philomath said:i was talking about finding a tenessee newspaper to see if there was more behind the harold ford situation
i am new to this forum so i haven't read every single thread
my main question is how many blacks are there in those cities you mentioned? i understand that california has more hispanics than anything else, is that correct?
it starts small. my family is indirectly involved in politics since they and several other members of their group financially donate to the political campaigns of several politicians
again, how many of the black people you are talking about can vote?
my point to you is that if whites are a minority in cities such as los angeles but have more registered voters or a higher voter turnout then what is your argument?
my entire argument is based on a knowledge that in certain areas black and minority voters have lower VOTER TURNOUT...
"again, how many of the black people you are talking about can vote?"
significant numbers to make a difference who either remain unregistered or who have lost faith in the system who opt out.
personally, I can not blame those who don't vote, that have the right, but at the same time if there is a mechanism that they don't utilize they don't have the right to criticize those who do exercise that right or responsibility.
the lack of political representation in cities such as los angeles is not only due to ma lack of voter participation among Blacks but also the failure or inability of elected Black officials to unite in coalition building with others and/or ireesponsible decisions when they do, such as in supporting james hahn who turened on the black community and later tried to come back for support while basing his second mayoral campaign on the conservative democratic vote in the valley.
for year, his father kenneth hahn held down a supervisorial position largely due to the Black vote. It is this same Black vote which got james hahn elected and when he turned on the black community that vote shifted to antonio villaraigosa.
If Maxine Waters or Diane Watson did not work in the interest of the Black community and voters shifted to other candidates their latino or white constituents would also shift along with the black vote.
Rick Perry, Arnold and George Bush would not be in the positions they are in today without the Black vote. And they know it....