The Mis-Education of the presidential candidates
12th August 2019 · 0 Comments
It’s old news to most African Americans that most votes cast for democratic candidates come from African Americans. Conventional wisdom is that the most loyal bloc of Democratic supporters are African Americans, with 91 percent voting Democratic most of the time. And African Americans make up 20 percent of the electorate, if you believe exit polls and recent studies.
Of course, since it isn’t clear how many African-Americans answer the U.S. Census (it’s common knowledge in our community that many don’t) those numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. Surely our numbers are greater than the Census figures suggest.
Political analysts today are predicting that African-American women voters will determine the Democratic primary winner. And even though African Americans are not monolithic, when it comes to politics and voting, all the presidential candidates are aware of the political power wielded by this group. Democratic candidates are vying for the African-American vote and Republican candidates seek to straight up suppress the vote of people of color, especially those of African Americans.
So, it makes sense that Democratic presidential candidates should seek out, reach out, and court the African American vote, by any means necessary, right?
Yes and no.
Yes, it’s true that Democratic presidential candidates thus far have taken a piecemeal approach toward African-American voters. They’ve been to Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Conference, the She the People Conference, the Essence Festival, Congressman Jim Clyburn’s Annual Fish Fry, and several Black churches. This past weekend, a handful of the candidates are attended the National Association of Black Journalists Convention.
But, no, most of the candidates have not used Malcolm X’s philosophy of “by any means necessary” to reach out to African Americans as effectively as they can.
Their ignorance and disrespect for a vehicle that reaches millions of African Americans and others makes one remember the wisdom of Carter G. Woodson, who wrote in “The Mis-Education of the Negro:”
“When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder…. Philosophers have long conceded, however, that every man has two educators: that which is given to him, and the other that which he gives himself. Of the two kinds the latter is by far the more desirable.”
It is painfully obvious that the Democratic presidential candidates have fallen prey to Woodson’s philosophy of the “Mis-education of the Negro” and the mental slavery Bob Marley alludes to in “Redemption Song.”
Consider this: If you are a presidential candidate, who has a great chance of convincing African-Americans voters to vote for you, wouldn’t you exhaust all means to sway them?
If you knew that 20 million Americans, from all backgrounds, including a majority of African Americans, seek news from the Black perspective and that between 10 to 15 million go to Black-owned and operated social media platforms, too, wouldn’t you want to connect to that group of potential voters? Often? Regularly? You know, like your visits and appearances in Iowa….
Obviously, not.
Of the 24 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president in June 2019, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the only one who agreed to address key influencers of the African-American community — the Black Press of America — at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) annual convention, which took place on June 28 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Why is that?
Since its founding 79 years ago, the NNPA, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has consistently been the voice of the Black community. It’s 205-member newspapers have millions of weekly readers, including in major markets like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans and all the nation’s “swing” states.
NNPA’s advertisers reach millions both in hard copies of its members’ newspapers and on 175 Black-owned and operated digital sites, and on its own news site, BlackPressUSA.com. The organization draws millions to its Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram sites, among others.
Indeed, NNPA’s member-newspapers continue to be the primary source for news for millions of African Americans. National of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan once said, “There would not have been a Million Man March, were it not for The Black Press.”
With all due respect, Democratic presidential candidates should not think going to the NABJ is the best way to reach the African-American community. That would be, always has been, The Black Press – owned, operated and representative of the Black populace.
Today’s presidential candidates are obviously mis-educated about the value of the Black-owned Press, the NNPA, and the power of Umoja, which is at the core of every major movement undertaken by African Americans. Ignoring us, thinking of us as an after-thought, paying us only lip-service will not get you to your goal. Do it at your peril. Ask Hillary.
This article originally published in the August 12, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
