Davis loss in Alabama a sign of black establishment's clout

[Number23]

From CNN.com

"In his campaign to become Alabama's first African-American Democratic nominee for governor, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis downplayed race, bucked the black establishment and watched his opponent rack up endorsements from the state's key minority political groups."

Money Quote: Davis opted against soliciting the endorsements of the major black political organizations in the state, all of which went to Sparks.

...The move highlighted the chasm between Davis, 42, and black establishment groups, headed by civil rights leaders like Democratic activist Joe Reed and former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington.

They felt that Davis had shunned his own race, personally insulted them with his campaign and stood no chance against a Republican candidate in November, Browder said.

Seems he was mostly done in by not going after endorsements from members of the 'black establishment' and for voting against health care reform while representing a mostly black district where 1 in 5 don't have health insurance. Dumb.

Even John Lewis backed Sparks, his opponent!

Do you think that this will end the endless and idiotic comments from non-blacks that we only support black candidates because of their skin color?? Nah, I didn't think so either...

[angee_is_mad]

1. Probably not

even now they are trying to tie his defeat to Obama's lack of clout. Silly people.

[Number23]

3. "even now they are trying to tie his defeat to Obama's lack of clout."

What?? HOW??

So now Obama is responsible for the success or failure of every black person that seeks public office?? Lord have mercy.

If anything, the fact that the "black elite" didn't campaign for Davis and openly supported his opponent should have proven that black people are not some monolithic entity possessing some "uni-brain" where we all think, say and do the same thing the way so many white people think that we do. But I should have known in this current age of "blame all things on Obama" that even this would be laid at his feet.

I take comfort that the "Blame Obama" crowd seems to be getting smaller by the day. At least the "liberal" ones. Or maybe it's just that they are getting less coverage, I don't know.

[Brewman_Jax]

2. On the contrary

this rather confirms the presence of the racist caste system. Davis is a lawn jockey and regular panderer for the local white power structure, much like Alan Keyes, who's more conservative than most conservatives. Like Keyes, he has run into the unpleasant and unspoken truth--the majority of white people will not vote for a black candidate, esp. at a state or national level, regardless of credentials. It goes back to the basic racist belief: Not-white equals not-qualified.

White people vote for the best and more qualified candidate, i.e., a white candidate, while non-white people vote based on race, i.e., a non-white candidate.

The idiotic and racist comments won't stop. :(

[Number23]

4. Yep. But that's because people of color can never be viewed as individuals

You would think that in an instance such as this and in the case of Alan Keyes and a few other people, that certain white people would stop with the tragically flawed and trifling premise that black people always support black candidates because of our "shared skin." That has not been the case for some time and I don't know that it ever has been. Black people have always been on the lookout for Uncle Toms and "sell outs." The idea that we don't know that our own people are capable of selling us out and that we automatically look to someone with our melanin quotient to represent us is not true. More often than not, we have always looked at the platform and what the person running for office is about.

Your point is very well made about blacks who cater to racist whites not seeming to understand that these folks will not vote for them or even if they do, put a level of expectation on them that they could not ever even hope to achieve (the phrase "setting them up to fail" comes to mind). I think some of the folks in my other post about the 32 blacks running for office as Repubs are about to come to a rude and painful awakening.

Plus, Brew you win points from me for always finding the most appropriate uses of the term "lawn jockey." Love it. :)