THE DRIFT
DOES AMERICA NEED A BLACK POLITICAL PARTY? Let me start off by stating the obvious: A third political party, much less one greared toward the concerns of African Americans, cannot win a presidential election. But that is not necessarily the point. Really since the birth of political parties around 1800, only two parties have had a shot at the White House. The names have changed over time, but it is still basically a contest between the Democrats and the Republicans. For most of its existence, elections in the U.S. have been held primarily for the benefit of one extremely privileged group: white male land owners. Gradually, over many years, elections have been reformulated to benefit the rest of us: ex-slaves, immigrants, women, the young, the powerless and the disadvantaged. In every instance, the franchise has been widened by exerting force outside the two-party system, especially by third parties not driven by the thirst for power and patronage.
SPRING 2023
It has been said that the Republican Party is America's only successful third party (it took over factions of the dying Whig Party), but even if true, it quickly embedded itself as the only competition to the Democratic Party, where, like the Democrats, it has remained through generational loyalty and the structure of electoral laws. Why then should a third - a black political party - be formed? Because it is needed. After more than four centuries, black Americans remain behind the eight ball, often dramatically so, in all key indicators: wealth, education, employment, equal justice, housing, social acceptance and respect. They have been asked to wait to achieve these gains, and when they are unmet, they have been forced to fight for a mere fraction at great physical peril and emotional stress. To be clear, the two-party system has produced some gains: the end of slavery; granting of full citizenship to blacks; and opportunities to buy land, enter
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