Young, Black And Not A Democrat?

[ethics]

A study released by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has found that younger blacks are <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/30/MN59492.DTL">less likely to identify as Democrats than in the past</a>.

The survey's findings come at a time when black members of Congress are saying they would rather not be identified solely as "black leaders," and as black voters are diversifying in opinion and national origin.

Blacks have long been thought of as a monolithic voting block. A shift has been appearing for some time. Its cause isn't clear.

Are the efforts of the Republican party finally paying off?

Are young blacks reflecting changes that are fostered throughout society? Or is this another example of the growing divide between the major political parties and America?

Through it all, one thing has remained the same, Clinton's 81% approval rate.

And remembering to avoid a false dichotomy, does this imply a rise in the Republican ranks or simply more fuel for independents?

[Coot]

Down 11% in 2 years. If that trend keeps up, they'll be a solid republican voting block by 2012 ;)

[Steve]

On a similar note, has anyone else heard about the growing support of the Green Party, among black activists? Among other things, the Green Party supports so-called "slavery reparations". I heard a gentleman this morning stating that within ten years, the middle- to upper-class white liberal which has been the mainstay support of the Green Party will leave en masse as black activists co-opt the party platform for their own purposes.

[RRedline]

Originally posted by Coot
Down 11% in 2 years. If that trend keeps up, they'll be a solid republican voting block by 2012 ;) And even if that happened, Jesse Jackson would still speak for all black Americans and imply that they are all democrats.

I am happy to hear that there is becoming less of a racial divide. I wonder though, has the average household income for black families by any chance gone up? I always thought that poorer people were much more likely to align themselves with the democratic party. I know it might not be an accurate generalization, but it also seems that wealthy people are more likely to be republicans. Then you have the middle-classers like me who can go either way.

I am just happy to see that people are going on their own and not listening to what their particular group tells them to do. For example, as a gay man(sorry, not trying to bring up that topic again!), it is expected of me by the majority of the community to support democratic candidates. Well guess what? Ummmm....no. Fiscal matters are more important to me than social ones, so I generally support republicans and sometimes independents.

That's not to say that there aren't any democratic ideas that I like. For example, I think school vouchers are very bad for America; I support improving the public system. Isn't it odd that Al Gore is so vehemently opposed to vouchers and very vocal about his support for public education, yet he sent all of his children to expensive, private schools? Hmmmmmmm...