A Brief Guide for Politicians Who Actually Want to Speak with/Reach Black Folk

Reader, I want to take a break from my thoughts on Black folk at work and talk to politicians. It’s election season, and I am not sure if any politicians actually know how to speak to Black folk. For the record, I do not own the copyright to any video that I may post here. I am not using the video clips for the sole purpose of making money. I use them as examples so that the audience may better “see” the point I am making.

It’s election season. It’s election season up-ballot and down. And with election season, there is bound to be a good amount of fodder for night-time talk show hosts and comedians. However, and this is a HOWEVER, I want to get real with and about politicians and Black folk. The bottom line is this: many politicians do not know how to speak with and hear Black people. As a very large and faithful voting bloc, I feel it’s high time that politicians listen (or in this case, read) and learn how to speak with us and hear us.

Here is a quick guide for those politicians who truly, truly want to reach Black people and do not take that part of the constituency for granted.

1. ) Black entertainers and athletes are not policy experts and should not be treated as such by people seeking office. While I appreciate anybody with some political passion and the gall to speak her/his mind, sometimes at the expense of their jobs (Kapernick, anyone?), I do not understand why politicians, Democrat and Republican, look to Black athletes and entertainers as veritable policy experts and spokespeople for millions of Black folks. This is especially insulting as a faculty member. The stupidity that comes out of Sexy Red’s lecherous mouth is good for news ratings, but are by no means a reflection of where Black people are. As a faculty member, I am insulted, because at any given school, I have colleagues who happen to be Black and who happen to have Ph.D.s in policy, political science, and law. And they happen to teach these subjects and work in these fields every day. There are Black political think tanks such as African American Policy Forum. Intersectionality | African American Policy Forum | United States (aapf.org)

There are even Black Republican organizations and Black conservatives who write, teach, and publish every day. Why aren’t Black policy experts ever approached by politicians and given a spot on the Sunday morning shows? For example, Shelby Steele has been a Black conservative…