Greens also adopted an African-American Outreach proposal which authorizes authorizes the party to hire part-time staff for a campaign that includes enlisting the participation of prominent African-American political and religious leaders, cultural figures, scholars, and writers to speak out on matters of importance to both Greens and African-Americans. The outreach campaign will especially target historically black colleges and universities.
"The support Ralph Nader gained from some well-known African-American figures, including Randall Robinson, Danny Glover, and Chuck D was vital to Mr. Nader's campaign in 2000 and to the Green Party in general," said George Martin, Wisconsin Green Party co-spokesperson and co-chair of the national party's Black Caucus. "They helped us gain new membership and participation not just among African-Americans but all Americans who respect their leadership."
| Green Party press release dated July 21, 2003
There were early predictions that Ralph Nader would capture a significant segment of the Black vote. That was not the case. "The Black Nader vote nationally was only one percent," said Ron Walters, Professor of Government and Politics, Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park. "Generally we can say the Black voters did not turn out and vote for Ralph Nader, they were far more pragmatic than that - 99 percent of the Black vote went to the two major candidates."
Walters also reported that Nationwide, Vice President Al Gore received 90 percent of the African American vote; George W. Bush 9 percent and Ralph Nader 1 percent.
| From "National Coalition's efforts lead to upsurge in black voters," a National Coalition on Black Civic Participation press release dated Nov. 10, 2000.
posted in articles on July 22, 2003 11:25 PM | t (0)
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To quote Chris Rock:
"'Cuz they was scared!"
The scare tactics used by (YES!) Democrats kept many African Americans from voting for Nader. All that talk about "a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush" was bunk. A vote for Nader was a vote for Nader. Al Gore lost because he couldn't harness the reins handed to him by Clinton. Any talk about Florida is moot as he could have challenged the removal of thousands of Democratic voters (read: mostly African Americans) from the Florida rolls weeks prior to the Presidential election.
If McKinney joins the Greens, it'll be a very interesting 2004.
I'm not onboard with many of the Green Party policy desires but there is something so compelling about hearing a political party say "We Want You!"
and not only, "We Want You!" but "We Want to Hear You and Work for What You Want!"
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