The African-American community is comprised of 34 million people, and makes up approximately 12.8 percent of the American population (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 3). As such, it is the largest minority group in the United States. Yet, politically, the black community has never been able to sufficiently capitalize on that status in order to receive the full benefits of life in America. Today, African-Americans, hold less than 2 percent of the total number of elected positions in this country (Tate, 1994: 3) and the number of members within the community that actually partake in voting continues to drop. In spite of these statistics, as of 1984, a telephone survey found that 70 percent of Black Americans polled “strongly felt that the Black vote could make a difference in who gets elected at both the local and national levels, including… president” (Tate, 1994: 6). The black population still believes that voter participation can effect change in the government, and 75 percent believe that whatever happens to the group affects them personally, and so it is necessary to have a government that is sympathetic to the state of African-Americans in the United States. As a result

of this perceived common interest, one could say that the American black community constitutes an interest group of sorts, – a group of people that share the same interests and are working toward common goals – at least to a certain extent. At the very least, they have the potential to be an interest group, because although the majority of blacks feel that their future is tied to that of the entire race, there is a growing divide between blacks of different social classes, as well as a lack of organization, which is a key factor to initiating change. The black community relies on the strength of their vote, but in order to capitalize on voting strength, and turn it into political power: A group must be able to maximize voter registration and voter turnout, develop institutional structures for recruiting supportive candidates for public office and mobilize support for such candidates. Once… elected, the group must develop a system to hold the candidates responsible to the group. (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 73) In effect, they must capitalize on their ability to come together as an interest group and to create some form of accountability for whoever they support politically. Until recently, the black community has not been able to do so often or consistently, because of their minority status (due to lack of size they must rely on strategic voting and the black community hasn’t always been ideally located to capitalize on that), and intense party loyalties. The Black Vote Historically Ever since Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation, African-Americans had been Republican. The GOP was the party of Lincoln, the party that had given them the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. The Republican Party supported blacks, whereas the Democrat Party was the party of the South, and the Southern, White plantation owner. To the black community, the Republican Party represented “the high-minded, idealistic, God-fearing people,” whereas Democrats “dabbled in influence-peddling and vice” (Weiss 1983: 3). All blacks knew where to lay their loyalties – with the party that had given them their freedom – not with the Democrats, who represented slavery and servitude, and coming into the 20th century, Jim Crow and segregation. And so, black Americans followed the Republican Party from emancipation to the 20th century, where it seems they got lost in the transition, because upon entrance to the new century government sanctioned segregation and discrimination seemed to increasingly become the norm.. By the 1920’s, the Republican Party had alienated the black community by their “interest in cultivating lily-white Republicanism in the South than in strengthening the party’s traditional ties to blacks.” (Weiss 1984: 5). Still, the black community remained with the Republican Party, because to stay seemed the lesser of two evils. Politically, they weren’t strong enough a force to gain political attention for themselves on a national level, because the majority of blacks still could not vote (Weiss 1984: 39), and as Robert R. Church said “the Republican Party offers us little. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OFFERS US NOTHING” (Weiss 1984: 12). So although disenchanted, blacks stayed with the Republican Party on a passive basis, because they felt they had nowhere else to go. By 1932 that would begin to change as the Republican Party left them struggling economically with no way out. The 1928 Hoover presidency had been devastating to blacks, as he demonstrated no care or concern for them, in addition to his inability to adequately deal with the economic burden of the Depression. Although ultimately blacks began to shift parties due to economic concerns, his policy to displace African-Americans from their jobs and workplaces “to reduce unemployment among whites” was unacceptable, as blacks suffered disproportionately from the strains of economic crisis, especially in places like Baltimore where blacks made up only 17 percent of the populat

Some topics in this essay:
Republican Party, Protest Politics, Democratic Party, Civil Rights, African-Americans United, Jones Tate, Throughout Roosevelt, Rights Movement, Urban League, Americans” Weiss, black community, weiss 1984, democratic party, republican party, civil rights, black vote, tate 1994, african-american community, weiss 1984 27, jones tate, tate 1999, jones tate 1999, barker jones tate, naacp national urban, americans” weiss 1984,