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

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 professions, marry whomever they want, live in neighborhoods, join clubs and attend schools that were previously off limits to them Still, the data indicates that it is not enough and that more needs to be done.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats have been forced to change and embrace the needs and desires of a wider circle of people by outside movements, especially third parties The People's Party (also known as the Populist Party) laid the groundwork for farmers under FDR's New Deal, as did many of the reform policies of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive "Bull Moose" Party, Robert M. La Follette's Progressive Party, and even Norman Thomas' Socialist Party The modern-day Republican Party appears to have been influenced by the racist elements of past third parties - the Dixiecrat Party in 1948, George Wallace's American Independent Party in 1968 - and the antiWashington populism of Ross Perot's Reform Party in 1992 and 1996.

Black political parties have been barely a blip on the screen in American history; the last one with any affect was probably the Black Panther Party, which lasted 16 years, from 1966 to 1982 Evidence suggests that the pressing needs of blacks for better schools, a livable wage, home ownership, reparations for slavery and segregation, an equal justice system, an end to gun violence, and access to capital and markets can only be addressed with their own political party, which, when allied with other long-neglected voting blocs, can bring pressure to bear on both Democrats and Republicans to be more inclusive of their agenda.

Will such a party be ready for 2024?

Probably not, but the time to lay out a program and organize - and find suitable candidates - for 2028 is now.