The Congressional Black Caucus' annual conference is underway, and black women’s relationship with the Democratic Party has been a hot topic of debate.
The Washington Post reports that the Democrats might have something to worry about.
A new Black Women’s Roundtable and Essence magazine survey entitled “Power of the Sister Vote,” found that the percentage of black women who claimed the Democratic Party “best represents their interests” has dropped by a significant amount in the last year, going from 85 percent to 74 percent.
That’s an 11 percent drop!
The elephant-themed party shouldn’t get too excited, however.
Only one percent of black women feel the GOP represents them and their concerns. The bulk of black women actually said that neither party is really here for them.
As for President Trump himself, 93 percent of black women don’t believe he’s addressing their concerns. But, of course, black women had already expressed as much in the voting booth.
"I think it's great," said Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights senior adviser Ashley Allison about the survey consisting of 1,247 women. "I think black women are saying, 'I don't owe anything to anybody except myself.' "
Though the survey respondents were made up of a self-selected group (instead of a random sample) and may not officially represent black women across the country, we can’t help but notice that the results do seem to echo public discussions amongst black women within social and political activism circles.
"Black women have been the most loyal supporters of the Democratic Party, through thick and thin," noted Avis Jones-DeWeever, a Black Women's Roundtable adviser. She said that, problematically, the party has focused more on wooing back "white male voters who have not supported the Democratic Party for 50 years" rather than "watering the garden in your own back yard."
Though black women came out in droves to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, it appears that many black women still have a general lack of faith in the Democratic Party.
In the survey, black women listed health care, quality public education, jobs with a living wage, criminal justice reform and hate crimes among their list of concerns. Of the survey respondents, 98 percent were registered voters.
"With black women at the core of our party, Democrats are focused on harnessing this moment of grassroots enthusiasm into a sustained movement for electoral gain at the ballot box,” said Amanda Brown Lierman, political director of the DNC, in a statement. “We're organizing around the values we share — access to affordable health care, the dignity of a good-paying job with good benefits and a path to retirement security, and a quality education that opens the doors of opportunity."
