When what sounds right, is not right (pun intended)

RedEye, at some point I need for you to explain to me exactly why the AL Dem Party should not adopt the NDP definition of "minority" -- including Democratic National Committee’s definition of minorities, including Hispanics, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, youth and women. It sounds like the right thing to do, to me.

I received the above text message from a friend, as I started to reply I realized my response was too complicated for a text, and others might have the same question.  Before I type another word let me make it crystal clear I know beyond a shadow of a doubt the author of the above text is a good and decent human being who believes in doing what's right and good.

Just because something sounds like the right thing to do doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Voter ID laws sound like the right thing to do until you look at the motive behind them.  The motive behind the so-called diversity amendment is to dilute the power of the Alabama Democratic Conference.  Links inserted for emphasis.

The Alabama Democratic Conference, formerly known as the Black Political Caucus of Alabama, was established in 1960. Its leaders were African Americans who wished to encourage all voters, but especially other African Americans, to vote for the democratic candidate, who at the time was John F. Kennedy with vice president Lyndon B. Johnson. The founders of this influential group include Arthur Shores, Rufus Lewis, .Dr. C.G. Gomillion, Q. D. Adams, Isom Clemon, and Beulah Johnson. All of these individuals held respectable positions in their communities and were looked up to by the people, especially by other African Americans.

The late Rev. Jack Zylman offers this history of the Alabama Democratic Party as someone who witnessed the overt racism of a political party that refused to accept blacks as members. Links inserted for emphasis.

Back in 1966, after an election in which, having won voting rights after the
1965 Selma to Montgomery March, in which I lost two dear friend, Rev JimReeb and Viola Liuzzo, blacks rushed to register to vote and to run for office, most considered themselves to be Democrats . Gov Wallace (a democrat) refused to allow them to run for office as Democrats. To combat the continuing absolute racism of the Alabama Democratic Party, some of us created another Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), went through a difficult struggle, and elected the first blacks to office in Alabama as Democrats! But the ADP fought as a fully segregated party for almost 10 years as the NDPA came to hold over 100 elected offices,more than any other state!!! Then and only then did the ADP want us, and we forgivingly moved into the ADP. But of course its leadership remained fully racist and we have been struggling to change that ever since. But racists continued to run for and hold office as Democrats. It never fully changed. That makes it clear why people are still very suspicious of attitudes in the ADP.

Every ounce of "power and influence" held by the Alabama Democratic Conference is the result of blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice.  It's not something that was given willingly, nor is it something we will relinquish without a fight. I firmly believe this is about diluting the power and influence of African Americans within the ADP because there is the perception the party caters to black voters but ignores white voters.

“The goal of the amendment is to bring representation of Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Youth and others onto the State Executive Committee.  My amendment was designed to help engage all Alabamians in our party, and to ensure everyone a voice.”

Allow me to illustrate how the power and influence of African Americans will be diluted using a pot of beans as an example:

First, we have 6 kinds of beans/peas and each is assigned an equal number and a group;

Black Beans= 15 African American men/women/LBGT
Lima Beans=  15 LBGT
Navy Beans= 15 Hispanic Caucus
Red Kidney Beans= 15 Alabama Federation of Democratic Women
Great Northern Beans=  15 Young Dems
Green Peas= 15 Asian/Native Americans

When you put all the beans in the pot and mix them up what happens to the Black Beans?

It would put white women – who, due to the racial composition of House districts and the Bylaws, constitute a large number of SDEC seats – in the minority caucus, which was historically designed to insure racial equity. I know most of the proponents of recent Bylaw amendments, and I do not think for an instant that any of them contemplate actions that would make the SDEC unrepresentatively white. But that would be the exact effect of the Shadoin Amendment, in the form in which it was submitted.

The election of State Representative Patrica Todd is the perfect example of the effects of diluting the black block vote. Per Attorney Jerome Gray:

In 2000, the district was drawn with a 63 percent black majority. In the years since, gentrification has shrunk that proportion, and some estimate the current black population at about 50 percent. In his letter endorsing Hendricks, [Joe] Reed warned black community leaders that if they elected a white candidate, the district could be redrawn without a black majority.
“If a district became a Republican district, Republicans would fight like the dickens to keep the district Republican,” said Jerome Gray, field Director for the ADC. “The same is true if a district is majority black. Black activists and black leaders are going to fight for the dickens to keep it majority black.”
While some have attacked the ADC’s stance as reverse racism, Gray said that white Democrats simply will not spearhead the same issues as their black counterparts. He gave the restoration of felony voting rights as an example.

I hope this explains why including the Democratic National Committee’s definition of minorities, including Hispanics, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, youth and women is the wrong thing to do.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.