1
Opinion, Cornrnentarv t=d:tori3Is Letters
Black politic'
The recent election ID
k a critical cr oad fOl'
Black politics in A.merica.
OYe1Dber 7 . . heralded
day a " B
politia" born; the comiDa
of of a group of A&ican-
rican politicians 0 D
public office by promoting
"main tream" value and
ojecting strong ppe to
. e voter.
The gre t significance of
mber 7· that IaJp DUID
of . e voters in the e
ofVarginia and the .. of ew
Vork, Ne Haven, Dur
Cleve d and Seattle <Icci6Ne
ly de tr ted a willjngneu to
vote for Bl ck candidates.
What are witne· c-
cording to so aaalysts,. a
trend reby . e voters are
likely to be increasingly williDg I
to crossover to vote for
"mainstream" and "moderate"
African-American politicians.
The obvio questio .
this new trend poses for the fu
ture of Bl ck politics is will
be the cost of white voter sup
port or wh t price will B
politi . have to pay to form
Blac - hite coalitio , par
ticularly in th eirc aaces
ere a majority of . e votes
may be required to gain elec
tion?
The medi ' heavy emp
on "mainstream" and
"moder te" somehow sUIRIClts
th t cruci 1 item on the
African-American .ada such
full-employment, decent
afJordab e housing, health care,
education, the right to organize
uoio , education, civil-rights,
d affirmative ction are out
. de of the mainstream.
The implication is that the
B Agend must be set aside
or soft peddled in order. to ad-
dr real mainstream· .
In this context "mainstream"
y simply co e to be a code
word for that which is saleable
to and acceptab e to moderate,
ite, middle America.
Africaa-Americans will
need to proceed very cautiously
in this era of new Black
·tics.
The m may be very
murky ater for African
Ameri concerns and inter-
By -and large the principal
goal of B po .. cs has been
to er . te the barriers of r -
'cial discri . tion, econimic
iDjustice to overcome racist
. oppressio .
At its best, BI ck protest
po . . elector· politics
beea the coning edge of
the str "Ie to transform
America· 0 a DeW society free
of raei , sexism, reliaious
� ecooomic exploit a-
quo,
pr'a.mesaille
, fOl' CIIalDB.
We may DOW be forced to
coafr a KCoario here the
be . thin the ruling
.---
at
the
e in America, the two major
political parties and the media -
offer us up "moderate" and
"mainstream" Black faces a
meaas of maintaining cultural,
economic and political domin -
lion and CODtroL
Faced with .the pr pect of
this kind of strategy of coopt -
tion, African-Americans
must ourselves hether-
are simply seeking to replace
white faces with Black f: ces in
old place , or whether our
politic are fundementally
bout the liberation of the mas
ses of the Black poor, king
people and other oppressed
nationalities.
If our politics i simply dic
tated by a desire to get a Blac
face into public office then what
is to prevent us from perpetuat
ing our own oppression by fall
ing for a Ronald Reagan in
Blackface?
The basic desire of the vast
majority of African-Americans .
is to support and vote for Black
candidates because we want a
CHANGE in the condition of
our people. '
That's our mainstream agen-
cia. That coda may well" at
odds with other who have a dif
ferent definition of mainstream
crossroads
. and are C?nly willing to support
our candidates on terms which
mean that the Black Agenda is
submerged.
African-Americans m be
come increasmgly aware that
electing Black people to public
office does not automatically
tran late into political em
powerment or a change in the
condition of the Black masses.
For- one thing. there are
structural bartiers within the
system at all level which
severely constrain the capacity
of even the most weD meaning
Black elected officials to deliver
on the expectation of a ch8D2C '
in the quality of life for our
people.
When these constraints are
coupled with the election of
African-Americans to office
who are not pledged to the
Black Agenda, or candidates
who feel necessity to de em
phasis our nda in pursuit of
the white mainstream, then the
interests of African-Americans
will surely be uck at the very
bottom of the river.
Black politics i t a en . cal
crossroad where we African
Americans will either renew
our commitment to a human
centered, liberal-progre ive
Black Agenda, or find ourselves
duped and coopted by forces
which essentially seek to
preserve the status-quo by
having leaders from amongst us
lead us into the murky and '
d ngerous waters of the
American mainstream.
Ron Daniels served as the
Director 01 the NaJional Rain
bow Coalition and as the Deputy
Campaign !rI anager lor the
Reverend Jesse Jackson's
Presidential CIlmpaign '88. He
hasserved as President of the
i!aJional Black Assembly and as
Chairperson of the National
Black Independent Political
Party. Currentty, he serves as
PTtlident 01 the Institute lor
Community Organizlltion and
Devleopment in Youngstown,
Ohio. He nul)' be contllCted at
(216) 746-5747.
iniman wage, maximum shame
ODe day after Halloween,
the House of Represcoativea
took action to increase the
federal miniJftum to $4.2S
over tWo years. Unfortunately,
for rken, the vote
more trick thaD treat.
The vote represents only a
partial victory for tho e in
dividuals on the I rung of
the ecoaomic ladder. While the
action by the HOUle, represents
alo OYeI'due increase, it is no
cause for celebration, for it does
DOt fully restore the buying
�r of the minimum e,
which silo be $4.90 in
1990 if adj ed for inflalioD.
I voted for this compromise
piece of legislation because it
represented the best we could
get, under current olitical
rcaliti . B ,like other sup
porters of fair labor standards,
I did so, holding my nose.
As the, original author, with
Senator Edward M. Kennedy,
of the initial minimum w: ge
legislation ($4.65, in three
years) introduced earlier this
year, I am heartened that we did
, uceeed iD putting pressure on
the White Ho to raise the
I labor standard. Somethin& is
bett r than nothing. and it is my
hope that the next dmininstra
tion, whether it be republican or
democrat, will work with Con-
gr to increase the minimum
e rate to more equitable
levels. I am disheartened
however, by our political
leadership on critical issues
facing America's low and
moderate income families. Is-
ues such education, child
care; and the minimum wage
should be addressed on their
merit. It contr t, President
Bush floats these issues out to
the public like a weather bal- •
loon, and then, gauges his up
port on how he feels the public
sentiment is drifting.
Minimum wage workers
fortunately ha\le organized
tituency. They are voiceless
andpoftl
E� the rank-and-file
ben of the APL-CW, stro
supporters of a higher minm
wage, are not minimum
worker. Withou or'UDlI2ed
constituency, these individ
get squeezed out by powe I
interests and insensitive poli -
cal negotiato .
The same can be said a
child welfare· ues, Failure t
address inadequate fundin
levels for Head Start, Chapter
immunization programs, etc ..
a result of children lackin
political clout. On the othe
hand, efforts to give way t
benffit through a favorabl .
change in the capital gain
r te, were; pursued with en
thusiasm and vigor by the Whi e ,
House. The most disappointing
feature of the minimum
. legislation the incl ·0 of
temporary (up to 6 months)
subminimum wage for rkers,
less than age 20. The sub
miinimum trainingwage is just
another opportuntiy to allow,
wor er I than explo· . •
Many of these low level jobs re
quire very little training. if any
at all. We train soldiers to drive
an M-l tank in about the e
time as the two 90 day periods .
in the training wage provision.
CIA agents are prepared for
duty in bout same amount
of time. Why should youn
people, many of whom are help
ing to upport and supplement
a family, or earning money for
college, receive substandard
w ge?
The minimum wage com
promise received overwhelm
ing support in the fmal votetaJ
. Iy. Don't be deceived by this
numerical total. Many members
had he vy hearts in voting for
. the hill. They felt as I do, tha the
working poor d rved better
deal. We must continue the
fight economic Justice: