{"id":12311,"date":"2018-06-03T22:41:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T22:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=12311"},"modified":"2018-06-03T22:41:57","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T22:41:57","slug":"why-florida-democrats-cant-count-on-the-so-called-black-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-florida-democrats-cant-count-on-the-so-called-black-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Florida Democrats can’t count on the so-called ‘black vote’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharon Austin<\/a>, University of Florida<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s midterm Senate election<\/a> is a race to watch this November \u2013 and not just because it will be a tight match<\/a> pitting a sitting governor, Republican Rick Scott, against a sitting senator, Democrat Bill Nelson. <\/p>\n

Black voters, who make up 16 percent of Florida\u2019s population<\/a>, will likely help tip the race in one candidate\u2019s favor. Black Floridians have long been a swing constituency in the state<\/a> and have played a key role<\/a> in every close presidential race since 2000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But my research on minority politics in the South<\/a> shows that it is time to re-examine old assumptions about Florida\u2019s so-called \u201cblack vote.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Caribbeanization of black politics<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s because not all black people in the United States are African-American<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Florida is home to the country\u2019s largest foreign-born black population. One in three black Miami metropolitan region residents today is an immigrant, according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>. Many are from the Caribbean. <\/p>\n

The black immigrant population in the U.S. has more than quadrupled since 1980, led by an influx of Haitians and Jamaicans<\/a>. An estimated 376,000 Haitians<\/a> represent fully 2 percent of Florida\u2019s population. Another 30,000 or so Floridians were born in Jamaica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As my 2018 book on \u201cThe Caribbeanization of Black Politics in America<\/a>\u201d outlines, these demographic shifts are upending political patterns in predominantly black communities. U.S. political analysts have long assumed<\/a> that black people mostly think alike on policy issues and vote for the same candidates \u2013 namely, for Democrats<\/a>. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s now changing.<\/p>\n

Black Republicans<\/h2>\n

I have studied voting patterns of African-Americans, Cape Verdeans and West Indians in four cities: Boston, Chicago, Miami and New York City.<\/p>\n

I discovered that while these populations are mostly Democratic, foreign-born black communities in all four cities are more willing than African-Americans to put aside partisan differences and vote Republican<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Haitians, in particular, lean in a more conservative direction than African-Americans and other Caribbean communities. My research found that Haitian voters in Boston, Chicago, Miami and New York City are more likely to identify as moderate or conservative than African-Americans. <\/p>\n

Haitians are also more likely to be members of the Republican Party and to run for office as Republicans. The first and only Haitian-American in Congress, Mia Love<\/a> of Utah\u2019s 4th district, is a Republican. <\/p>\n

In Florida, almost 4 percent of the Haitian-born population is Republican, according to University of Florida political scientist Daniel Smith<\/a>. Just under 20 percent of Florida\u2019s Haitian Americans are Democrats. Many others are not registered voters in the U.S., though they may remain active in Haitian politics.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump campaigned in Miami\u2019s Little Haiti neighborhood<\/a> in 2016. He went on to win 20 percent of Florida\u2019s Haitian vote<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After the election, Haitian-American activist Ezili Danto suggested that many Haitian Floridians had supported Trump in part to demonstrate that they won\u2019t always vote Democratic<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Many Haitians also believed the corruption allegations that had been leveled against the Clinton Foundation, whose work in Haiti<\/a> after the 2010 earthquake left it with a bad reputation on the island<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Community tensions<\/h2>\n

As Florida\u2019s Caribbean population has boomed, these political differences have led to some showdowns<\/a> between African-Americans and the Haitian community. <\/p>\n

The election of Republican Josaphat Celestin as mayor of North Miami in 2001<\/a> is illustrative. He was the first Haitian-American elected to lead a large U.S. city<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As I outline in my book, Celestin\u2019s campaign appealed directly to Haitian voters<\/a> in this municipality of 60,000, by arguing that they needed their own political representation in a largely African-American city historically governed by white elected officials. <\/p>\n

The 2001 election brought not just Celestin to power but also put a Haitian-American majority onto the five-member city council, ushering in a new era in North Miami politics. Haitian voters had successfully replaced the city\u2019s old white political leadership with new black leadership. <\/p>\n

But they did so by defeating a Democrat, Duke Sorey, whom most native-born black Floridians hoped would become the city\u2019s first black mayor<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Motivating black voters<\/h2>\n

All of this means that neither Florida Senate candidate should take black voters for granted in November. <\/p>\n

Nelson, the Democratic sitting senator, has tradition on his side. Black Floridians \u2013 like African-Americans nationwide \u2013 have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in every election since 1948<\/a>. In 2012, higher-than-usual black turnout for Barack Obama<\/a> helped Nelson handily secure his second Senate term. <\/p>\n

As the only Democrat in statewide office in a state dominated by Republicans<\/a>, Nelson will again need above-average black turnout to beat Scott<\/a>. Yet the senator recently said he believes black Floridians are already \u201cmotivated\u201d to vote for him<\/a> and has faced accusations of not courting them enough. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Gov. Scott won 12 percent of black votes in 2014<\/a> \u2013 significantly more than the 8 percent of black voters Trump won nationwide in 2016. <\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Trinidad-born Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was the first black female Republican elected to the Florida legislature and the first black Republican woman on a statewide ticket when she ran as Scott\u2019s running mate in 2010<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Scott alienates black voters<\/h2>\n

Carroll resigned in 2013 amid accusations of financial impropriety. She later wrote a book accusing Scott of treating her like an \u201cunwanted stepchild\u201d and using her to win black and female votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who was born in Trinidad, is unlikely to support Scott\u2019s campaign this year.<\/span>
\n AP Photo\/Wilfredo Lee<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As governor, too, Scott has in fact had a very tense relationship with black Floridians<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In 2011 he reduced funding to the state\u2019s two historically black colleges<\/a>, including Florida A&M University. That same year Scott requested that Florida A&M\u2019s president be suspended after the hazing death of a student, a decision the college\u2019s board of trustees rejected<\/a>. <\/p>\n

When students protested his recommendation, Scott suggested he could relate to them because he grew up in public housing<\/a>. It was the second time<\/a> the governor had insinuated that all black people are poor. <\/p>\n

On several occasions, Scott has also been accused of suppressing black voters<\/a> by making it harder for formerly incarcerated people to restore their voting rights.<\/p>\n

\"TheI doubt Florida\u2019s Haitian voters will support Scott as they did Trump in 2016. But the days of assuming that the black vote will definitely go Democratic are over.<\/p>\n

Sharon Austin<\/a>, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of African American Studies, University of Florida<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharon Austin, University of Florida Florida\u2019s midterm Senate election is a race to watch this November \u2013 and not just because it will be a tight match pitting a sitting governor, Republican Rick Scott, against a sitting senator, Democrat Bill Nelson. Black voters, who make up 16 percent of Florida\u2019s population, will likely help tip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":12312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[501,4585,771,3181,4584],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12313,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions\/12313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}