Why did so many Black voters abandon Democrats? NAACP New England president weighs in.
BOSTON - Election night was seen by many experts as a disaster for Democrats in Massachusetts and nationwide, not least because of their desertion by significant numbers of voters in demographic groups that have been reliable Democratic voters, including Black voters.
One of those was Black voters, especially Black men, who drove a roughly 6% gain by Donald Trump over his showing in Massachusetts cities with large Black electorates, according to analysis by the Boston Globe.
Why the increase in Black men voting for Trump?
Tanisha Sullivan, longtime president of the NAACP Boston branch now overseeing strategy for the civil rights group in five New England states, joined joined WBZ-TV and discussed a variety of topics, including why that was the case.
"So many people through their vote expressed deep concern about the bread and butter issues, being able to make ends meet, being able to pay the rent, being able to buy eggs, being able to buy gas, being able to have one job that is life sustaining," she said. "Black people are not a monolith, and in many respects, represent a diversity of political ideology and perspective and are not bound to any one political party."
Does this mean the NAACP will be rethinking its political emphasis on issues like police reform?
"Economics really rose to the top of the priority list for many voters," Sullivan said. "That does not mean that people are not concerned about public safety. That does not mean that people, that Black people or anyone is not concerned about racism and racial discrimination, nor does it mean that we have succeeded in eliminating racism. There is not a Black person walking the streets, dare I say, who wants to be subject to racial profiling on any level. And so this election, should not be an indication that for the NAACP or for any civil rights organizations, that our work is changing. What it may mean is that the ways in which we go about advancing racial equality, fighting against racism, the tactics may change."
Push for return to phonics-based education
Also atop Sullivan's agenda – the push for a return to traditional phonics-based literacy education in the early grades, a move resisted in some precincts by the politically-powerful Massachusetts Teachers Association.
"Literacy is the number one issue," she said. "We fully support the efforts in the Commonwealth to advance the science of reading and to integrate the principles of phonics. My response to anyone [opposing] this is that it is not possible to be a civil rights champion, it is not possible to be rooted in social justice principles if we are not embracing curriculum, if we are not embracing tools that have demonstrated the ability to help access language."
Sullivan also discussed the state of efforts to expand economic empowerment and whether promises in that regard made after the summer of upheaval that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd have been kept.