As always, an interesting piece from Fletcher - he impresses me as a serious radical who lives on planet earth. He and the rest of the Black Commentator crew really should be much better known.
[WS:] Perhaps, but I find the conceptual frame from which he operates a bit outdated, if not altogether troubling. Here is the offending excerpt:
> among African American voters. I agree. Build organization among
> the huge numbers of African Americans, growing numbers of Latinos
> and progressive whites who are, effectively, excluded from power
I see two problems here. First, he seems to assume that only whites are divided into "progressive" and "conservative" camps, while minorities (Blacks and Latinos) tend to vote as a block. The second problem, linked to the first one is that he seems to assume that political divisions seems to be written in stone e.g. progressives voting for left-leaning candidates, while conservatives voting for right-leaning ones.
I think that minority populations are split into progressive and conservative groups, just as whites do, however, white conservatives tend to be more likely to vote than minority conservatives. Hence the impression that whites are split, but minorities tend to vote as a block.
There are signs that Republicans are successfully reaching for Black conservative-leaning vote, which for example cost the Democrats the last gubernatorial election in MD.
Also I do not think that ideological orientation is a good predictor of voting, as demonstrated by seemingly oxymoronic expression 'Reagan Democrats' or more generally 'Another Democrat for a Republican candidate." People vote from their hearts, not for their brains. They voter their fears and hopes, celebrity status, etc. Mobilizing voters along ideological or race lines does not always work. Again, mayoral election in 1999 is a good example. An anti-crime (but not law-and-order) white Irish candidate got more Black votes than two Black candidates combined, one riding on a quasi-progressive and the other one on a race platform.
Wojtek