions. “What has Barack their population strength at the polls, usually casting about “welfare queens” and George H.W. Bush’s “Willie Obama really done for Black people?” Barnett asks. 10 or 11 percent of presidential ballots. For Obama’s Horton ad” in the 1988 presidential campaign, which “At least Donald Trump is addressing these issues.” victories, the African-American share hit 13 percent. featured a Black prisoner released on furlough by Bush’s Still, Trump’s abysmal description of life in Black Black voters are relatively concentrated in Mid- Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Gov. Michael communities falls short. African-Americans as a whole Atlantic and Southeastern states, but they also repre- Dukakis. lag other race and ethnicity groups in many economic sent a significant portion of the populations in Chicago, ___ indicators. Yet, the latest Census Bureau analysis puts Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia. TRUMP’S BLACK AMERICA median household income for Blacks at $35,398; that’s ___ Trump says Clinton is “a bigot who sees people of See WHERE IT MATTERS MOST, page 7 WHY SUCH LOYALTY? color only as votes, not as people worthy of a better.